What Is Sanchez's Last Barrier?

The Last Barrier Sanchez never enrolled in school after coming back to the United States of America from Puerto Rico. Education was no longer a priority to him, instead he chose to drink alcohol, do drugs, have sex, and hang around gang members. Merlo, Benekos, & Champion (2016) points to “poor school performance” as representative of at-risk youth (p. 53). Sanchez went beyond this by eliminating school from his life. He had now freed himself of the last barrier that may have prevented his ascent into the troubled world of gang life. Sanchez was clear to become a member of the environment he coveted and felt would accept him.
Failure
Sanchez had not committed any severe crimes up to this point in his life, despite his association with gang
Unfortunately, he sought out a similar group of gang members known as the Latin Kings. Sanchez partied with a few of the Latin Kings and it wasn’t long before he was once again asked to commit gang violence. Sanchez did not want a repeat of the disappointment he felt when he let his last gangster friends down. He used a shotgun to kill at least one person while wounding multiple others. This was his first real act of gang violence. Merlo, Benekos, & Champion (2016) states, “approximately half of all homicides are gang-related” (p. 55). There is a chance that Sanchez may not have been put in a situation where he would commit murder if he had chosen to hang around people who were not gang-affiliated, but that was where he felt most comfortable.
Sanchez Becomes a Gangster
The murder committed by Sanchez finally gave him a reason to walk through the doorway he had been standing in for some time. Sanchez (2000) states “It was also the beginning of my tenure as a gangbanger. There was no turning back” (p. 89). The gangster reputation was something that Sanchez admired. He continued to commit acts of violence with gangsters despite not officially being a gang member until he was invited to join the Latin Kings. As Sanchez (2000) states, “I decided to become a member of the Latin Kings…not because I wanted to, but because I was too scared to say no” (p. 122).
A Life
Gang members often commit crimes that the justice system deems too heinous for the individual to be released back into society, so they spend life in prison. The other option for gang members is death which typically means they were a victim of a rival gang or from time to time their own gang. Many prospects might reconsider joining a gang if they were presented with these options at the time of introduction.
Sanchez reconsidered before he was initiated into the Latin Kings, but he did not back out for fear of consequences. Even though joining the Latin Kings was a mistake, it did not seal Sanchez’s fate. In a rare move, Sanchez decided to put the gang life behind him and return to school to educate himself. His way out was to approach the gang leader to ask for his release and take a beating. Sanchez did this and was able to clean up as well as put his horrific life he had led up to that point behind him. He found a way out.