ABSTRACT
Gang identity and group membership can be signified through personal style, storied via narratives and storytelling, performed for real or presumed audiences in person or online, and accomplished (or not) in ways that provide status and belonging. This chapter discusses the ways gang members perform their gang identity, particularly through narratives. I engage in discussions of how personal style factors into gang identity and performance but rely primarily on gang members’ own words and their descriptions of gang identity to discuss the importance and meaning of the gang to its members’ lives. I focus on several key points in the potential continuum of gang membership, such as their decisions to join or form gangs, the activities they engage in with their gangs, and the ways former gang members perform gang leaving via narratives. I also explore ways they negotiate performing gang identity and membership while performing other identities, which they may feel to be at odds with their gang identities.
