Insights by Coach Ebere Amaraizu | RIFC Foundation
“The tenets of push and pull factors in preventing serious and organized crime focus on what young people see, who they move with, and how these shape their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs — ultimately determining whether they navigate toward positive purpose or negative pathways.”
What Are Push and Pull Factors?
In crime prevention and behavioral change work, we look at two forces:
Push Factors – The negative conditions that _push_ individuals toward offending behavior.
Examples: poverty, family breakdown, peer rejection, trauma, lack of opportunity, substance abuse.
Pull Factors – The attractions that _pull_ individuals into crime.
Examples: peer influence, gang identity, quick money, perceived respect, online glorification of crime.
Both operate at the level of *what a person sees, hears, and experiences daily*. Over time, these inputs shape thought patterns, feelings, and beliefs, which then drive behavior.
Why “What They See and Who They Move With” Matters.
What they see becomes what they believe is normal.
A child exposed daily to violence, fraud, or drug use begins to normalize it. Without counter-narratives, that becomes their frame of reference for success.
Who they move with becomes who they become.
Peer groups are powerful socializers. If the closest circle values crime as status, the individual’s identity shifts to match it to gain acceptance and belonging.
This is why SEL work focuses on *environmental influence + internal response*. You can’t control every environment, but you can train the response.
The Pathway to Offending Behavior…
The process is usually gradual:
Exposure → Shapes *Thought Patterns* → Influences *Feelings* → Forms *Beliefs* → Drives *Behavior*
When exposure is negative and unchallenged, the pathway leads to risk-taking, rule-breaking, and eventually organized crime.
When exposure is positive and paired with SEL skills, the pathway leads to resilience, leadership, and purpose.
Intervention: Changing the Pathway with SEL
RIFC Foundation’s approach uses Social Emotional Learning and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to disrupt negative pathways:
Awareness: Help young people identify push and pull factors in their own environment.
Self-Management: Train them to pause and regulate emotions when pressured or tempted.
Cognitive Reframing: Challenge beliefs like “crime is the only way out” with evidence and alternatives.
Positive Peer Engineering: Connect youth with mentors and peer groups that model lawful, productive behavior.
Purpose Anchoring: Replace the false promise of crime with a clear personal purpose tied to skills, education, and service.
You don’t prevent crime by only punishing the act. You prevent it by intervening on the _inputs_ that shape the actor.
Change what they see. Change who they move with. Change what they believe. Change the outcome.
