Interview Questions and Notes

Prepared by Jonathan Alvarez


1. Have you had any experiences or encounter with gangs? If so do you mind sharing a few?

2. What do you believe is the main reason that people join gangs?

3. If some neighborhoods were not so poor do you think that there would be less people involved in gangs?

4. Do you feel that being raised in a poor neighborhood around gangs makes it so that those people do not know any better?

5. What do you think the community can do to keep people especially young adults out of gangs?

Notes

1. He has encountered many gang members throughout his time on the field. He didn’t really want to go to into the stories. But he did say that he learned a lot from his experiences and that his perspective drastically changed.

2. He said he believes that many people join gangs to be a part of something and feel like they have a family. They desire to be loved.

3. He said that being raised in a poor neighborhoods




Prepared by Dario Bortolotto

Why do you think young kids join gangs?

Are gangs a big problem in our community?

What are things young kids can do to prevent gang violence and create awareness?

How have your experiences with gang related cases gone?

Where do you see the gang situation in 20 years? Will it be worse or better?

Is there a program to that helps gang members start a new life?

Notes:

- Make sure to speak clearly and say please and thank you.

- Be polite.

- Try to dig into the question and don’t accept just yes or no answers.

- Ask why a lot and ask for his opinions.

- Get him interested in the conversation and avoid easy questions.