I’ve Had Enough: Exploring Gang Life From the Perspective of (Ex) Members in Alberta.

Administrators and frontline workers in correctional centers and in the community search for effective gang prevention and intervention programs. To this aim, semistructured interviews with 175 male and female adult (ex) gang members in correctional centers and community corrections exploring a range of topics were conducted. Presented here is an overview of the childhood experiences of the sample, gang experiences, and prevention and intervention strategies identified as helpful by participants. Street–prison gang connections and the impact of gang desistance are explored, as is the influence of local context on the types of gangs and the implications for programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]