Data sources: in-depth interviews

The investigation of Latin gangs’ formation in Milan relies on the analysis of primary qualitative data originating from in-depth interviews. This research method allows to collect and analyze the participants’ own experience and information from their point of view (Seidman 2006).

In-depth interviews were preferred to other types of interviews (e.g. structured interviews, unstructured interviews) because this instrument permits to further explore the answers provided by the interviewee asking additional relevant questions. After a careful examination of the research instruments already available, as the Eurogang expert survey,³⁴ it was decided to build an ad-hoc set of questions to better guide the interviews with the experts identified. The different questions included topics commonly addressed by previous gang research (see ANNEX A). A total of 8 respondents took part in the

34 For more details on the Eurogang expert survey, visit

https://www.umsl.edu/ccj/Eurogang/pdf/Expert%20Survey.pdf.

project. The number of respondents, albeit small, provided the researcher with information on the processes associated with Latin gang formation as well as description of gang characteristics. Law enforcement officials, prosecutors, social workers, educators who worked closely on the issue of Latin gangs in Milan were contacted and interviewed, when consent was granted. Few members of the Latin American community, more precisely of the Salvadorian community, were also interviewed together with a former gang member, whose access and availability were granted through informal contacts established through a gatekeeper.

3.2.1 Sampling and data collection

The investigation employed a purposive sampling technique to identify and select

“information rich” cases (i.e. participants) for the study (Patton 2002). Sampling strategies for qualitative methods are not as explicit, evident and well-established as for quantitative methods. For these reasons, purposive sampling strategies must refer to the objective of the research to overcome such challenges (Palinkas et al. 2015, 2). To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the factors associated with Latin gang formation in Milan, this research identified both criterion sampling and snowball sampling as the most appropriate forms of purposive sampling, as they consist of the selection of subjects based on their characteristics (Patton 2002). Participants were not only chosen based on their knowledge and experience, but also on their availability and interest in participating in the study (Bernard 2002). Although purposive sampling does not permit to generate a representative sample and qualitative methods do not allow generalizability, this sampling strategy and the thematic content analysis of interview data served to give an in-depth understanding on Latin gangs.

Experts were identified through criterion sampling strategy, where the criterion referred to the role they held within their agency or institution (e.g. police investigator of foreign criminal organizations unit, honorary judge of the Juvenile Court of Milan).

Criterion sampling, in fact, implies that the selection of individuals is based on fact that they possess relevant expertise on a particular phenomenon (Palinkas et al. 2015, 5–6).

Experts of the Italian police and the judicial system as well as social workers were contacted with the support of two gatekeepers who facilitated the communication with

them through direct contact. In some cases, gatekeepers were essential for establishing a fruitful contact with the agency or the organization and gain access to further conduct the interview (Creswell and Plano Clark 2007; Seidman 2006).

With regard to the members of the community, a systematic online search of Latin American cultural associations active in Milan was performed to identify the most suitable associations to be contacted. Relevant cultural associations were identified based on the nationality of gang members previously identified and/or arrested (e.g. Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador). Of five associations contacted, a cultural association of Salvadorian immigrants showed interest in the research. A long-term communication established with the association and developed over a period of more than four months ensured the researcher’s credibility with a member of the association who was interviewed and also served as a gatekeeper. In this case, a snowball sampling strategy was employed, asking upon the completion of the interview whether it was possible to identify other individuals who would participate in the study (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981). This strategy led to the inclusion of two participants, one other from the cultural association and a former member of the MS13 convicted for gang-related crimes and who had recently re-established some contacts with the association after serving time in prison.³⁵ These three interviews were conducted in Spanish, the respondents’ mother tongue, to facilitate their answers and avoid misinterpretation due to linguistic differences. The interviews were translated into English, a process which may lead the researcher to face the complexity of translation.

Nonetheless, conducting the interview in the participant’s mother tongue, when the researcher is also fluent in that language, honors that language and permits to report segment of the interview in the original language (Seidman 2006).

Individuals of the cultural association and the former gang member provided details only on the processes associated with the formation of the maras in Milan, therefore not contributing to the overall analysis on Latin gangs (i.e. gangs from other Latin American countries, as the Latin King from Ecuador). Nonetheless, the remaining interviews involved the major experts on the topic in Milan, whose different approaches and points of view—combined with the in-depth knowledge of community members and former

35 Although the former gang member did not possess the knowledge to inform about the overall factors leading to gang formations in Milan, he provided unique insights into the life of a Salvadorian immigrant who became involved in gang-related crimes and violence once arrived in the city. This interview therefore resembles a life-history, as a greater flexibility was given to let topics of discussion emerge.

gang members—allowed to draw a comprehensive and complex picture of the phenomenon (Creswell and Plano Clark 2011). The total number of participants (n = 8), albeit small, permitted to highlight and reveal the most central themes emerged about the processes involved in gang formation, the first objective of this case study. Additionally, in qualitative research there is not a definitive number of participants to be recruited for interviews (Seidman 2006). Table 2 provides a brief description of the respondents who took part in the study.

Table 2. Participants in research interviews

Expertise, role, or description

Police Investigator (Mecenate Police Station of Milan) Honorary Judge (Juvenile Court of Milan)

Social Worker (Social Service Office for Minors) Social Educator (Social Cooperative)

Social Educator*

Community Member (Salvadorian Cultural Association) Community Member (Salvadorian religious community) Former gang member

*Preferred not to disclose any information related with his/her professional affiliation

Half of the interviews were recorded with a digital audio device and were transcribed to code their content with qualitative thematic content analysis. Recording qualitative interviews allows the researcher to focus on the participant with active listening (Edwards and Holland 2013). In two occasions it was not possible to record the interview and careful notes were taken and reorganized in interview reports. Finally, in one occasion the respondent preferred to reply to the answers through a text document so that he could provide more extensive and thoughtful answers to the topics he had more experience on.

The set of questions sought to bring to the discussion relevant topics related with gang formation and life in the gang. In some occasions the questions were distributed beforehand to allow the participant to know in advance the content of the interview. In few other occasions the informed consent and the interview guide were brought directly to the interview (see ANNEX A). All participants agreed on being interviewed and their consent was either recorded, provided orally or provided through email exchanges (in which informed consent was attached). Informed consent allows participants to know

enough about the research to decide whether they want to participate and be interviewed (Seidman 2006, 61).³⁶ All data were stored in a private folder and protected with a password and used solely for the purpose of this research.