jlomon has a good post. I think there is also the desire to belong to a community, or in a sense, a family. If gangs are spreading to the suburbs, I think it is because of two things. For a while gangs were being somewhat glorified in the popular culture, the glorification could appeal to suburban youths who don't see the dark side as obviously. Second, even in suburbia there has been a breakdown in family structure because parents are working longer and harder to make ends meet. (And this applies to ALL kinds of families and parents... traditional mom and pop, single parent, gay couples, etc.)

I'm not at all a fan of Rudy Guliani, but I have to give him props for turning NYC around. His focus on "quality of life" crimes eventually made people realize that antisocial behavior was unacceptable and even in the most depressed parts of the city people just got tired of being criminals. It's almost as if criminal behavior went out of style. He cracked down on grafitti, panhandling, squeegee people, subway fare-beaters, etc. All kinds of things that used to be considered nothing more than nuisances. I think people in the worst neighborhoods began to enjoy living without the derelict cars, graffiti, gunfire, etc and the neighborhoods all improved.

I think there also has to be economic opportunity. That's a tougher one, especially for inner city kids that may have great social skill for their own environment, but lack the social skills required for mainstream jobs.

And the last thing is that there needs to be a way to blow off steam. I remember when "midnight basketball" programs were the focus of derision from the right wing talking heads. Seems to me that funding things like this are a very inexpensive way to provide a healthy outlet for youthful energy and testosterone.

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1987 W201 190D