• Having no social bonds in or outside of school (absent parents, lack of friends)

• Knowing people who are in gangs (parents were in gangs, siblings, friends) so they naturally gravitate towards that path

• They feel like their values are understood or shared by the people in gangs (frustration with the norms, angry with the world )

• Self protection (from sexual advances or harassment/ from abuse from environment/ parents)

• They might not perceive it as deviant behaviour, they might just see it as finding a sense of belonging in a group, because humans are social animals

• May be a way of life where they are from (culturally) El Salvador?

Interventions

• Education campaigns (for parents, for youths)

• Interpersonal skills

• Empowering youths in skills or strengths development

• engaging youths with community events (keep them busy)

• Mental health and wellness programmes (to help them regulate negative emotions)

• Sense of power/look cool - adrenaline

• For protection/support system

• Sense of belonging/identity

• Peer pressure

Interventions

• Counselling

• Community-level supervision around schools

• Gang awareness in school

  
  

• Peer Pressure to join friends or trying to fit in

• Exposure to social media trends; getting the video of the fight viral

• Joining a gang may seem superior in a social standings among younger students

• Bullying someone because to the gang, that person is a deviant to their norm. Body shaming, social anxiety etc

Interventions:

• Educational awareness talks and campaigns to debunk ideology of joining gangs are cool; expose consequences to the students. Be done by SPF , schools, ex-convicts.

• Create social support groups online to reach the troubled

• Regulate social media companies’ ability for certain violent content to be shared but it will be hard to achieve this

• to get recognition

• brotherhood and friendship

Intervention

• Activity centres

• tech giants to have AI detecting bullying videos and auto-remove.

• Law should be able to remove bullying videos

Factors

1. Personal factors

• Educational qualification

• Lack of self-belonging

• Depravation of attention

• Trauma

2. Environmental factors

• Socioeconomic disadvantage

• Peer Pressure

• Lack of opportunities

• Family dysfunction or background

• Social media

Interventions

• Crime prevention programmes in school

• Strengthening family support

• Community engagement and support

• Education and employement opportunies

• Trauma-informed care or counselling/student protection

  
  

Peer pressure – to fit in the group, especially those friends who are more influential and already a gang members

Dysfunctional families – victims of abuse, neglect and lack of parental supervision

Social media – constantly being exposed to media contents of violence that normalise and glorify such behaviour

Sense of belonging - able to find their identity in the group, vow of loyalty

Interventions:

Educational programmes - to reach out to youth at risks and provide mentorship

Family support programmes - providing family counselling to improve family dynamics

• Establish social standing in school (Etc bullying, peer pressure, mental state)

• Turbulent environment at home, can cause feelings of loneliness (want a sense of belonging in a gang)

• Boredom

• Lack of money 

• Status of schools (Eg neighbourhood schools VS SAP schools)

Interventions

• Patrolling by discipline masters around the school premises

• Ex-convict/ SPF talks to deter any deviant actions and inform of legal consequences

• Sense of Belonginess

  They get bullied by peers at school. So, they resort to joining these gangs to feel protected and belonged.

• Rebellion

  The teenage phase of 'rebellion' where they want to get a rise out of their parents and teachers.

• Attention

  Again, they feel neglected by their parents, friends and teachers. So, they join these gangs to be noticed and to receive the constant attention.

• Engaging in Violence

  They engage in violence to fit in, or they get inspired by a character on TV and they decided to role model that character or person. They also engage in violence to show authority.

Interventions

• Community Engagement where Teachers work with community representatives to form interest groups such as dance, football etc.; to keep them occupied.

• Counselling where, schools can work with certified counsellors to work with these students to get them back on the right path and provide them guidance in their academic and personal development.

• Tour around Changi Prison to show them the consequences of being deviant and speak to convicts/ex-convicts.

1. Socioeconomic factors

2. Sense of community / identity

3. Family dynamics / influences

4. Social Media influences

   
   

Interventions

1. Early interventions in educational institutions through targeted programs / campaigns

2. Community drop-in centres with activities in areas where demographics show higher number of cases

3. Job employment opportunities to reduces recidivism