Former gang members are often among those who feel that their tattoos no longer represent their current lifestyle. Their tattoos remind them of their past, often violent, life. Moreover, gang tattoos can negatively affect a former member’s chances of getting a job and how other people perceive him or her.

Emerson Javier Sanchez experienced these effects. Sanchez joined a gang at age thirteen and became involved in violent activities and drugs. When Sanchez was sixteen, he decided to get his gang nickname tattooed onto his neck. At age twenty-five, however, Sanchez, was no longer in a gang and was living completely different life than that of his teenage years. He was attending college with the goal of either studying abnormal psychology or becoming a writer.

After having changes his life, Sanchez longed to get rid of the tattoo and everything it symbolized. However, tattoo removal is an expensive process and for years Sanchez could not afford it.