Why Some Youth Gravitate to Drugs and Gangs

Barry Joneson – September 17, 2007

WHY do kids get wrapped up in the drug and/or gang lifestyle? Until we find a definitive answer to this problem, we will never find a definitive solution.

A pre-requisite to finding a long-term solution to an escalating problem must begin with the origin of the problem. Quite often those addicted to drugs don't end up in gangs and a lot of gang members don't get addicted to drugs. Yet that some children end up in either situation may often be for the same reason. 

What is the correlation between the two and why do kids end up either using drugs or in gangs, or both? Over the years my research and hands on involvement helping those struggling to become responsible and productive members of society has lead to some pretty clear answers. Whether a child is from a marginalized socio-economic community or from a seemingly middle to upper class functional family background, there are some very similar thoughts and feelings from early childhood that seem to predispose them to the dangers of drugs and gangs. The most prevalent feeling of these kids is loneliness; and the most prevalent thought is of never being good enough or equal to others. 

How does this predisposition take root? Today we live in an increasingly fast-paced world in which both parents are working or the parents have separated for some reason or the parents are simply very dysfunctional, having learned most of there parenting skills from their parents who were dysfunctional as well. Too many children in these cases are denied the necessary nurturing needed to create a foundation for a positive future.

In the above situations very impressionable and sensitive kids either end up feeling they are not worthy of their parents time/love or that they have somehow contributed to the negative situation in their home.

It is important to note that unconditional love plays a key role in the development of a child. It is important because it plays a key role in solutions to the problems of drug/gang involvement. An integral part of unconditional love is appropriate consequences for negative behaviour. 

What makes drugs and gangs so appealing to children? A collateral effect of all drugs is a false sense of well being. Therefore, for those youngsters feeling stress from the life at home, or feeling less adequate than others due to an accumulation of verbal or physical messages received in early childhood, the use of drugs has a profound and almost magical effect on them. The desire to get that sense of well-being, again and again, in what they perceive as a hostile and challenging world very quickly becomes an obsession and compulsion.

I can only describe it to a non-addict this way: remember your first love and how strong and constant were your feelings and thoughts about the person from the moment you woke up until you fell asleep at night. That is what it is like for most with a predisposition to drugs after they use drugs for the first time. The only difference is that over time, the thoughts and feelings for most of those in love with a person seem to subside somewhat, while in those who have found their best friend or true love in drugs, which seemingly gives them everything they need to function in life, the compulsion and obsession deepens.

Gangs give our children a sense of belonging to a family; being a part of something. In the beginning it fills a deep void, most often the direct result of their early years. As well, many prospective gang members come from impoverished families and the lure of big, easy money is like that of a drug. In the end, like drugs, it all changes and they become pawns in a deadly game from which it is very hard to escape. Gangs don't want to let members go once they have become a valuable asset.

This summer when I was down in Los Angeles I spoke to a fellow who started a program for gang youth. One of his most promising kids had a dilemma, he really wanted out of the gang but the only way out was to be beaten out, a situation where he would have to go and take a very bad beating. This created a difficult situation as the teen had asked the founder of the program to come and be a witness, which might help save his life.

The program founder could have contacted the police but that would have made the situation much worse for the teen or he could have chosen to do nothing and risk feeling somehow responsible for his death. He chose to go with the youth to the beating and said to me that it was the hardest decision he has ever had to make. The end result is the kid got beat severely but he healed up and is now a peer support to others that want to leave gang life. That is an example of just how difficult it is for many to escape gang life.

Whether it is drugs and the constant nagging feeling to use some to cope with life or the example of the kid escaping the gang life, a couple things are very clear. You can tell our youth about the pitfalls of either lifestyle but most don't believe it will ever be that bad for them or, if they do, it doesn't matter since the desire to escape the way they are feeling or the void they feel in their lives overrides all good judgment. 

What can we do? Some say there is nothing we can do, so give the addicts all the drugs they want through government programs and let them lay around the streets. In the result addicts would continue to be a negative presence and continue their disorderly lifestyle. In that situation gang members with ties to the drug trade and prostitution, encouraged by our criminal justice system’s lax sentencing would take it as an incentive to continue and increase their territory and illegal activity. Others say addicts have created the dilemma for themselves and should straighten up on their own or be shipped off to an island, or something along those lines. Many say gang members should be locked up and the key should be thrown away.

There are difficulties with all these polarized thoughts on how to deal with these problems and the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle of all this.

Part of unconditional love is the ability to attempt to separate the person from negative behaviour by bringing negative consequences to bear; while at the same time also offering and providing positive affirmations and action for positive behaviour. All of the successful programs I have gone to and researched in the United States convince me that unconditional love is the answer.

What it really comes down to is appropriate sentencing for crimes committed but also having programs that start in the prisons with seamless transitions to the community upon release from prison. There are some after-jail programs but rarely do they include any means to bridge the gap created by absence of unconditional love in the convict’s childhood and upbringing. In my opinion until this is addressed and in place there is little hope of having a paradigm shift in thinking that is necessary to foster successful rehabilitation.

For addicts, drugs are the most obvious symptom of a much larger problem; they use drugs to cope with life and using drugs is simply the very poorest life skill for dealing with their problems. They mustn’t be given free drugs; they need to face some negative consequences from their addiction so they can find the desire to seek positive change. Governments at all levels are doing is the exact opposite of what needs to be done. Most addicts can recover and many do when they find the desire to change.

Whatever the negative lifestyle the answers are simple but as long as our politicians and judges continue in the direction they are headed things will only get worse. 

The above statements are not absolutes and kids from seemingly good upbringings can fall into the same pitfalls, however, when one sits down and interviews these kids it becomes clear that something was very lacking in their upbringing, despite the fact that it was "normal" by society standards.

As well, for most of those advocating harsh justice, unconditional love seems to have no place in the debate yet it is the only answer. Once one realizes that part of unconditional love is appropriate sentencing as a consequence for negative behaviour it makes more sense. Yes, it is so hard to love those who seem to be so bad, but being angry and hostile breeds more anger and hostility.

I was once homeless on skidroad, a heroin addict for 27 years and a convict, going to jail for property crimes committed to get drug money. Because I got appropriate sentences for my crimes and there was no harm reduction strategy to keep me comfortably sick; and because some folks showed me unconditional love and provided positive guidance in my life, I have become a businessman; and for 15 years I have dedicated my life to helping addicts in the same way I was helped.

All that is written above is based on notes I made of my interactions with over five hundred drug addicts and convicts as well as time spent in Los Angeles examining programs that change lives. I am committed to finding answers that will minimize these problems.

What seems to work is innovative approaches and programming, something our governments are unwilling to consider.

Barry Joneson