Preventing Gang Violence Through Healing Circles: The Case of the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is not only to examine how Chicano and Mexican men navigate and negotiate street gangs, the criminal justice system, and self-destructive behaviors that dehumanize them, but also how they rehumanize themselves through the development of culturally rooted consciousness based on Indigenous cosmologies and epistemologies. It examines how these marginalized men integrate a Maya–Nahua philosophical syncretism with restorative and transformative justice practices, rooted in dialogue, that emphasize ethnic identity and social justice. Specifically, this piece focuses on the processes of re-indigenization and re-humanization that these men embrace within community-based spaces. The aim of this inquiry is twofold: (1) to understand the curative and culturally rooted cosmologies and practices of community-based healing circles to prevent self-destructive behaviors and (2) to identify the complexities of re-humanization and Indigenous-based pedagogies as a liberatory praxis that resists the discourses and mechanisms of dehumanization. Using Freire’s liberatory praxis framework, supplemented with indigenous pedagogies and qualitative methods, I argue that their engagement in re-indigenization facilitates their conversions as they begin to see themselves as subjects, rather than objects, subjugated by the created apparatuses of power or knowledge. The Círculo de Hombres plays a pivotal role in transforming men’s lives as they learn to see themselves as creators of historical knowledge and change agents, possessing the ability to transform themselves and the world around them.

1. The Prevalence of Indigeneity

Chicana/o/x, Mexican, and Indigenous peoples are part of a seven-thousand-year-old story of sacred maíz or corn that frames the history of the North American continent (Rodriguez 2014). Chicana/o/x, Mexican, and Indigenous populations have not only experienced a de-Indigenization—the loss of their Indigenous culture, language, history, spirituality, and values—but have also survived Spanish colonization and U.S. imperialism and the intergenerational traumas caused by them (Acuña 2015; Bonfil Batalla [1987] 1996; Estrada 2009; Martínez 1999; Rodriguez 2014, 2021; Tello 1998). While Spanish and Euro-Americans tried to eliminate Indigenous forms of knowledge, these philosophies prevailed and offered alternative worldviews to Western thought.

In the 1960s and 1970s, during the Chicana/o Movement, Chicano elders taught younger generations about their traditional culture, facilitating a reconnection to their traditional Maya–Nahua teachings (de Jesús Acosta 2007; de Jesús Acosta and Ramos 2016; Montoya 2015; Rodriguez 2021). According to Roberto Rodriguez (2014), activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM) not only influenced Chicano elders, but after Chicanos and Chicanas had contact with Maya–Nahua elders, they learned that they shared similar ceremonies and traditions, such as the sweat lodge or temezcal (the purification ceremony). As Chicana/o elders reconnected with ancestral teachings and traditions, they in turn passed them down to young people, including, but not limited to, the sweat lodge and extended kinship networks, or talking/healing circles (de Jesús Acosta and Ramos 2016; Ginwright 2016; Montoya 2015; Rodriguez 2014; Tello 1998).

Within community-based spaces in California, in the 1980s and 1990s, a new generation of Chicana/o and Indigenous leaders created grassroots organizations that facilitated the empowerment, healing, and re-Indigenization of young people.1 In 1988, the San Jose non-profit organization, the National Compadres Network (NCN), incorporated the “compadre” extended kinship network tradition of the Círculo de Hombres (Circle of Men) and Men’s Retreats, to re-root the capacity of Chicano, Latino, and other communities of color nationwide (National Compadres Network 2025). In 1993, Chicana/o and Indigenous leaders created the San Diego non-profit organization, Izcalli (a Nahuatl word that translates to “the House of Re-awakening”), to promote a culturally rooted consciousness and teach young people about their history, culture, and the arts (Izcalli 2025). Although Izcalli had implemented gendered circles since its inception, they borrowed the NCN’s Hombre Noble (Noble Man) curriculum and extended kinship network models and created Izcalli’s Círculo de Hombres to help heal men in 1998 (Izcalli 2025; National Compadres Network 2025). As part of the NCN’s grid, Izcalli’s Círculo de Hombres commenced intentionally fostering dialogue among males of all ages in its monthly meetings and Annual Men’s Gathering to collectively and intergenerationally transmit culture-based values, reconnecting Chicano and Mexican men with ancestral knowledge that offered guidance and teachings (Caporale 2020; de Jesús Acosta and Ramos 2016; Ginwright 2016; Izcalli 2025; National Compadres Network 2025).2

This study focuses on men of the Izcalli’s Círculo de Hombres in the San Diego borderland, highlighting the experiences of a de-indigenized community that had a long history of activism and resistance against oppression by the conservative Republican ruling class, xenophobia, and the legacy of super-patriotic policies (Davis et al. 2005; Ortiz 2007; Rodriguez 2021). Focusing on this community of color that reflects the “other” San Diego, which tourists typically do not see (Davis et al. 2005, p. 4), Izcalli’s Círculo de Hombres originated in the neighborhoods of Barrio Logan and Logan Heights amidst the perpetual context of criminalization, especially alleged street gang members via gang injunctions (Caporale 2023). When the group emerged, it had received grant funding to teach “at-risk” youth about teen-pregnancy prevention and engaging in healthy behaviors. Given its grassroots orientation, the program attracted many youth and young men, who were often labeled as “gang-associated” (Rios 2017). For this reason, Izcalli and its liaisons also focused on gang prevention, encouraging young people to shift their attitudes from self-destruction to self-determination (Izcalli 2025). As the funding for this grant came to an end a few years later, the Círculo de Hombres shifted towards a more holistic, inclusive, and less structured community-based orientation for men of all ages. This essay aims to capture how men engage in curative and culturally rooted cosmologies and practices that dissuade self-destructive behaviors, whilst reclaiming pre-Columbian philosophies through healing circles.

2. Dehumanization

In the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (2000) argued that humanization has always been a central concern for people, and this issue has led to the recognition of their dehumanization.3 As marginalized populations have longed for re-humanization and to stop being objectified, the abuse and cruelty exercised by the oppressor have prevented the oppressed from achieving liberation (Freire 2000).4 Freire states, “This struggle is possible only because dehumanization, although a concrete historical fact, is not a given destiny but the result of an unjust system that causes violence in the oppressors, which in turn dehumanizes the oppressed” (Freire 2000, p. 44). Since de-humanization impacts both groups, re-humanization creates liberatory possibilities, and this freedom must come from the oppressed (Freire 2000).

Within Chicana/o and Mexican communities, nowhere has Freire’s description of dehumanization been more evident than it was for marginalized men, especially street gang members, who have embodied the oppressor’s view. The myths circulated by the oppressor have caused this suppressed group to adopt the oppressor’s values and worldview, and eventually, they began imitating and following the oppressor’s actions (Carrillo and Zarza 2006; Freire 2000), and for “dehumanizing-isms” to thrive and flourish (Jemal 2021, p. 2). According to Carrillo and Zarza (2006), as the oppressed faced subjugation under patriarchy, colonization, and racism, they then reproached others for these ills, blaming and harming other oppressed people. From a Freirean perspective, these men engaged in the pedagogy of the oppressed, through being a racial minority, and the pedagogy of the oppressor, through being male. Freire maintained that “As the oppressors dehumanize others and violate their rights, they themselves also become dehumanized” (Freire 2000, p. 56). Thus, when the oppressed identified with the oppressor who threatened and abused their community, some members of the oppressed began to act with aggression against other oppressed people (Carrillo and Zarza 2006; Freire 2000).

As noted by Freire (2000), dehumanization must be understood on both ontological and historical levels. According to Rodriguez (2016, p. 6), historically, not only did the systematic dehumanization of communities of color in the Western Hemisphere begin in 1492 after the arrival of Columbus, but there has also been a “500-year de-Indigenization scheme” against maíz-based peoples. People of color were perceived as less than human or subhuman. They were dehumanized and subjugated based on race/ethnicity through white supremacist ideologies, causing some of them to internalize the oppressor’s gaze (Acuña 2015; Bonilla-Silva 2001; Freire 2000; Gómez-Quiñones 2011; Mills 1997; Rodriguez 2016). On an ontological level, the external and internal oppression experienced by Chicano and Mexican men must be understood as the direct outcome of surviving 500+ years of colonialism and empire in the U.S. (Acuña 2015; Grande 2004; Rodriguez 2014; Smith 2021). Ultimately, combining the disruption of maíz-based cultures by the invasion and the historical and contemporary forms of criminalization of the Chicano and Mexican communities demonstrates that the dehumanization of these peoples remains.

3. Street Gangs and Criminalization

Mexican American male groups in their communities started being labeled as “gangs” by sociologists during the 1920s (Moore 1991, p. 26). In Going Down to the Barrio, Joan Moore (1991, p. 1) argued that the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 were America’s first “moral panic,” an outbreak of fear usually beginning with exaggerated reports from law enforcement with the help of the media. Amidst the War on Drugs by the Reagan Administration, a second moral panic took place in the 1980s, and it centered on street gang members of color (Marable 2007; Moore 1991). The consequence of both moral panics resulted in males of color being racially profiled and policed through the methods of stop-and-frisk in their neighborhoods and being treated as criminals (Marable 2007; Moore 1991).

In California, to reduce street gang violence and prevent crime, legislators have enacted “sentence enhancement,” which adds automatic time to specific offenses from documented street gang members under the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention (STEP) Act of 1988, and the “three strikes” law of 1994 (Gilmore 2007, pp. 107–8). Labeled as urban terrorists, policymakers have also passed exact legislation that solely targeted street gang members of color. From 1987 to 2021, civil abatements, also known as gang injunctions, were enforced to manage the behaviors and spaces of alleged street gang members in Southern California (Caporale 2023). Gang injunctions not only first appeared in San Diego County in 1997, but one of the twenty targeted the neighborhoods of Barrio Logan and Logan Heights from 2003 until 2021 through its “safety zones” (Caporale 2023, p. 119). Indeed, gang injunctions are significant for two reasons: first, the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego emerged in the community of Barrio Logan, and second, the names of some of the men in this study were found on a gang injunction for San Diego County. At the local, state, national, and international levels, street gang violence constitutes a real problem, and government and non-government agencies have taken countless approaches to understand the causes of gangs and gang violence.

The so-called gang problem associated with Chicano and Mexican men has been both socially constructed (through the media, policing, and gang injunctions) and materially consequential (harm and structural drivers). According to James Diego Vigil (2012), poverty is often associated with high rates of deviance and crime, where poor people engage in illicit and informal economies to survive. Gangs cannot be separated from structural inequities, such as poverty, housing policies, and poor education, that create the environments that produce them (Kolb et al. 2025). Within the intersection of gangs and education, racial capitalism and “the school-to-prison pipeline” result in gang affiliation (Kolb et al. 2025, p. 8). As environmental conditions facilitate the emergence of gangs, this results in the paradox of “over-policing and under protection” within socio-economically disadvantaged communities (Lanni 2022, p. 69). Consequently, males of color become overrepresented within the juvenile and adult justice systems on an international scale (Robertson and Wainwright 2020). As Black and Brown communities become labeled as gang-associated, their targeting and hyper-criminalization become justified (Rios 2017; Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs et al. 2024), resulting in African Americans and Latinos being less likely to view the police as “legitimate” (Li et al. 2024, p. 13). According to Narayanan Ganapathy (2025, p. 13), experiences with gang violence among racial minorities result in them being seen as “double failures,” facing marginalization along the axes of racial hierarchies within illicit sectors in society, while also embracing hypermasculine expressions associated with violence and risk-taking. Subsequently, within the over-policing and under-protection of marginalized communities, this dialectic social construction cannot be eclipsed from the realities of gang violence.

4. Men of the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego

To address the issue of gang violence, a holistic strategy that integrates both intervention and prevention approaches must be implemented, recognizing that no single solution can fully resolve the problem. Globally, restorative justice and transformative justice practices have been implemented to prevent gang violence. Concerning restorative justice, studies have demonstrated that these practices have been effective and promising in reducing youth violence through policing initiatives (Hobson et al. 2022) and as community-based interventions by non-profit organizations or community groups that focus on “peacemaking circles” or healing circles (Lanni 2022, p. 75; Wood et al. 2022, p. 6). Approaches that incorporate Elders and the context of colonialism have also proven effective in reducing the harms of street gang violence (Trevethan and Maxwell 2023). Moreover, other community-based models, rooted in socio-ecological approaches to reduce violence, have proven effective, especially those that have integrated with culturally and trauma-informed care (Gebo and Franklin 2023; Paat et al. 2025), community-based desistance (DuBois 2024; Roman et al. 2021), and those that focus on transformative practices, such as the Integrated Transformative Potential Intervention Development (InTrePID) Method (Jemal 2021). Consequently, gang prevention solutions must integrate prevention and intervention approaches to ameliorate gang violence.

The Círculo de Hombres not only provided a safe space for men to engage in restorative justice, transformative justice, and spiritual practices, but also engaged in decolonial pedagogies embedded in Maya–Nahua philosophies. Rooted in an Elder–Youth Epistemology, among these values were the 7Rs—respect, reciprocity, relationship, responsibility, regeneration, resistance, and resilience—leading to “resistance/creation” (Rodriguez 2014, p. 175). As the men of the Círculo participated in ceremonies and healing circles, reconnecting with ancestral principles, they were also resisting self-destructive practices that degrade their humanity. Precisely, the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego taught men the following values: that a man keeps his word, does not hurt others, takes responsibility for his actions, and is a positive example for others. Not only were these values consistent with the 7Rs, but the men were also taught that they had a sacred purpose and to live their lives in ceremony (National Compadres Network 2025; Rodriguez 2014; Tello 2018). Thus, all these concepts constituted engaging in practices that restored their humanity.

5. From Dehumanization to Re-Humanization

The dehumanization of Chicano and Mexican cultures is the manifestation of their oppression, stigmatization, and labeling in society as some of the men of these cultures are often targeted in all facets of society, their experiences reflect how their bodies and spaces are regulated through biopolitics or biopower, the state-sanctioned race and racism that is used to marginalize unfavorable populations who are deemed a threat to the social order (Caporale 2023; Foucault 2003; Rios 2017; Shah 2011). As members of the Chicana/o and Mexican communities continued to be objectified in the U.S. social order, their engagement in self-destructive behavior revealed that they continued to deal with the effects of intergenerational trauma and marginalization (Acuña 2015; de Jesús Acosta and Ramos 2016; Estrada 2009; Gonzales 2012; Martínez 1999; Rodriguez 2021; Vigil 2012). Additionally, some young men felt compelled to join street gangs and used drugs and/or alcohol to cope with such marginalization (Moore 1991; Vigil 2012). Because some of these men experienced a type of “social death” through criminalization (Rios 2011, pp. 159–60), this displacement resulted in them feeling that they lacked a purpose in life, especially when they were perpetually stigmatized as deviant or members of a gang (Rios 2017). Ultimately, the focus of this study is not only to understand how Chicano and Mexican men navigate the hegemony of dehumanization, but also how they embody and negotiate Indigenous-based concepts associated with their traditional Maya–Nahua cultures, as this facilitates their re-indigenization.

6. Theoretical Framework

6.1. Liberatory Praxis

For Freire (2000), humanization is the central concern of the oppressed, where dialogue plays a fundamental role. Freire (2000, p. 79) states, “Authentic liberation—the process of humanization—is not another deposit to be made in men. Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it.” Within the process of re-humanization, the oppressed not only recognize their subjugation within the social order, but also that this struggle must be carried out by them (Freire 2000). Applied to Chicano and Mexican men, this liberatory praxis facilitates critical consciousness, empowering them to transform themselves and the communities around them. I argue that the Círculo de Hombres plays a pivotal role in transforming men’s lives as they learn to see themselves as historical knowledge creators and change agents who possess the ability to transform themselves and their communities using healing circles.

6.2. Braiding Freire’s Framework

Retaining Freire as the core anchor, theoretical elements from criminology, criminal sociology, and sociology of violence were incorporated to specify how oppression is navigated and negotiated through the lived experiences of men from the Círculo de Hombres. These frameworks included: intersectionality for layered oppressions; racial capitalism to locate harms upstream; critical race theory on criminalization; decolonial frameworks for re-indigenization; social disorganization to connect neighborhood stressors; labeling theory on “gang-associated” identities; and procedural justice for legitimacy and compliance. This braid also positions the Círculo de Hombres within global work on community-based desistance and culturally grounded rehabilitation.

Intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1994) to address how the moving categories of race, class, gender, and sexuality overlap with one another. By studying how the categories of different intersect, simultaneously, we can better understand people’s identities, privileges, and marginalizations. Focusing on the intersections of race and gender allows us to better understand the layered oppressions of masculinity associated with Chicano and Mexican men.

Racial capitalism links the political economy to prison building in California that took place in the early 1980s (Gilmore 2007). Using race and geography, Gilmore (2007, pp. 19–20) addresses how leaders, through the dominant discourses of drugs and gangs, create public policies, and this results in “stiffer sentences” and the building of more prisons. Gilmore’s analysis demonstrates the logical inconsistencies of the dominant theoretical model for the building of prisons because crime went down.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) treats the concept of race and racism as central components within law and policy in the United States (Delgado and Stefancic 2023). CRT addresses the relevance of race in policing, the War on Drugs, and prison populations (Delgado and Stefancic 2023). Not only does CRT critique the foundations of liberalism, but it also uses counter-stories to challenge mainstream narratives and beliefs (Delgado and Stefancic 2023), and hence, offers counter-narratives to the stories of men.

Decolonial frameworks are relevant because they deconstruct Western knowledge and Western constructions about Indigenous populations (Smith 2021). As Indigenous and de-indigenized populations have been marginalized in research, decolonizing methodologies capture the re-indigenization of Chicano and Mexican men through the process of self-determination and decolonial teachings that honor ancestral knowledge, respect for people’s distinct stories, and recognition of the interdependent relationships that humans have with the world around them (Cordova 2007; Grande 2004; Rodriguez 2014). Decolonial frameworks also capture the resistance toward colonial and imperial representations of indigeneity.

Labeling theory, specifically the street gang label, addresses the detrimental consequences that they have on youngsters, even after they leave street life. When young people are given the “gang-associated” marker, this results in exclusion and stigma and them being labeled as violent (Rios 2017, p. 10). Labeling theory underscores how young men especially navigate this social labeling and stigmatization in different settings in society.

Disorganization theory maintains that juvenile delinquency in specific areas of urban spaces is the result of social factors, not individual ones (Shaw and McKay 1969). In their research, they found that neighborhoods with high poverty rates, residential mobility, and poor housing had the highest concentrations of crime (Shaw and McKay 1969). Concerning delinquent subcultures and the prevention of crime, in this case, gang violence, it focuses on social relationships and neighborhood networks (Shaw and McKay 1969).

Procedural justice and legitimacy address the perceptions of fairness to predict compliance and cooperation of young people (Li et al. 2024). These perceptions are related to the dichotomy of over-policing and under-protection associated with communities of color. By better understanding these attitudes, which fall within the categories of race and gender, better intervention policies can be created.

Community desistance and culturally grounded rehabilitation have been formulated through community-based programs that focus on mentoring (DuBois 2024). Prosocial networks play a significant role in former street gang members leaving the gang (Roman et al. 2021). The lived experience and relevance of “credible messenger mentoring” help create social bonds, especially for young people experiencing serious issues (DuBois 2024, p. 16).

7. Methods

7.1. Study Design

This essay employed a qualitative method approach, utilizing a semi-structured interview protocol complemented by ethnographic participant observation (Ravitch and Carl 2016). The study aimed to capture the experiences of men from the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego, conducted through on-site research. The participants answered a total of 10 primary questions with 26 secondary questions. See Appendix A.

7.2. Data Analysis

After transcribing the interviews, an Excel master spreadsheet was created with the demographic information of participants, along with the initial in vivo coding to capture the participants’ voices. All interviews were then uploaded into NVivo 12 for further coding and thematic analysis. As studies aim to generate knowledge that describes social processes, I sought to produce a narrative that would tell the story of the men from the Círculo de Hombres and identify recurring themes, refine codes, and generate conceptual categories (Taylor et al. 2016).

Consistent with methodological research, coding was done to develop and refine my interpretation of the data (Taylor et al. 2016). To identify major themes from the data, open coding, axial coding, and selective coding were completed. Utilizing Saldaña’s (2016, p. 14) model of “lumping” and “splitting,” this coding method helped me identify what was useful and appropriate to tell the story of my study. Moreover, after selective coding was completed, I utilized the rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) technique from Watkins (2017), putting all the themes of selective coding into an Excel spreadsheet and color-coding them to facilitate writing the process.

To ensure validity and trustworthiness, I employed triangulation and member checks. Triangulation involved comparing findings with observations from community events sponsored by the National Compadres Network and the Annual Men’s Gatherings. Member checking was conducted with 18 of the 19 participants to verify the accuracy of interpretations and themes. After comparing the data and codes, I selectively illustrated the emerging themes (Neuman 2011). From the data, two main themes emerged from the topic of preventing gang violence: stereotypes and social justice. Concerning the former, the subthemes of indigenous identity, critical consciousness, and empowerment emerged. Whereas indigenous identity was operationalized as re-indigenization and critical consciousness as re-humanization, for the concept of empowerment, it was a mixture of the two. Social justice was solely operationalized through re-humanization.

7.3. Reflexivity

Throughout this research project, I engaged in reflexivity to remind myself to be conscious of my own biases and assumptions about the concepts of objectivism and subjectivity that emerged in my ethnographic research (Bourke 2014). Amidst these power dynamics, I actively participated in activities with the men of the Círculo de Hombres, reminding the men that it was my job was simply to tell their stories as accurately as possible. Additionally, reflexivity served as a tool for me to move away from situating knowledge to standards of absoluteness or objectivity and more towards specific landscapes that were confined to my own experience as a researcher (Rose 1997).

7.4. Positionality

Dr. Juvenal Caporale is an Associate Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department at California State University, Stanislaus. He is a straight, Chicano, cisgender male who grew up in the San Diego/Tijuana borderland. He has been part of the Círculo de Hombres for 26 years and knew most of the men in this study as he participated in ceremonies and healing circles with them.

7.5. Participants

Fourteen of the men identified as Chicano, four as Mexican, and one as Indigenous. Their average age was 39.84, ranging from 24 to 70 years old. Eighteen of the men identified themselves as straight, and one as heteroflexible. Most of the men were working-class with an average USD 53,500 annual income. Concerning their education, one man left high school, two men graduated from high school, and sixteen men had some college, including bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Regarding marital status, fifteen men were married and four were single, and seventeen of the nineteen men were fathers. Since the group’s inception in 1998, all men have continued their involvement with the group, while some more heavily than others.

7.6. Recruitment

Several procedures were utilized to select participants for this study. After I explained the focus of this study to the Executive Director, he provided the names and phone numbers of men who should partake in the study, especially those who joined circa 1998 when the group was formed. The second method that was utilized to select participants was recruiting or directly asking men who attended the monthly meetings if they wanted to participate in the study. Another recruitment strategy utilized to select participants was snowball sampling (Babbie 2013).

To capture the voices of men from the Círculo de Hombres, I interviewed 50 men, reaching thematic saturation, a point where neither new nor relevant data was forthcoming (Goldberg and Allen 2015; Ravitch and Carl 2016). For this essay, a sub-sample of 19 men was purposely selected to address the topic of gang violence prevention. These men were specifically analyzed for the gang theme because they explicitly referred to being “gang-associated” (Rios 2017) through societal labeling or self-identification. These men selected were not so-called success cases but merely those who continued involvement. The recruitment process, consistent with the IRB approval and verbal consent, was facilitated because I joined the group in 1999 and had a personal relationship with most of the men in the group, knowing them on a one-on-one level and having participated with many of them in monthly meetings and ceremonies for 26 years, possessing their contact information, and having a connection with them on social media. I only had to acquaint myself with two men from this subsample.

I collected data intensively during the 2018 spring semester and less consistently from the 2018 summer semester until the 2025 fall semester. Within these years, I have conducted participant observations and gathered field notes at the group’s monthly meetings and Annual Men’s Gathering, which most have taken place in-person and a very few via Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. All men were given pseudonyms.

8. Findings

This section highlights the perspectives of men from Círculo de Hombres on whether the group has taught them to resist stereotypes associated with their ethnic identities and their views on social justice. Concerning the former, it addresses how the men navigated and negotiated stereotypes on personal, familial, and societal levels. Of the nineteen participants (N = 19) in the study, all affirmed that the group taught them to resist or manage stereotypes, highlighting three subthemes. Precisely, four of the men described their Indigenous ethnic identity, six signaled critical consciousness, and nine indicated empowerment. Consequently, 100% of the men explicitly or implicitly acknowledged that this healing circle taught them to resist labels.

Regarding social justice, all nineteen men (N = 19) either became interested in or were already participating in social justice issues when they participated in the Círculo. Fifteen (N = 15) of the men became interested in or participated in matters of social justice because of their involvement in the Círculo de Hombres. Four (N = 4) men, however, were already doing social justice work, and the Círculo did not influence them.

9. Stereotypes Against Ethnic Identity

9.1. Indigenous Ethnic Identity

When asked if the Círculo taught men to resist stereotypes against their ethnicity, four (N = 4) men, Vincent, Santos, Julian, and Valentino, affirmed that the group did, emphasizing their ethnic identity. Vincent maintained that the Círculo instructs men in who they are and that they are leaders in their community. He added that Mexican-origin people are “messed up” and confused about their race or ethnicity. As a result, Vincent believed that the Círculo serves as a vehicle to teach Mexicans about their Indigenous background and that previous generations avoided identifying themselves as Indians because it was not cool, and society discriminated against them. Echoing Vincent, Santos asserted that he has seen it teach not just men of the Círculo but also Muslims, Asians, Blacks, and Whites, and that they all bring respect and wisdom. As society overlooks or forgets culture, the platform of the circle brings it back to the center because it represents all nations and is inclusive. Santos added that the intention is to honor one’s elders and show up where they would like you to be.

Encompassing these men, Julian stated that it goes back to the concept of identity—a sense of who you are, teaching them about who they are, rather than who society says they are. He added that any member of the group serves as an example, whether they were doing good or bad. Julian used the example of Jacob, underscoring that if you met him a month ago, he was doing well, and now, he is not doing well, but that does not change who he is. He stated that if anyone were to speak to Jacob’s son, one would easily see that Jacob is doing something right as a father, knows many Indigenous songs, and was a “deep” brother. Corroborating Julian, Valentino said that, absolutely, the Circle taught men to resist stereotypes against their ethnicity, and that it was equivalent to asking as if the sky were blue. He added that society labeled him and his peers as “at-risk youth,” not because of their traits or characteristics, but because of how they were perceived in their neighborhoods and for being Chicano. When asked to elaborate on how the Círculo teaches men to resist stereotypes against their ethnicity, Valentino stated, “Because it directly challenges that b******t. It says, f**k that s**t, it’s not true. Yes, you can be a gang member, yes, you can be jumped into a gang, but you still got a corazón [heart]. This earth is still a connection for you. These songs are still healing songs for you.” Hence, these men underscored an element of what is at the root of their ethnic identity–indigeneity.

9.2. Critical Consciousness

Whilst four men appealed to their ethnic identities or Indigenous ancestry, six men (N = 6) maintained that the Círculo taught them to resist stereotypes against their ethnicity, focusing on the critical consciousness that the group helps foster. Though Adam agreed that the group taught men to resist stereotypes, he said it did so unintentionally and implicitly. He mentioned that men in the group openly say not to live up to stereotypes during informal conversations, and despite stereotypes being explicitly taught in schools by Mazalotzin, in the community, they are not overt; yet, the work is occurring. Adam included that the group is trying to teach responsibility and responsible behavior that counters stereotypes. He added that amongst the works that the group has done, it has included pregnancy prevention, emotional health, responsible parenthood, and safe sex. Echoing Adam, Joe mentioned that the group directly challenged the self-belief that men may hold, such as the notion that they are not good at math. He said that these men come from a culture that is rich in knowing math, which developed the concept of zero. For this reason, he added, the men of this group are as capable as any other ethnic or racial group. Joe confirmed that the group instructed men about their culture, microaggressions, and to think critically about societal labels, norms, and perceptions. Corroborating Joe, Nathan stated that the group teaches them to be one, accept others, open their minds, and accept the ways and values of others. He not only added that the group teaches them to open their eyes to things taking place in their neighborhoods, but also that they begin to see things differently once they open their hearts and minds. Martin believed that it was the Círculo’s task to open their eyes.

Echoing these men, other men addressed how the conversations that arise within the Circle allow men to be critical of stereotypes. When asked if the Circle taught men to resist stereotypes, Mazalotzin declared that everything discussed earlier in the interview shatters every stereotype that existed about the men from the Circle. He added that the poems he recited demonstrated the depth of the dynamics within the Círculo, and the fact that he was discussing it validated that these issues had previously emerged in the Circle. Mazalotzin stressed that the fact that he was talking about the men of the group crying, sharing, laughing, and experiencing trauma and pain shattered stereotypes about them. Substantiating Mazalotzin, Humberto responded that it was a loaded question, as the group moves them away from the idea that they are all Catholic or of Mexican origin. He acknowledged that, although men in the group share similarities, they are also quite different. Humberto mentioned that the group allows them to have conversations about their commonalities outside of things like the church or the Virgen de Guadalupe, and through songs and ceremonies, it allows them to understand more of who they are, where they come from, more than simply being Mexican, and grow a stronger connection to their Indigenous roots. He further stated that before joining the Círculo, he was concerned about how people stereotyped him and felt unable to escape them. Humberto said,

So, yeah, it has taught, it has helped me not give a damn what other people stereotype me as. I know my value, I know my worth, I know that I’m not gonna hurt you, I know that I’m not gonna do anything. So, I don’t really worry about any stereotypes for me because I’ve been taught that no matter what people think of me, it is the actions, it is what I do. Because people look at you and they go, “This guy is a scary guy, this guy probably just got out or something.” But you go and you talk to people, and the Círculo has taught me to be able to do that. I can step in any place, and you can look at me, and I can [look] gangster, and then I can talk normally. It’s just helped me not even see that or care about how people stereotype me, but the Círculo has taught me how to not have that hold me back, you know, my past.

He added that the Círculo has allowed him to be more respectful toward elders, women, and children.

Extending these men, when asked the same question, Rodolfo offered a critique, holding that the question was constructed in an absolute manner and that it was more appropriate to inquire how the Círculo helped men manage and navigate multiple forms of stereotypes that existed, as they will always be present, whether the men liked it or not. He stated that it is not simply about resisting stereotypes, but about how men negotiate and navigate them, generating a larger critique concerning indigeneity and being better men, which he has observed in other circles where men conceive themselves as warriors. After visiting New Zealand and meeting Māori folks, this experience allowed him to understand that Chicano people had diverse ways of embodying masculinity independent of being warriors. Rodolfo argued that while warriorhood has transformative aspects, it also runs the risk of generating different sorts of stereotypes. Consequently, these men emphasized the critical consciousness they developed in relation to how the Círculo taught them to challenge stereotypes.

9.3. Empowerment

While the previous men discussed how the Círculo taught them to resist stereotypes of their ethnicity through Indigenous ethnic identity or critical consciousness, other men (N = 9) spoke about the empowerment they received through their involvement in the group. According to Martin, the Círculo instills a sense of pride where nobody can tell men who they are. He added that only they can decide who they are and who they want to become, and for this reason, no one can tell them who they are. Like Martin, Joaquin mentioned that he was not initially interested in education but became interested after getting involved with the group. After learning that men of color had lower high school graduation rates and were less likely to pursue higher education, he was empowered to attend college. Joaquin, for this reason, believes that the group teaches men to attack the stereotypes that Chicanos are uneducated and worthless. And though he has experienced incarceration multiple times during his education journey, he has not given up and has continued to get his education upon his release. Despite becoming another Chicano statistic in the prison or jail population, he felt empowered to become part of a small percentage of college graduates. He recently applied to transfer to a four-year university. Like Joaquin, Josue maintained that the group empowered young men of color, allowing them to reclaim a sense of identity and self-worth in the white-dominated society. And to overcome native perceptions and stereotypes that society has about them. He added, “And not only resist stereotypes that are perpetuated on them by society but also perpetuated from within our own community and in ourselves.” Consequently, the empowerment that men learn to resist stereotypes against their ethnicity must be understood on personal, community, and societal levels.

Elaborating on the empowerment created by the Círculo, Bobby said that, although many Chicano youths are becoming gang members in the neighborhoods, the presence of the Círculo gave young men a small push to improve themselves and progress in life. To him, it meant not following in the footsteps of the street gang that his father and uncles had paved for him. The Círculo taught Bobby that there were positive things in life and that one could contribute to their community. He added that by learning positive values, he became a better person while helping the community. Like Bobby, Diego maintained that it helped not to lash out and be humble, especially for men who were not educated or informed. He mentioned that the group taught men to see themselves positively so that when someone with a negative mentality confronts them or sees them negatively, the men’s mentality is strong enough to disregard stereotypes. Diego asserted that men of the Círculo would remain humble, positive, and move forward, being the bigger person. Similarly, yet differently in delivery, Cruz reversed the question and asked the author if the group had taught him that. He stated that nobody is perfect, not even Mazalotzin, and that he even goes through challenges. Cruz went on to share that he remembers one day being in a circle and having problems with his girlfriend because she was “stubborn as hell.” He recalled contemplating whether to give up and leave or stay calm and go back, and that he taught Mazalotzin something that day. Realizing that he had much to lose, he decided to go back and be patient. Cruz added that everyone thinks differently, and that it was better to work it out with the person you love, because everybody needs somebody and happiness.

Remarkably like these men, Isaiah affirmed that Chicanos have been stereotyped their entire lives and that one often saw and felt it in non-colored neighborhoods. At times, he felt awkward about being the only Chicano present when traveling on business trips, questioning himself about the stereotypes when he experienced them from Caucasians and members of his own family. Isaiah maintained that though the Circle does not teach Chicanos to resist stereotypes, men start learning to resist them as they begin to educate themselves. Men begin to think that they are not like that and change their image of being good men who take care of their families and go to work every day. Contrary to these stereotypes, Isaiah stated that men could have good long-term relationships; he was going to celebrate 32 years of marriage with his wife. Like Isaiah, Jacob said that he was unsure whether the Circle directly taught men to challenge stereotypes, but that men started grabbing those tools. He affirmed that the Círculo did not instruct men politically, but once men received the knowledge from it, those tools fell into place. Jacob believed that schools do not teach real history, who Chicanos really are, or about being a Chicano male in America. He added that once men start learning who they truly are, it is akin to a spiritual awakening, where the spirit provides a revelation, and all external knowledge falls into place. Validating these men, George mentioned that the Círculo teaches men to educate themselves positively. He said that the group teaches men to break the stereotypes that people have towards Chicanos. Precisely, for others to see that a guy from the neighborhood is working and has a family, and not a street gang member or a drug addict. George added, “What I like about Círculo is that they not only teach you about gang prevention or drugs or sex ed, it’s just everything in general, from gang prevention to the native ways that you get taught and native ceremonies that we get taken to. It’s just everything that’s the reason I stayed, and I liked [it].” The Círculo de Hombres not only empowered men by teaching values and lessons but also served as a street gang prevention group by providing various tools. In conjunction with the healing circles and Annual Men’s Gathering, Izcalli offered a theater group, Restorative Arts Youth Programs, and Tlatolli Trainings—an evidence-based cultural and community-responsive curriculum with its 30+ years working with youth. Consequently, the support participants received through their participation in the Círculo de Hombres corresponded to the mission and objectives of Izcalli.

10. Social Justice

10.1. The Círculo Provided a Social Justice Space

Three men (N = 3) stated that the Círculo de Hombres influenced them to develop a social justice orientation and become interested in and participate in sociopolitical issues. Some men affirmed that the Círculo reinforced a social justice orientation through the direct experiences of the men and/or the teachings that the group addressed. Cruz, Joe, and Mazalotzin shed light on the lessons the Círculo taught. Accordingly, the group engaged in restorative justice practices and preventionist and interventionist work, as men received training from Izcalli and the National Compadres Network, exploring stereotypes and gender identity (i.e., being a man and being macho), lessons found in the Hombre Noble curriculum. The Círculo also addressed the school-to-prison pipeline, the justice system, mental health, and the traumas that children often experience. As circles were limited in schools, these men worked at schools and in diverse spaces to ensure that other young men could have access to a Círculo space. Additionally, the Círculo touched on sociopolitical issues (i.e., immigration and the prison system) that affected their community. Being aware of the injustices that affect their community, these men sought to break down barriers and stereotypes and addressed the issue of criminalization and policing that affect young Brown men.

Moreover, when asked how the Círculo addressed the issue of social justice, Mazalotzin laughed and said the following,

You’re almost asking a rhetorical question because when you’re challenging and shattering and breaking stereotypes about men, that’s literally the answer to the question. When you’re reclaiming your voice, that’s social justice. When you’re decolonizing your mind, that’s social justice. When you’re gathering men to learn from their pain, their trauma, to be better fathers, that’s social justice. We need to broaden our perspective on what social justice entails. When you are decolonizing your mind, that is social justice. When you’re growing up with the consciousness, when you’re this violent gang member hurting people because of the ills of society, and you grow up and undergo reformation and talk to people about breaking patterns of destructive behaviors, that means that you’ve done social justice work with the circle.

Mazalotzin asserted not only that it was almost equivalent to asking a rhetorical question when exploring how the Círculo covered the topic of social justice, but also that challenging, breaking, and shattering the stereotypes that exist about men amounted to the answer to this question. He maintained that people need to broaden their understanding of social justice, describing it on three distinct levels. Whereas reclaiming one’s voice and decolonizing one’s mind was on a personal level, men healing their pain and trauma to become better fathers was on a familial level. Mazolotzin then provided a societal understanding when relating the experience of a violent gang member who is hurting people, reflecting the ills of society, and after growing up and undergoing reformation, talking to men in the circle about breaking cycles. This is social justice work, and eventually, the prevention of gang violence.

10.2. Social Justice Was Already Part of Life

Seven men (N = 7) were already involved in social justice work. Because the Círculo fostered personal growth and a sense of purpose, they became even more interested in topics of social justice. Josue and Martin were not only introduced to social justice work through their family and/or relatives, but their involvement in the Círculo also further encouraged them to continue this work. Whereas Josue was introduced to social justice by their parents on a grassroots level, such as community-based activism or feeding the poor, Martin was exposed to social justice by his family members on an institutional level, such as the education system and volunteering with poor Brown students in the barrios of San Diego. As Josue became empowered and viewed the Círculo as a place to achieve personal growth, Martin felt that the group provided him with a greater sense of purpose and the opportunity to achieve self-realization.

Some men were also previously involved in social justice issues. They became further interested in these topics while participating in the Círculo de Hombres because the group fostered a self-development space through a social justice lens. Vincent was already engaged in social justice work, with an emphasis on education, when he joined the group and taught classes at a community college, directly addressing the topic of gangs. Vincent not only viewed the Círculo as a continuation of the work he was already doing as he taught this subject at a community college, but he also believed that men had a responsibility to critically educate people about the issues affecting them, so that they could return and serve their community. As a result, he supported, mentored, and helped young people in schools and in the community.

Like the previous men, four men responded that the Círculo did not influence them to become interested in or participate in social justice issues because they were already involved in this work. Isaiah maintained that he became interested in the topic of social justice at a young age because of his personal experiences. He touched on the incarceration of youth under the juvenile justice system. He addressed how human beings were expendable under the capitalist system, emphasizing the economic inequalities associated with both issues.

Other men also maintained that they had a history of engaging in social justice work before joining the Círculo. Adam, Santos, and Humberto were deeply involved in community activism before joining the Círculo. These men maintained that if the Círculo did not exist, they would still be committed to doing social justice work, and that many of the men from Círculo were not involved in other projects that they were involved in. These men not only had deep experiences protesting and attending rallies and marches, but they also advocated for the Chicano community. Thus, the engagement of social justice issues with these men was not predicated on the Círculo, and these men’s professions and activism revolved around topics of social justice.

10.3. Learned About Social Justice and Activism Through the Círculo

Five (N = 5) men not only learned about social justice through their involvement in the Círculo de Hombres, but the group also fostered their activism. Valentino, Julian, Bobby, George, and Joaquin stated that they began their social justice orientation and activism by organizing meetings, walkouts, marches, protests, and speaking at rallies within the Círculo. The group provided them with this space and offered them support. Whereas Valentino, Julian, and Joaquin maintained that the older men guided them in their activism and/or service to others, Bobby said that if it were not for the Círculo, he would have never thought about participating in or getting involved in social justice issues. Shedding light on how the Círculo taught him about social justice, Joaquin stated,

One of my coworkers at the A.C.L.U. she’s the one that brought that to my attention. And she asked if I wanted to join [them] because we share the same background, like “yeah, I’m down. We’re gonna kick it off.” With my background, my experiences, that’s my way of giving back to the community… And as a man with education, it has guided me to become more involved with social justice organizations, such as the A.C.L.U. and the work that they do, especially for the immigrant communities, education, and racial profiling, and all that stuff that we Chicanos go through on a daily basis as Mexicans. It empowered me to go through that route through my education and find a career in social justice. Especially ending mass incarceration of people of color. And I was actually involved in a D.A. campaign here in San Diego. We were canvassing, A.C.L.U.’s non-partisan [campaign]… Meaning end mass incarceration, jail reform, and racial dispersity in a courtroom. So, I was out canvassing, phone banking, trying to connect to people to go out and get the vote… So, we can go for a smart justice D.A.

As Joaquin shared the same background as the population he was serving, one of his colleagues encouraged him to get involved with a social justice organization, the A.C.L.U., that assisted marginalized communities. Given his experience as a former street gang member who had also interacted with the justice system, Joaquin had an insider’s perspective on these issues, and he saw his involvement in line with giving back to his community. Also, possessing a formal education allowed him to understand and relate to these issues on a macro or systems level. As a result, Joaquin’s involvement with the A.C.L.U. was not only intentional but also reflected his commitment to social justice and assisting disenfranchised populations, and thus, the prevention of different sorts of violence, including preventing gang violence.

10.4. Sociopolitical Awareness and Critical Consciousness

Through their participation in the Círculo de Hombres, some men (N = 3) reported that the group increased their sociopolitical awareness. Precisely, these men emphasized the teachings and values that the group learned as the Círculo directly addressed social justice issues. Jacob and Diego highlighted that the Círculo helped men become aware of the problems that were affecting their community and those around them, and men learned to fight against these injustices. In conjunction with becoming socio-politically aware of social justice issues, these men maintained that they became more critically conscious due to their involvement in the Círculo.

Some men reported that the Círculo de Hombres influenced them to engage in an ongoing self-reflection process in relation to their external socio-political world, to understand themselves, and to commit to their values and work. Rodolfo argued that the Círculo refined his understanding of the concept of social justice. He added that the Círculo consolidated his politics and spirituality, paving the way for him to dedicate his life to a greater cause–one with a social justice purpose orientation. He stated,

And for me, personally, it’s difficult to separate ceremony and spirituality from the politics of it... A lot of us, I feel like, already had a natural politicized worldview because of growing up with the border right there. Constantly dealing with Migra [or U.S. Border Patrol] and s**t like that. And so, we were rebellious in various ways… But Izcalli and then the Círculo, it helped me focus to what is our desmadre [chaos] and rebelliousness about... It was definitely a direction. It’s hard to separate the politics from spirituality because, on a more personal note. I must have been 15 or so when, at some point, I got shot at and literally heard the bullets whistle by. And I’d had guns pulled on me before, but that was the closest call, if you will, and hearing that whistling of the bullets, it’s more like, if I’m gonna die for anything, it’s not gonna be stupid street s**t, but I need it to be for something that matters. So, it just consolidated my politics and my spirituality in terms of what I’ve come to do over the years since.

As Rodolfo grew up along the U.S.-Mexico International Border of San Diego and Tijuana, he grew up with a very politicized worldview, constantly dealing with the scrutiny of the U.S. Border Patrol. For this reason, he and his peers became rebellious in many ways. Rodolfo maintained that Izcalli and the Círculo helped him channel his chaos and rebelliousness, and it provided him with a positive direction. He described an experience when he was shot at the age of 15, and he heard the bullets whistle by his ears. Admitting that he had pulled guns on him previously, this incident was not only a close call on his life, but he also realized that he did not want to die for the foolish street gang life stuff, but for something that mattered. Thus, not only did the Círculo help him consolidate his politics and spirituality, but it also gave him a social justice orientation where these realities were inseparable.

11. Discussion

The purpose of this essay is to examine how Chicano and Mexican men engage the processes of re-indigenization and re-humanization as they (re)connect with their traditional Maya–Nahua concepts and maíz-based cultures (Rodriguez 2014, 2021). Also, this essay examines the role that the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego played in transforming the lives of these men. Within the context of dehumanization, precisely the historical disruption of maíz-based cultures by the invasion and the ontological contemporary forms of criminalization, the men utilized Freire’s liberatory praxis and Indigenous-based pedagogies to rehumanize themselves. Through an Indigenous-based cultural program that emphasized dialogue, spirituality, and social justice, men engaged in re-humanization practices that moved away from those associated with dehumanization.

Guided by Freirean praxis and Indigenous pedagogies, dialogue played a crucial role in the re-indigenization and re-humanization of the men from the Círculo de Hombres. As this group is part of the Izcalli non-profit organization, the group could be understood as an educational project, in the Freirean sense, because the leaders created this organization to address pertinent issues associated with Chicana/o and Mexican communities in San Diego and help raise their critical consciousness through gendered talking and peacemaking circles so that men and women would feel comfortable sharing their own issues, emotions, and stories (Izcalli 2025; Lanni 2022, p. 75; Wood et al. 2022). Having both preventionist and interventionist orientations, the Círculo has never ceased being a welcoming community-based cultural group for former street gang members and/or criminalized men of all ages (Lanni 2022, p. 75; Wood et al. 2022). In the broader gang prevention/intervention ecosystem, the group itself suffices as a prevention/intervention as it directly serves and recruits marginalized communities, while its dialogues address stereotypes, empowerment, and social justice components that impact these populations. Thus, this essay not only aims to capture the voice of men who have been exposed to the destructive forces of dehumanization but also highlights how they assert their humanity through a positive ethnic identity and commitments to social justice.

11.1. Stereotypes Against Their Identity

The Círculo de Hombres embodied counter-hegemonic narratives that challenged Western thought. Mariscal and Twohig (2013, p. 2) define counter-hegemony as “The elaboration of alternate, often subordinated, ideologies that critique and question hegemony. ‘Ideologies of resistance’ developed by organic intellectuals.” The men of the Círculo not only take a critical approach to the dominant ideologies (i.e., patriarchy and capitalism) in all activities, as they reflect on their personal and social realities, but also challenge them through their prevention and intervention orientation (Crenshaw 1994; Delgado and Stefancic 2023). For example, the men often critique the hegemonic practices and intersectional discourses that (re)criminalize men of color, such as street gangs, prisons, and stereotypes. Further, what also makes this group embody a counterhegemonic narrative is that former street gang members from rival neighborhoods and ex-prisoners often engage in dialogue, without the use of drugs and/or alcohol, and participate in ceremonies together, where they cry and share their cargas (baggage). Creating a counter-hegemonic space that addresses the struggles and oppression of men is what facilitates healing and the prevention of gang violence. Ultimately, this group embodies Rodriguez’s notion of resistance/creation as they are not only resisting stereotypes against their ethnicity, but also (re)creating positive forms of identities rooted in the 7Rs, asserting their humanity. In particular, the men explicitly and implicitly resisted societal labels while learning the values of respect, responsibility, and resiliency, rooted in the re-humanization.

A significant finding in this study was that the Círculo normalizes the act of crying amongst men, serving as a counter-narrative to the macho and hypermasculine stereotype that exists in society concerning men of color (Ganapathy 2025; Gutmann 2007; Hurtado and Sinha 2016). However, the act of crying was not always associated with pain or trauma because men also shared laughter, stories, poems, songs, jokes, and celebratory experiences, such as when they just got married or were going to become fathers. It must be emphasized that the act of crying was not only a cleansing process for their “wounded masculinity” (Abalos 2002), but it was also understood as the highest form of masculinity or re-humanization because men empathized with others, shattering socially constructed roles and stereotypes by opening their hearts and expressing their emotions to other men. Furthermore, crying made men more human by putting them in touch with fundamental emotions shared by others, and it connected them in deep ways with their own internal humanity. By expressing their feelings publicly, men reconnected in the Círculo, and together, they created a shared humanity through a collective re-humanization.

Moreover, the group facilitated men’s exploration of decolonizing methodologies (Smith 2021) and the deconstruction of socially constructed gender roles and stereotypes. Using Indigenous-based elements in an urban context, the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego utilizes healing circles and engages what Shawn Ginwright (2016, p. 8) termed “radical healing” as men learn that they can heal themselves and members of their community. The work of Ginwright (2016) sheds light on why the men of the Círculo de Hombres shared a homogeneous view of healing and how they used elements of their culture to transform themselves and their community, reconstructing new views of themselves. Indeed, within the process of healing themselves and others, the Círculo elicited a collective vulnerability for men by creating a safe space, especially for the prevention of gang violence (Levell 2024), to dialogue about community stressors (Shaw and McKay 1969). Deconstructing these realities, men moved away from the hegemonic worldviews that hindered their socio-emotional well-being as they openly addressed their relationship with stereotypes. As the issue of crying and challenging stereotypes against their ethnicity could be understood as restoring their well-being, a form of healing, men not only liberate themselves from pain, traumas, and cargas by learning how to cry again, but also reduce the harms of gang violence (Trevethan and Maxwell 2023). Thus, the Círculo is effective on these fronts because its space allows men to descargar (unburden) or let go of that which is hindering their growth (i.e., labels, stigmatizations, etc.) (Rios 2017). Through dialogue and ancestral knowledge, they can (re)connect with their own emotions while challenging misconceptions that marginalize them, all within a culturally and trauma-informed care (Gebo and Franklin 2023; Paat et al. 2025).

The findings also demonstrated how men navigated the entrenched structural and cultural constraints concerning mass incarceration and mechanisms of failure (Ganapathy 2025; Gilmore 2007). Though Joaquin became interested in higher education because of the group, expanding his social network (Roman et al. 2021), he was also incarcerated multiple times while attending college, acknowledging that he also embodied the stereotype of dropping out. Despite these setbacks, the group provided him with a sense of empowerment to continue with his education and not give up on his dream of going to college.

Another difficult case was Julian’s example of Jacob’s substance abuse, which was apparent to other men in the group and briefly discussed by Jacob during the interview, as he had attended meetings and annual gatherings under the influence. Despite Jacob’s shortcomings, Julian pointed out that Jacob was a good father, exposing his son to his traditional culture, and had an abundance of knowledge. Ironically, Jacob shed light on Julian’s analysis when asked the same question, maintaining that the group provided men with empowerment tools to challenge stereotypes. While this finding perhaps underscores the empowerment that Jacob has received while being in the group, it also highlights how men negotiated self-destructive behaviors (i.e., street gangs and drug use) associated with the stereotypes that impact them (Moore 1991; Vigil 2012). Indeed, Jacob’s example demonstrated how some Chicano and Mexican men navigate these realities while undergoing their healing journeys.

Finally, contradictions were not separable from the group, particularly those associated with the intersection of ethnic and gender identity. Rodolfo cogently critiques the tendency to rely on masculine identity as a healing resource, arguing that it risks reproducing new stereotypes, particularly those tied to warriorhood historically associated with violence and gang culture (Vigil 2012). He emphasized that healing must be grounded outside of social hierarchies, which can directly or indirectly result in perpetuating violence and gender inequities (Carrillo and Zarza 2006). Furthermore, men must remain critically aware of the ways that they internalize categories of difference (Crenshaw 1994). This tension underscores the potential and the risks of pursuing healing through rearticulated forms of masculinity (Ganapathy 2025; Levell 2024).

11.2. Social Justice

The struggle to achieve social justice by the Chicano, Mexican, and Indigenous communities in the U.S.-Mexico Borderland of San Diego, and fighting against oppression and marginalization from the conservative and republican ruling class, was an ongoing characteristic of this geopolitical region (Griswold del Castillo 2007). Consequently, members of the Chicana/o and Indigenous communities established the Izcalli organization with the intention of transforming the lives of young people in their community by promoting cultural awareness that emphasized art, education, and dialogue (Izcalli 2025). The goals of Izcalli, specifically the Círculo de Hombres, were “to move the groups’ dialogue from an awareness of personal experiences to a political awareness of collective experiences” (Ginwright 2016, p. 52). Therefore, the men of the Círculo not only validated the organization’s mission of promoting cultural consciousness, but social justice and equality were also evident in all aspects of this group’s activities, which were consistent with the ideals of the Chicana/o Movement (Ortiz 2007; Rodriguez 2021).

This Chicano and Indigenous community in San Diego not only had a deep history of activism concerning the Chicano Movement (Ortiz 2007), but a few of its elders who participated in it were members of the Círculo de Hombres. According to Rodriguez (2014), elders of the Chicano Movement taught younger generations how to reconnect with their maíz-based culture and ceremonies, such as the temezcal. Additionally, these elders became the teachers of the founders of Izcalli. The findings suggest that together, elders of the Chicano Movement taught their children and younger generations about activism, teaching them how to organize and become politically active in different struggles, such as doing huelgas (strikes), organizing conferences, protesting, and taking over lands like Chicano Park, and creating cultural centers like the Centro Cultural de la Raza (Ortiz 2007). Elders, such as Jose Montoya, Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, and Rene Nuñez, and their children were not only members of the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego, but also artists and elders like Guillermo Aranda, Victor Ochoa, and Martin Torero Acevedo continue to be members of this group. The revolutionary art, music, and scholarship of these men have deeply shaped and continue to influence the activism and sociopolitical orientation of the men from the Círculo de Hombres. Thus, the men of the Círculo have a Chicano-based social justice orientation on socio-political issues (Ortiz 2007).

Given the Círculo’s community-based foundation, this helps explain why men who created or joined the group had a social justice inclination, as these men were already involved in these issues and approached them through an intersectional lens (Crenshaw 1994). Not only were there competing notions about social justice, but some men drew on a personal connection to this topic, while others emphasized a more sociopolitical perspective. Despite how men participated or became involved in social justice issues, some men learned about social justice through the Círculo, and the older men fostered the activism and provided guidance to younger men, especially those who were labeled “at-risk” and/or “gang-associated” (Rios 2017). For example, whereas the Círculo empowered Joaquin to give back to his community, motivating him to join the A.C.L.U. because he shared the background to those he now served and the Círculo gave Rodolfo direction to not lose his life over the street gang lifestyle, Mazalotzin highlighted that when a former violent gang member grew up hurting a lot of people and was talking about breaking cycles, that was the type of social justice work that the Círculo participated in. In other words, to Mazalotzin, social justice encompasses young men not falling victim to societal norms and shattering these labels. Mazalotzin’s position echoes that of Frank de Jesús Acosta and Ramos (2016, p. xii), who argued that,

The most successful models and programs are often led and staffed by individuals who themselves have been at-risk school dropouts, gang members, substance abusers, and criminals—individuals who have been there and done that, yet emerged from it better off for having ultimately decided to take a more positive and sustainable path.

The work of de Jesús Acosta and Ramos (2016) precisely captures the transformative component that takes place with the Círculo and therefore, younger men listen to the lived experiences of older credible men and view them as insiders (DuBois 2024; Durán 2013), “institutional agents” (Stanton-Salazar 2011), and/or “transformational role models” (Solórzano and Delgado Bernal 2001) who help guide them. Solórzano and Delgado Bernal (2001) maintained that role models from one’s own ethnic and gender group could inspire young people to become more involved in education-related and/or social justice issues. Consistent with the findings of the men from the Círculo de Hombres, older men not only served as role models to younger men, but they also sparked their interest in school-related and social justice issues (Kolb et al. 2025). While the findings corroborate Solórzano and Delgado Bernal (2001), this phenomenon is mutual because younger men also influence older men to become interested in social justice issues.

The Círculo de Hombres offers a unique contribution to knowledge relative to gang violence prevention, as it embodies what Rodriguez (2014) calls an Elder-Youth Epistemology and Indigenous-based pedagogies that help men reclaim their dignity and respect. Generally, as older men who have been exposed to the street gang culture and/or the criminal justice system vividly share their stories and backgrounds with younger men, this resonates with them and creates bonds of brotherhood because they, too, have or are experiencing depersonalizing practices, such as the three-strikes law, street gang injunctions, and/or the “Youth Control Complex” that robs them of their humanity (Gilmore 2007; Rios 2011). As older and younger men mutually share their experiences, they not only become co-creators of knowledge but also, together, engage in the process of re-indigenization because they are reconnecting with their own traditional culture and embracing decolonial pedagogies that teach them to see beyond the Western socio-political realm (Cordova 2007; Grande 2004; Rodriguez 2014). Thus, participating in ceremonies and reconnecting with ancient teachings and values enables men to recognize the interdependent relationship they share with all living beings, making them feel like complete human beings (Cordova 2007; Rodriguez 2021).

12. Conclusions

The findings of this qualitative study are noteworthy because they exhibited the voices of Chicano and Mexican men who implemented healing circles to prevent gang violence and other self-destructive behaviors. Men from the Círculo de Hombres in San Diego utilized restorative and transformative justice practices to move away from mechanisms that devalue them. The experiences of these men served as a counter-hegemonic narrative as they shared their own stories and words, delineating their restoration of humanity and re-indigenization, rooted in ancestral knowledge. The men in this study demonstrated that they and others can cry, be vulnerable, see themselves in others, reconnect with others and the world around them, and that social justice drives their actions and behaviors. As men deconstructed, challenged, and resisted stereotypes that alienated their culture, they also showed a more humanistic aspect of themselves and their community through their participation in the Círculo de Hombres.

Simultaneously, this study is significant because the experiences of these men offer possibilities for other populations who are struggling with marginalization issues, such as intergenerational trauma, violence and brutality, criminalization and over-policing (Lanni 2022; Li et al. 2024), community stressors (Shaw and McKay 1969), street gangs, prison/detention, dropout/pushout rates, and oppression (Durán 2013; Estrada 2009; Freire 2000; Gonzales 2012; Rios 2011, 2017; Rodriguez 2014; Vigil 2002). As this study only examined the experiences of adult men, it would be of interest to explore the experiences of adult women circles, especially the Círculo de Mujeres or Cihua Ollin from Izcalli, and compare the findings of both men and women circles. Other areas of interest would be to explore youth circles, especially those that exist in the K-12 education system, and their efficacy on street gang deterrence. Ultimately, the experiences of the men from Círculo de Hombres offer hope to other communities struggling with similar issues. Indeed, other marginalized communities can also rehumanize and transform themselves and their communities through dialogue and the power of healing circles.