Adolescent male gang members' literacy experiences within and outside of school

Abstract

This purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how four Mexican American male adolescents perceive their literacy within and outside of school. Particular attention is given to the literacies found in the family, gang, school, and juvenile court communities. Initially, the four Mexican American male adolescents who participated in this study were students in my alternative classroom. Later, I officially advocated for them and their families in the educational system. I worked with each participant for four years. Each participant is a member of a gang and has struggled with being successful in school. The ethnographic case study design of the research, enabled me to examine each participant's literacy story. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, participant observation and field notes, and the gathering of written and visual artifacts such as school assignments, personal journals, individual tags, personally written raps, and photographs. Data were organized into "case study data bases" and each participant's story contributed to a larger discussion of the individual communities in which the four members participated. The research revealed that all four participants come from rich literacy environments and that the social and political roles of literacy varied within the different communities. These multiple roles controlled the participants' use of literacies to navigate within the educational and juvenile court systems.