ALTHOUGH THE COMPLICATIONS OF UNSTABLE FAMILY CONDITIONS CANNOT BE DISMISSED AS A CAUSE OF DELINQUENCY, THEY CANNOT BE CONSIDERED THE ONLY FACTOR. THE GANG IS AN ELEMENTARY FORM OF A SURVIVAL TECHNIQUE WHERE YOUTHS LEARN THE RUDIMENTS OF BUILDING LARGE PERSONAL NETWORKS OF RELATIONSHIPS THAT CAN BE COUNTED ON FOR AID WHEN NEEDED. THIS THEME IS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE DYNAMICS OF BLACK LOWER-CLASS EXISTENCE, AND IS A STRATEGY EMPLOYED BY OLDER MALES AND FEMALES ALIKE WHO REALIZE THAT MUTUAL AID IS NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL IN THE GHETTO. GANGS ARE THUS THE YOUTH'S EARLY CONSTRUCT OF THIS NETWORK OF RELATIONSHIPS; THROUGH THE GANG THE BLACK YOUTH LEARNS THE INTRICACIES OF THIS SURVIVAL TECHNIQUE AND THE OTHER NUANCES OF LIFE-STYLE IMPORTANT TO FUNCTIONING SAFELY AND EFFICIENTLY IN THE GHETTO. BECAUSE COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERACTIONS ARE IMPORTANT, GHETTO CHILDREN BEGIN TO INTERACT ON THE STREET AT AN EARLY AGE. IT IS THIS EARLY EXPOSURE TO STREET LIFE THAT LEADS MANY TO JOIN A GANG WHICH THEN BECOMES THEIR PRIMARY REFERENCE GROUP. RECENT EMPHASIS ON BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS IN AMERICA HAS ALSO SOLIDIFIED RELATIONSHIPS IN THE TOTAL BLACK COMMUNITY THUS PROMOTING A RACIAL IDENTITY WHICH EMPHASIZES THAT ALL BLACK AMERICANS ARE PART OF A LARGE EXTENDED FAMILY. AS YOUTHS BECOME INVOLVED IN THE GANG SUBCULTURE, THEY ALSO COME UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF OLD HEADS--OLDER GANG MEMBERS WHO BECOME A PRIMARY INFLUENCE ON THE LEARNING AND SOCIALIZATION PROCESS. THUS THE YOUTH'S EARLY SOCIALIZATION PROCESS IS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE GANG'S NORMS AND IS ANTINORMATIVE IN REFERENCE TO MAINSTREAM SOCIETY. THE GANG, THEREFORE, IS ONE OF THE MAJOR TOOLS FOR CONTROLLING THE YOUTH'S DESTINY WITHIN THE GHETTO, A DESTINY FAR DIFFERENT FROM THE MAINSTREAM MODEL OF SOCIETY. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (MJW)