Live Experiences of Former Gang Members in Cebu City, Philippines

This paper explores the lived experiences of former gang members in Cebu City. Specifically, it determined the following: experiences of the informants as former gang members, including the reasons why they join, stay and leave the group and the impact of gang membership of the informants as former gang members. This study employed a qualitative method of research employing a phenomenological approach that involves qualitative analysis and assessment of themes derived from semi-structured interviews and follow up questions has been made and with an aid with interview guide, observation and exploring the lived experiences of former gang members. The study was conducted in highly urbanized cities, namely Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City and Talisay City. A purposive convenient sampling was employed to select the informants. There were fourteen (14) informants in the study. Fifteen (6) emergent themes were created. For the experiences of former gang members on reasons why they join the gang, three themes emerged, namely: Personal Safety, Peer pressure, and lastly, Broken Homes. For the reasons why they stay in the gang, two themes emerged, namely: Give and Earn Money, The Thug Lifestyle, and More Fun and Happiness. For the reasons why they leave the group, three themes emerged, namely: Family and Job Responsibilities, Realization to Have a Happy and Peaceful life; and In-group Rivalry. Regarding the impact of gang membership and the positive experiences of the informants as former gang members, three themes emerged: A sense of Belongingness, Develop Respect and Trust, and School Achiever. Regarding the negative experiences, three themes emerged: Gang War and Violence, Crime Involvement, and Incarceration. The community must create and sustain a collaborative process for working toward a community free of gang membership and violence. This includes providing a clearinghouse for information on resources, strategies, services, best practices, and funding to prevent, intervene and suppress gang violence.