GANGSTERISM: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY ON THE TAGUM CITY NATIONAL

HIGH SCHOOL

A Research Paper
Presented to
The Faculty of Senior High School
Tagum City National High School
Tagum City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Subject
Practical Research 1

TRISHA S. BERALDE
VINCE ZYLE CUNANAN
IRENE JANE M. GUINITA
NORMAN HERBERT B. RAMAJO

December 2019
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

Student indiscipline is one of the major problems that public schools are facing

today worldwide. Particularly, gangsterism has become a threat because of its violent

nature. Gangsterism includes harassment, physical assault and extortion. The

perpetrators are mostly fellow students, and in the Philippines, there have been a few

incidents where the act of harassment and abuse was fatal. Studies on gangsterism

indicate most student gangsters hail from poor backgrounds or broken families whereby

they lack attention and love from the family members propelling them to behave in such

a manner. The study found that bullying, vandalism, gangsterism, indiscipline,

intolerance, and corporal punishment were prevalent in schools. Furthermore, the study

found that school violence had the following effects on learners: loss of concentration;

poor academic performance; bunking of classes; and depression (Gangsterism among

students, 2015)

Youth joins gangs because gangs provide them with a sense of friendship,

camaraderie, they experience a kind of success in gangs; whereas, they experience

failure at school and in the home. Those who have not developed the skills to

constructively express feelings of anger and rage are also joining groups. Next reason is

there is nothing else to do; they have no hope and see no alternative but to join a gang.

Another cause is that they feel their survival may depend on joining a

neighborhood gang. They fear for their safety and believe that being in a gang gives them
protection. It is also an avenue to gain respect and money. Moreover, gangs can provide

lucrative economic opportunities, status, and prestige-especially for youths that do not

believe they have employment opportunities, or who have no job skills.

And lastly, some youths grow up in families where parents and relatives are active

gang members and joining a gang is part of family tradition. In the Hispanic

neighborhoods, for instance, gangs have been an integral part of the barrio for

generations.

In South Africa, Violent crimes can result in severe physical injury and death. But

it also has a significant impact on psychology, which is often overlooked. People injured

through violence are three times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder

(PTSD) than people injured in accidents. They are three times more likely to suffer from

depression. Gangsterism in public schools can affect the students in physical,

psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual aspect (Psychological effect of gang

violence, 2017). The study aims to explore how gangsterism affects students' values,

focusing specifically on the interpretation of their morality and perceptions by students

when encountering these gang-ridden places worldwide.

According to Richard Mamabolo (2019), In our country, just as in many other parts

of dwellings across the world, gangsterism has since time-immemorial been a common

occurrence at varying levels. In current times, its growing emergence has largely been

attributed to addiction, inequality and low quality of education. As a country, we are

beginning to realize heightened altercations like no other time since our democratic

breakthrough twenty-five years ago, and this has even spread to our schools where there

is a huge concentration of our young people. Gangsterism is a gross human rights

violation, and a global phenomenon inclusive of the formation of groups with the aim of

committing violence and crime, and to defend themselves physically against violence of

other groups inside the school. These incidents can be seen in every region of the

Philippines, and Tagum City is not an exception when it comes to gangsterism in schools.

This paper reports on a study that was conducted in five public schools in Tagum

City namely Tagum City National High School (TCNHS), Tagum City National

Comprehensive High School (TCNCHS), Laureta National High School (LNHS), Tagum

National Trade School (TNTS), La Filipina High School (LFNHS).

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this Case Study is to probe the physical, psychological, social,

emotional, and spiritual effects of gangsterism to High School students who are studying

under the facility of public schools. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the

perceptions and experiences of school stakeholders of school violence and the nature of

violence that takes place in the schools of Tagum City. This study addresses on

gangsterism in school, which refers to the students who experience gangsterism as they

go to school. This is a qualitative study that used interviews and documents, the process

of collecting information included face-to-face interaction and a focus group discussion

with public high school students. A questionnaire was also employed for generalization.

Research Questions

To be able to gain the information needed, the following questions were given:

1. What are the experiences you’ve had about gangsterism as you go to school?

2. How do high school students deal with gangsterism in school?

 3. Why do youths get involved with gangsterism in school?

Following questions will be ask by the researchers to give contentment and satisfaction

to our study.

Theoretical Lens

This theory by Ward and Beech refers to integrating the best existing ideas into a

new framework. It involves identifying the common and unique ideas from existing

theories so that good ideas are not lost (Ward & Beech, 2006). An integrated theory of

gang membership in schools should therefore bring together the good ideas contained in

current theories into a model that provides explanatory power and testable hypotheses.

Such a model will facilitate the examination of specific aspects of gang membership in

schools and the further development of theory. An integrated model of gang membership

in schools. It includes concepts from similar models (Howell & Egley, 2005) to provide a

more comprehensive framework with testable hypotheses which may be used to guide

empirical examinations of why students join gangs. This model provides a more all-round

conceptualization of criminality and gang memberships in schools. And it is the inclusion

of alternative pathways together with key psychological and criminological factors which

distinguishes it from other similar models.

Social and Individual interaction theory

Family structure and type of neighborhood may go hand in hand since families with

poor or unstable structures are potentially more likely to live in disorganized place that

may lead to gangsterism. However, this theory also allows for the consideration of
organized schools as starting points for gang involved students, since even if the school

and family are stable, individual factors such as psychopathic personality traits, high

levels of anxiety, hyper activity, low IQ, low self-esteem, and/or mental health problems

may influence an inclination for gang membership. Environmental factors will affect social

factors such as the levels of formal and informal control. Disorganized schools may be

difficult to police (formal control) and informal social controls such as parental supervision

may be problematic depending on family structure, which, in turn, may weaken family

bonds. If environmental factors influence levels of informal control then they will also have

an indirect effect on school performance, since students who are poorly supervised are

less likely to succeed at school. Organized schools, on the other hand, may have higher

levels of formal social control and more stable families. However, individual factors will

affect social factors regardless of the type of school. Youth who: have psychopathic traits,

are hyperactive, have high levels of anxiety, have low IQ, and mental health problems will

present more social challenges for schools, thus leading to a decrease in informal social

control, and a strain on family bonds. These individual factors will also affect the youth’s

ability to perform at school and the school’s ability to manage the youth. In turn, school

failure, weak family bonds, and social controls, may impact on a youth’s levels of anxiety,

mental health problems and self-esteem (Howell & Egley, 2005).

Social Perception Theory

Individual factors and social factors will shape the youth’s social perception of

his/her world. The presence of gangs in the schools will help shape a youth’s attitudes

and beliefs about gang membership and crime. If gangs are not active in the

neighborhood, youth will develop perceptions of gang membership and crime from media
images or from vicarious experience such as associating with youth from neighborhoods

where gangs are active (e.g., at school). In conjunction with perceptions of gangs will be

the youth’s perception of the availability of legitimate opportunities. Personal failure at

school and the likely associated low self-esteem will increase a youth’s negative

perceptions of the chance to take advantage of available legitimate opportunities and may

lead to strain. Neighborhoods peppered with gangs and crime may also make the youth

fearful of victimization, which coupled with perceptions of limited opportunities, may lead

to perceptions that the world is a hostile place. Negative attitudes to authority may develop

if youth attribute their school failure to school officials rather than the self. And if crime is

high in the neighborhood, and formal social control is low youth may develop hostile or

even contemptuous perceptions of the police as see them as failing (or not bothering) to

protect people in poor neighborhoods. Perceptions of social environment and shared

values such as a mutual like/dislike of school, mutual attitudes to authority, and mutual

fear of victimization will influence the youth’s selection of peers (Howell & Egley, 2005).

Peer selection theory

The selection of peers will foster and strengthen the students’ existing attitudes

and social cognition. Youth who are doing well at school and who have a solid relationship

with parents who supervise him/her will associate with peers who share these attributes

(regardless of neighborhood structure and crime rates). These associations will

strengthen the youth’s pro-social moral standards which will make them less inclined to

morally disengage. Youth who associate with pro-social peer groups are also likely to

capitalize on further legitimate opportunities for informal social controls such as

employment, solid romantic relationships and parenthood, and so they avoid criminal
involvement. This legitimate pathway will strengthen legitimate informal social controls

and provide youth with opportunities to progress, for example, in the workplace. On the

other hand, even if youth are doing well at school and have solid familial backgrounds,

they may be tempted to associate with delinquent peers due to the lure of protection,

excitement, status, and power. However, this association may be fleeting since there will

be conflict between the youth’s existing pro-social attitudes, morality, and school success,

and the group ethos. These youth may also find that the rest of the group does not view

them as “fitting in.” In short, these youth may do little more than “flirt” with a more deviant

lifestyle (Howell & Egley, 2005).

Opportunity for criminal learning theory

Association with a delinquent peer means that the student is provided with an

opportunity for criminal learning and criminal involvement is likely to follow, which

provides further criminal learning opportunities. The selection of delinquent peers will

foster any existing anti-social attitudes the student has. To become criminally active, a

youth will need to set aside any pro-social moral standards s/he may have so that harmful

behavior is cognitively reconstructed into acceptable behavior (i.e. moral

disengagement). In addition, by associating with delinquent peers, the student is likely to

develop pro-aggression beliefs and attitudes that, in the presence of pro-aggressive

reinforcement (e.g., peer approval), will result in positive appraisal of personal

aggression. These attitudes and beliefs, in turn, foster the development of information

processing biases and deficits in a pro-aggressive direction, and are stored in memory as

cognitive schemas to guide future behavior As the youth becomes more involved in

criminal activity, he/she may also experience an increase in his/her self-esteem, and a
strengthening of bonds with delinquent peers. In turn, this will all bolster his/her resolve

for involvement in criminal activity.

Significance of the study

The importance of this study gives us the information about the effects of

gangsterism in schools and how does it form and affect a certain person. This study may

help the students who are experiencing this type of problem in schools in different factors.

High school students can use this as a reference on how to deal with gangsterism in

school in the right way. This study can help high school students resolve their problems

in different factors as to how gangsterism have affected their lives. Parent, educators and

other concerned people can also use this as a reference on how to deal with this kind of

issue in school.

Definition of Terms

Gangsterism- the culture of belonging to organized gangs of criminals, especially

involving violence (Collins, 2012). I used this to define the group of someone or a group

of people who are bad and planning to commit violence.

Gang- an association of three or more individuals (United States Department of Justice,

2011). I used this word to define a small cluster that protect each other from another group

and there are bad.

Gangster- is a criminal who is a member of a gang, also called mobsters (Abadinsky,

2009). I used this term to explain the person who are involved in a small group, that relates

to our study about gangsterism.

Vandalism- is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private

property (Merills, 2010). I used this word to explain the activity that are illegal to private

property or public property.

DELIMINATION OF THE STUDY

Delimination are choices made by the researcher which should be mentioned.

They describe the boundaries that you have set for the study, according to St. Cloud State

University. The researcher must rationalize these decisions in a research proposal.

This study was conducted in different places with common issue. It will only focus on the

gangsterism in several public schools in Tagum City. Since, in this study, given the

prevalence of gangsterism among students and lack of clarity in the literature about the

phenomenon. Such knowledge may help us address gangsterism in more informed way.

This study was conducted to address this issue.

The number of participants needed for this research will only be at least 5-25

persons each school (Creswell, 2008). It will not extend to the point that the researchers

will not be able to meet the study’s deadline.

There may be article that cannot easily be viewed as not applicable to this study

and researches should avoid reading such articles because they may have a different

view of this analysis and will not reach the deadline. We will focus solely on the related

articles about this study and not the other, just distraction and time consuming.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

 This research will only be focusing on the effects caused by gangsterism to

students and in the society. More information may be used by research to link and prove

this study. Such as determining the risk factors, related concepts about gangsterism,

effects in the mental health of the students will be helpful to make this study

understandable and credible.

However, this study has limitation, the researchers will not continue further studies

due to lack of time. The researchers must explore a subject and will find the results within

the given time. Using a time limit in this research is therefore a restriction because it

removes the ability for individuals to make more observation about the specific subject

matter, which limits the amount if information that can be conveyed to an audience.

Organization of the Study

This study only focuses on discussing the types of gangsterism and the effect to

the mentality of the students and to the society.

The first chapter provides the broad problems of the study through discussing the

basics of gangsterism that will be helpful throughout the study. It discusses how the

researchers came up with the problem and provides arguments regarding the mental,

spiritual, physical, and emotional towards the students and how we should pay attention

to their needs. The purpose of this study is also stated, research questions, and

importance of conducting this specific study. The limitations and delimitations in

conducting the research are provided to ensure the internal and external validity of the

study.
 The chapter two of this research provides related readings, literature and studies

of the gangsterism. In this chapter you can read the different kind of gangster, concepts

of gangsterism, cause and effect, and risk of factors. Sub-topics necessary in order to

fully understand the data analysis and collection after the research is conducted.

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

Concepts of Gangsterism
 Gangsterism is a gross violation of human rights and a global phenomenon

including group formation aimed at committing violence and crime and physically

defending against violence from other groups.

It is an anti-social behavior that arises from within societies themselves, with drugs

being usually their main currency, thereby becoming foot soldiers of a much more

complex criminal society, engaged in serious and violent crime, money laundering,

trafficking in human beings, drug trafficking and arms smuggling, all at different scales

(Mamabolo, 2019).

Types of gangs

Gangsterism, however, differs in terms of its magnitudes and focus areas, while

you can identify its three aspects. First, the Scavengers gangs, where crimes and

transgressions are usually not planned, and this group’s members are often low achievers

or school dropouts. Second is the Territorial gangs, they are well-organized, and their

gang members have initiation rites which separate them from non-members. Often,

prospective members must prove their loyalty to the group by fighting. And lastly the

Corporate gangs, they are highly structured criminal conspiracies that are organized to

sell drugs – teenagers as young as fourteen could become members. All gangs have

names and recognizable symbols (Gauteng, 2019).

Causes

Youth joins gangs because gangs provide them with a sense of friendship,

camaraderie, they experience a kind of success in gangs; whereas, they experience

failure at school and in the home. Those who have not developed the skills to
constructively express feelings of anger and rage are also joining groups. Next reason is

there is nothing else to do; they have no hope and see no alternative but to join a gang.

Another cause is that they feel their survival may depend on joining a neighborhood gang.

They fear for their safety and believe that being in a gang gives them protection. It is also

an avenue to gain respect and money. Moreover, gangs can provide lucrative economic

opportunities, status, and prestige--especially for youths that do not believe they have

employment opportunities, or who have no job skills. And lastly, some youths grow up in

families where parents and relatives are active gang members and joining a gang is part

of family tradition. In the Hispanic neighborhoods, for instance, gangs have been an

integral part of the barrio for generations (Jahn, 2010).

Risk Factors

Delinquency and gang membership are associated with early academic failure.

Students from middle class who joined gangs did not perform well in elementary school

and were weakly attached to teachers. The threat of peers is also risk factors for a

person to corporate himself or herself in a group. Regardless of how peer risk

membership is measured, partnership with deviant or delinquent peers provides one of

the strongest predictors of gang membership (Howell, 2010).

There are also community risks. Studies have shown that economically

disadvantaged neighborhoods (e.g., poverty, unemployment, lack of meaningful jobs,

marginalization, and social disorganization) contribute to gang presence (Esbensen et

al., 2012).
 Lastly, young people are more likely to join gangs when they encounter inadequate

parental supervision, low parental commitment, and limited participation in family

activities, and/or parents with negative attitudes that encourage antisocial behavior,

aggression, misconduct, or neglect. (Esbensen, et al., 2012).

Psychological Factor

Low Self-Control

Self-control describes an individual’s capacity to overcome and inhibit socially

unacceptable and undesirable impulses (Baumeister, Heatherton & Tice, 2008). Many

studies have claimed that low self-control for both criminal and violent behaviours is a

consistent, potential and prominent trigger. Individuals lacking in self-control exhibit signs

of risk-taking, adventurous, short-sightedness, impulsiveness and are insensitive to

others (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 2005). In this study, the former-gangsters proved

themselves to be people with a low self-control. This current study revealed that not only

are people with low self-control susceptible to gang activity, they indulge in various

criminal activities as well. This finding supports the assertion made by Alleyne and Wood

(2010) and Thorberry et al. (2003), in which low self-control is one of the psychological

factors that are linked with gang membership. Some of the former-gangsters who were

interrogated stated that they had to leave the gang for several years as they were too

attached to members of the gang. They also mentioned that because of their poor self-

control, they continuously got involved in gang-related activities so that they can earn

illegal money. Former-gangsters admitted to having difficulties in controlling aggressive

behaviours. Episodes of unpredictable physical aggression it former-gangsters had

previously shown made the people around them feel anxious and in discomfort. That was

seen as a way of showing dominance and controlling people.

High Impulsivity

Impulsivity is defined as the lack of ability to clearly think out one’s actions before

performing them (Hinslie and Shatzky, 2011). Impulsivity can be further explained as the

actions that are poorly conceived, prematurely expressed, unduly risky, or inappropriate

to the situation and that often result in undesirable behaviours (Evenden, 2012). High

impulsivity can prevent someone from conforming to social norms and laws, can lead

them to show a reckless disregard for others’ safety and experience little or no remorse

for their mistreatment of others to gain immediate gratification (Shankar, 2017). The

former-gangsters during the interviews portrayed themselves as individuals who did

actions without considering the consequences. Some former-gangsters confessed that

high impulsiveness made them neglect social norms and laws, and showed a reckless

disregard for the safety of others. Past researchers claimed that impulsivity has been

linked to substance abuse/dependence and suicide (Zimmerman, 2010), delinquency in

childhood and adulthood (Farrington, Loeber, & Kammen, 2008), as well as anger

(Shorey, Brasfield, Febres & Stuart, 2011), aggressiveness (McGirr and Turecki, 2007),

violence (Scarpa and Raine, 2008) and murder (Rahim et al. , 2014). Personality theory

relates impulsitivity to offending through conditionability (Eysenck, 2015). Children and

young adolescents failed to associate antisocial behaviours with pain and fear arousal

because of the poor conditionability, along with sociability (extroversion), neuroticism and

psychoticism (Zimmerman, 2010).

Criminogenic Factor
Substance Abuse

Substance abuse refers to the “harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive

substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs” (WHO, 2017). Sanders and Coffman

(2012) and Melde and Esbensen (2015), found that gang membership is an indicator of

chronic substance use. In addition, Decker (2011), Mouttapa et al. (2010) & Chetty

(2017), reported that substance use in the form of alcohol, drugs, or both is prolific in

youth gangs. As such, there seems to be link between drug use and gang membership,

in which a person is at higher risk of becoming involved in the consumption of illegal

substances due to gang membership, or that consumption of illicit substances causes an

individual to join a gang in order to share similar behaviours and desires with other

individuals. Alcohol and drugs are the substance abuses that have been identified among

the former-gangters in this current study. This study also showed that the gang members

initially used marijuana but now they are using such drugs, particularly heroin and

methamphetamine. There are several explanations for changing from marijuana to heroin

and methamphetamine. The first explanation is that different types of methamphetamine

are present in the narcotics market. According to former gangsters, gangsters can easily

get different types of methamphetamine through various channels, forms and levels. As

for the second explanation, the former-gangsters interviewed stated that current laws

cannot regulate Malaysia’s illegal drug industry as new and unlisted drugs, i.e. new

psychoactive substances are created at a rapid rate. Examples of such laws include the

Dangerous Drug Act 1952 (DDA) (Act 234), Penal Code (Act 574) and the Prevention of

Crime Act (POCA) (Act 297). Narcotics Group (STING) under the command of NCID,

carry out frequent operations and raids, yet the production and usage of illegal drugs
continue unabated. As for the third explanation, the number of drug offenses and drug-

related offenses is varied and tends to rise annually to the degree that most crimes are

related to drugs (narcotic crimes). Robbery and drug possesion, murder and distribution

of narcotics, as well as burglary of cars and distribution of drugs, for example. Previous

former-gangsters criminal actions provide support for combining concerted or sequential

crimes. An interesting finding in this current study was that in early adolescence or early

adulthood, most of the former-gangsters who consumed the illicit substance admitted that

the onset. Most of them stated they were starting to drink alcohol because of the influence

of their friends. For the first time, intimacy made them consume alcohol, so they continued

to drink alcohol at fun or to maintain friendships, but ultimately they became addicted to

alcohol. Another result relating to this substance abuse phenomenon was when drugs,

alcohol or both, were ingested. Some of the former-gangsters claimed that during the

commission of violent acts, they were under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, for

example in the process of grievously harming someone. The former-gangsters’ inputs

indicated a strong linkage between alcohol use as well as violence. Alcohol consumption

has been found to be an important ingredient, as well as a trigerring factor in violent

incidents (Room and Rossow, 2010) because of its dis-inhibiting effects which have the

possible chance to change the individuals’ perception of risk (Bushman, 2011). Example

responses from two former-gangsters support this assertion.

Effects

People surrounded by gangs and sometimes members of gangs are mostly

affected in their psychological aspect. These are people injured through violence, they

are six times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than people
injured in accidents. They are three times more likely to suffer from depression. In a

vicious cycle, violence, poverty and mental health issues operate. Substance abuse, for

instance, can lead to violence, the psychological trauma of violence leads to worse mental

health, and the consequent schooling and job problems lead to more deprivation. In

return, the chances of additional mental health issues, substance abuse, and violence

are increasing. For communities, economies and culture, this has hit on implications. It is

a loop that must be broken urgently (Rahtz, 2017).

Next is effects on physical aspects, violent attacks include knife injuries, kicks and

punches, being beaten with a weapon, the use of cars as weapons, and, increasingly,

guns. These attacks can cause light or severe damage to the body. Another aspect is

their social life. Communities with gang activities are the most commonly prone of crime

incidents such as illegal drug trade, homicide, theft, assault, gun violence, vandalism and

negative economic impact. Also, some people will not interact with those type of people

whose involved in crimes (Rahtz, 2017).

Gangs take control over the communities

MnCube ans Steinman (2014) and Covington and Taylor (2017), state that control

of communities is taken by gangs through creating fear and intimidation. Fear is an ever-

present daily factor among members of the community who reside in communities and

schools infested with gangs. They develop ‘self-recognition’ with a special vocabulary,

clothing, signs, tattoos, colours, and territorial graffiti (Klein, 2010). They are visible,
organised and well equipped with weapons and budgets (MnCube and Steinman, 2014;

Klein, 2010). Gang members that rule by intimidation, often extorting money from learners

and forcing them to hand over lunch, money new coveted pieces of clothing, or even

homework and assignments (Lane and Meeker, 2013).

Gangs presence disrupts school functioning and learning

It has emerged from the interviews that gangs are no longer restricted to street

corners, prisons or poor societies, but are also openly present and operating within and

affecting the community and school settings (MnCube and Steinman, 2014). Teens

attending schools with gangs and drugs compared to teens attending schools without

drugs and gangs, were twelve times more likely to miss out at least three days every week

of schooling and three times more likely to have used alcohol (USDHHS, 2013). Parents

do not allow their children to go to school if they may be exposed to violence by gangs

(Finlay, 2016).

Increased bullying at school as a result of gangs

Gang presence increases the culture of violence and bullying and increases

incidents of victimisation and bullying of both learners and teachers by gang members

and non-gang members are prevalent (MnCube and Steinman, 2014). Gang presence to

a greater extent escalates levels of violence associated with bullying especially among

teens, which includes being forced to do things such as carrying drugs, verbal threats and

use of derogatory terms (Taussig, 2013). Participants also shared that some young

people would even drop out of school or join the gangs to stop the bullying process.

Students are left with no other option but to join the gangs or be harassed with threats
and physical assaults if they refuse to join the gang: “Some weak people will join so that

they are no longer harassed because no one will ever harass my brother’s gang unless

you want to die… even teachers don’t talk to gangs as they talk to us.” This argument

supports the view that students do not actively seek gang affiliation in some situations,

but can be bullied and drawn into the lifestyle. The Learner’s statement further indicates

the power and control of the exhibits of gangs in the neighborhoods and over the learners.

Gangsters recruit learners to do their dirty work which include carrying drugs, hiding

weapons and fighting (IRIN, 2007). In return, these learners get protection from bullying

and any physical harm. The study also states that recruitment is not always voluntary,

and will result in gangs exerting pressure on learners through abuse and unnecessary

bullying through refusing to join gangs when recruited.

Consequences of Joining a Gang

Exposure to drugs, alcohol and other vices might make you experience unnecessary

things that can harm your life like getting into a prison, you could get a life sentence for

committing serious crimes (Mamabolo, 2019).

One of the worst things you can gain in joining a gang is that you could get killed.

You’re not only a target for rival gangs but also your own gang. Some gangs turn on their

own members because they suspect a snitch and end up killing them. They will not even

confront them or base it on proof. They will just start shooting. If you leave, the gang may

kill you. Some may even torture you before they kill you. Another thing is you could get

loved ones killed. Not only do you endanger your own life but those of who you care

about. Family, friends, spouse, kids etc. They could end up as causalities or targets by

rival gangs or your own gang should you decide to betray them. Joining a gang might
make you live in fear. You will always have to watch your back for rival gangs and police.

Even if you are no longer an active gangster, you will still be targeted. By making yourself

involve with gangs you burn bridges. You could make potential friends and

girlfriends/boyfriends who care about you but that won’t happen if you’re in a gang. Most

people will not associate with someone who commits crimes and could get them killed.

You also miss out on some opportunities say for instance a career or job because of your

gang affiliation. The gang may force you to commit crimes that go against your morals.

It’s a misconception that gang-members feel no remorse for their crimes. They feel a lot

of guilt but use several coping mechanisms to deal with it. That does not always work

especially if you are in a jail cell where you can reflect on what you have done. You may

have to confront some of the victims’ families and face the consequences of your crimes.

You have a lot to lose. If you end up imprisoned, all your hard work goes out the window.

Your money, cars, etc. all end up in someone else’s hands (Mamabolo, 2019).

Chapter 3

Methodology

In this research, a qualitative research method is used because it is not a numerical

research which means it doesn’t have numbers and it is flexible approach to the collection

and analysis of data and the study deals with observation of experience, feeling and

emotions.
Research Design

This study was primarily intended to investigate the development and the situation

of the secondary level of education in different schools as they participated in an

organization like gang. Therefore, this fell into a research multiple case study. A case

study focuses on the scope, process, and methodological characteristics of case study

research, emphasizing the nature of inquiry as being empirical, and the importance of

context to the case (YIN’s 2014). According to Merriam (2009), Stake (1995,2005) and

Yin (2014), the objective of the case study identified as the entity of interest or unit of

analysis, program, individual, group, social situation, organization, event, phenomena, or

process.

Research Participants

The participants of this study were selected secondary level students of 6 Schools

of Tagum City is a member or a former member of a gang. Not just only members but

also leaders can be a participant of this case study. There were 2 research participants

coming from in-depth interview and two participants coming from focused group

discussion.

Data Collection and Analysis

Data Collection

An in-depth interview and focused group discussion was applied, the process of

collecting data from participants will include the confidentiality of the research

participants. Maintaining confidentiality of information collected from the research

participants means that only the investigator(s) or individuals of the research team can
identify the responses of individual subjects; however, the researchers must take every

effort to prevent anyone outside of the project from connecting individual subjects with

their responses (VPISU, 2019). The assurance of someone’s confidentiality will be

provided, usage of alias or pseudonym was also applied to the research participants. To

acquire our target data, a case study must consist of at least five to twenty-five

participants at most(Creswell, 2008). Which meet the number of participants participating

on this research study.

Data Analysis

After acquiring the needed information, data analysis was applied. Analyzing the

data gathered began after the conduction of in-depth interviews and focused group

discussion. Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming and

modelling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusion and

supporting decision-making (Gong, 2015). By analyzing the data acquired, it enables the

researchers to know and have a view of the participant or individual. The answers

acquired was classified accordingly with regards to the proper classification that will

separate them from what is common and majority in both FGD and IDI.

Trustworthiness of the Study

In a qualitative research, trustworthiness supports the argument that the findings

of the inquiry or the researcher are worth to pay attention. The researchers gathered data

and information to prove the specified problem. The researchers performed this analysis

truthfully and concisely to provide the readers as well as the other researchers with

precise information that is useful and helpful to them.

 In this study, researchers can assure the readers and research conductors that

there is no bias in participant’s selection. This aims to make sure that transferability,

credibility, dependability and confirmability are evident in the study.

Credibility

Instead of depending on sample size to represent a population, legitimacy depends

on the wealth of data and research and can be improved by triangulation. There are four

types of triangulation as introduced which can also be used in conjunction with each other:

data triangulation, using different sources (e.g. from existing research), methodological

triangulation, using more than one method (e.g. mixed methods approach, however, with

focus on qualitative methods), investigator triangulation, the use of more than one

researcher adds to the credibility of a study to alleviate the influence of the researcher

(Patton, 2002).

Transferability

Transferability refers to external validity, which is to generalize the results of a

study. A detailed explanation of the research context and underlying assumptions will

achieve transferability. By providing that information, the results of the research may be

transferred to a similar situation from the original research situation (Trochim, 2006).

Dependability

Dependability aims to replace reliability, which requires that when replicating

experiments, the same results should be achieved. As this would not be expected to

happen in a qualitative setting, alternative criteria are general understandability, flow of

arguments, and logic. Both the process and the product of the research need to be

consistent (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Confirmability

Qualitative research can be carried out to replicate earlier work, and when that is

the goal, it is important to make it internally consistent for the data categories. In their

1985 book "Naturalistic Inquiry," authors Yvonna S. Lincoln and Egon G. Guba stated that

researchers must devise rules that describe category properties and that can ultimately

be used to justify the inclusion of each data bit that remains assigned to the category as

well as to provide a basis for later replicability tests.

Ethical Considerations

One of the most essential aspects of the study may be specified as ethical

considerations. In conducting this study, respondents’ confidential information was being

prioritized and given the utmost significance. The adequate level of confidentiality of the

research data should be ensured(Bryman and Bell, 2007). Researchers formally

introduced confidentiality agreements at the beginning of the data process. Anonymity

must be assured of the individuals and organizations involved in the study. Respondents

should participate based on informed consent. The principle of informed consent involves

researchers providing sufficient information and assurances about taking part to allow

individuals to understand the implications of participation and to reach a fully informed,

considered and freely given decision about whether or not to do so, without the exercise

of any pressure or coercion(Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012). Furthermore,

researchers excluded such identifiable information from the respondents of this study

through the use of a pseudonym to keep them from being recognized and addressed.

However, respect for the integrity of respondents in the study should be taken into

consideration.