Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America

by Robert Brenneman

Why would a gun-wielding, tattoo-bearing "homie" trade in la vida loca for a Bible and the buttoned-down lifestyle of an evangelical hermano (brother in Christ)? To answer this question, Robert Brenneman interviewed sixty-three former gang members from the "Northern Triangle" of Central America--Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras--most of whom left their gang for evangelicalism. Unlike in the United States, membership in a Central American gang is hasta la morgue. But the most common exception to the "morgue rule" is that of conversion or regular participation in an evangelical church. Do gang members who weary of their dangerous lifestyle simply make a rational choice to opt for evangelical religion? Brenneman finds this is only partly the case, for many others report emotional conversions that came unexpectedly, when they found themselves overwhelmed by a sermon, a conversation, or a prayer service. An extensively researched and gritty account, Homies and Hermanos sheds light on the nature of youth violence, of religious conversion, and of evangelical churches in Central America.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christianity

294 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2011

Reviews

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author explores a relatively narrow topic - shame as a push factor for gangsters in the Northern Triangle.

In 6 chapters, the author briefly covers the history of the two main gangs in the Northern Triangle, examines shame from abuse or failures as a push factor, explores options and consequences for leaving the gang, and provides examples of how evangelical ministries facilitate leaving the gangs via radical personal conversion.

This book does have several strong features. The core thesis is that one major push factor is shame - shame via abuse, failure, or other personal "weakness" - that encourages young men to seek power by joining a gang. Joining a gang may provide temporary relief through sex, drugs, and violence, but it does not help gangsters escape the shame loop. In fact, it can often lead to a boomerang effect as shame begets shame and violence begets violence. In contrast, because evangelical churches emphasize emotional release, testimonies, and radical conversion, they can provide an outlet to release shame and restore some sort of emotional balance. The author did interview 63 ex-gangsters and provided many interview segments, accounts, and witnesses to support this theory. I think the theory is intriguing.

Additionally, the Chapter 1 about the origin of the gangs is a fantastic overview, especially considering how brief it is. This is also hardly a panegyric for evangelical ministries, as the author explains the issues, challenges, and flaws of evangelical programs. Just one pastor got about 3 pages devoted to how he was naively carrying out "favors" for a powerful ranflero in prison.

That being said, I do give this book 3 stars because it does have a few issues. Not with the central thesis, but with other aspects of the narrative.

1) It is silly that the Catholic section got just 18 pages out of 250 pages of text. The author explained why Catholics focus more on prevention than exiting the gang, but this "comparative" section is so ludicrously small that it should have been omitted. I think the book would have been better off if the author had simply ignored the Catholic Church entirely, rather than covering it so shabbily.

2) The author does not examine religious practices among current gang members, or women, or "normal" citizens. We don't really have a baseline to compare the male (ex)gangsters to.

3) The author also doesn't really go deep into history, state policy, or how sociologists from these countries view gang issues - or everyday citizens, for that matter. I think it is fantastic that the author interviewed 63 gang members - and he even includes a table displaying a data summary - but we ONLY hear from gangsters and pastors.

In conclusion: I think the author did a good job interviewing 63 gang members and coming up with a theory for how evangelical churches can help release shame - along with the flaws and pitfalls encountered in this process. However, this is definitely not a comprehensive text.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book about gangs in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador is fascinating and I highly recommend it.

Although there are no gangs very active here in western Honduras, I found his analysis of the factors leading to entrance into gangs extremely helpful in thinking about ministry to young people.

In addition to the factors of poverty, family problems, and difficulties in school. Brenneman adds "shame." Because of their situations some young people experience a profound sense of shame - especially apparent in a society with extreme inequity. I would add that in Honduras there is the added shame of being poor and being despised by the economic and political elites, one of whom openly called them "gente del monte" - hill-billies.

Brenneman was especially interested in a phenomenon in some gangs where members are "allowed" to leave the gangs if they convert to "evangelical" Protestantism. the dynamic is interesting, including how the "conversion experience" is often experienced in one's whole person, in one's body.

I will refer back to this book in the next year while the parish where I serve renews its work with young people - and perhaps also with violence prevention.

The need to undercut the culture of shame is something I want to think about and investigate.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been thinking of the many books I’ve read over the years having to do with Guatemala, remembering all they’ve taught me about the land where I was born, a country I’m even still getting to know. If for one reason or another you’re interested in learning more about Guatemala – say, because you know next to nothing about it or because you’re headed there on a summer mission trip or because you’re curious where that fair trade coffee you’re enjoying came from – below are five books I’d recommend getting and reading...

- See more at: http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/2013/0...

[Danny Lamastra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ethnographic study. I’m not aware of any other researcher who has tackled this topic. My only critique is that the author sometimes goes out of his way to provide an unnecessarily complicated or skeptical non-religious reason for why religious organizations such as churches and ministries believe and operate the way they do.

[Zhelana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but in the end the big question is "so what?" Brenneman argues that one of the few successful ways for a youth to leave a gang is to convert to evangelical christianity, and that as long as he does walk the straight and narrow after that he is at least more likely to survive than any other method of leaving the gang. But at the same time he concludes that this is not happening in significant enough numbers to affect gang violence in the region. He takes a short side trip to show why this same pattern isn't happening with Catholics, but at the same time he just argued that it isn't happening very much with evangelicals, either. I kept reading because I was interested in what he was saying, but at the end I'm kind of left wondering, "so what?" I guess that's true of a lot of sociological studies, though.

[Katie Yaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight to youth and gangs in Central America and is very easily digestible, even for the non-academic reader (or non-religious reader). A must-read for anyone working in youth development work in Central America!