His permanent scar could get him hurt or killed if he ever traveled through gang strongholds in California or Chicago. Armando Morales, a psychiatry professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, has spent 40 years researching gangs. He notes many kids come from families in which both parents work, leaving less time to monitor negative influences. Studies have shown coming from a poor or broken family can increase a youth's risk of gang membership. But such factors aren't always reliable predictors.
Parents play a crucial role in whether their children join gangs, police and experts say.
Children are at greater risk when their parents don't monitor their friends or activities. Barbara Ziegler, executive director of Charlotte's Teen Health Connection, has heard stories of parents who rent apartments for their unruly teens so they don't have to deal with them. Movies, rap music, television and Internet images that suggest gangs are glamorous. A police survey in Kansas City, Mo., found the top reason many of that city's identified gang members had joined gangs was for fun, fascination or excitement. David Starbuck of that city's gang unit.