Lewis Yablonsky

Many gang members cite an abusive home life as a contributing factor to their gang lifestyle and claim that violence in the home taught them to lash out at others in their environment. In the following viewpoint, sociologist Lewis Yablonsky concurs that poor parenting can lead children to gang activity. Yablonsky contends that violent, drug-abusing parents foster low self-esteem, a distrustful view of society, and such self-destructive behavior as joining a gang. Yablonsky is the author of Gangsters: Fifty Years of Madness, Drugs, and Death on the Streets of America, from which this viewpoint is excerpted.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the author, what basic ingredient to socialization is missing in youths who become sociopathic gangsters?
2. As cited by Yablonsky, how does Marshall Cherkas claim an infant will...