Sentenced to College - Chapter 4

Gang life in Willmar

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In 1995, a family and addiction counselor named Kate Cavett began working with young gang members inside an adolescent male correctional facility in Minnesota. She was also an experienced oral historian, so in an effort to better understand gang subculture and develop effective programming that might actually help these young teens escape gang life, she began listening to them and recording their stories.

For three years, Cavett sat down with 105 young Minnesota gang members from all walks of life. They were of Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, and Native descent. They lived in places like Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud and Duluth, but also smaller, more rural locations like Grand Rapids, Litchfield and Willmar.