The author uses two cases studies in his examination of gangs: Butch Young, a resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, who joined a gang and later left it, and 13-year-old Gino Mercado, who has resisted gang membership. Many youth admire local gang members because of their reputation, their authority in the neighborhood, and the protection they afford their members against rival gangs. The peer culture of a gang often induces members to commit illegal and violent acts. Several gangs, including the Los Angeles-based Crips and two Chicago-based gangs, have expanded their operations to other cities across the country. Growing numbers of posses and crews, which lack the leader and formal organization of a gang, also create trouble in urban areas. Most gang members come from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods; membership has rapidly expanded since the street appearance of crack cocaine in the mid- 1980's. Since then, gangs have acquired submachine guns and other assault weapons and the level of gang violence has risen dramatically.