Resilience, adverse childhood experiences and hopelessness in youth linked to gangs

Adverse childhood experiences represent a series of experiences lived in childhood which cause a deterioration or some important modification in any sphere of their life especially in mental health where well-being and resilience are compromised, and risk of psychiatric symptoms, the risk of suicide, the abuse of psychoactive substances, behaviors contrary to coexistence, specifically gang involvement, increase. The objective of this research is to relate adverse events in childhood, the level of hopelessness and the resilience capacity of a group of youngsters linked to gangs in the city of Manizales, Caldas. The study applied a mixed methodology in which the correlation of these variables was investigated in the quantitative component and a focus group with six participants was carried out at the qualitative level with a subsequent thematic analysis. The results found low levels of hopelessness, high levels of resilience and an average of 3.25 adverse events in childhood for each youngster, with a negative correlation between resilience and hopelessness and a positive correlation between hopelessness and adverse childhood experiences. Low socioeconomic status, exposure to violence in the community, separation from parents or imprisonment of a family member were found among the most prevalent adverse events. In the analysis of the focus group, categories were found that reaffirmed the quantitative findings with the perception of family breakdown, violence in the community and economic difficulties as the greatest impact; in addition to the way to resist these socioeconomic difficulties through its territory and to have a vision of the future. Analysis like the previous on proposes improving living conditions of children and youth as a priority beyond psychosocial care.