Ninety offenders in Cook County, Ill., were asked to complete a survey that consisted of 27 questions pertinent to their economic status, family history, and criminal backgrounds. The gang members surveyed lived in Cook County, which includes Chicago. Interviews with gang participants show that more than 90 percent of the gang members lived in Chicago or had joined a gang in Chicago before moving into the suburbs. Most of the gang members came from neighborhoods where poverty, unemployment, and crime are endemic. The survey data indicate that 34 percent of the respondents who belonged to gangs grew up in the Chicago Housing Authority projects. In these projects, 80 percent of the households with children receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The survey results confirm the evidence that the criminal population in America's jails is becoming younger and that the concentration of crime, single parenthood, poverty, and family members with criminal backgrounds does influence an individual's decision to join a gang. It also acknowledges the role the socialization process plays in the social pathologies in ghetto communities. These findings make it clear that if crime is to decrease, community leaders and policymakers must adopt policies and actions that will positively socialize youths at risk, so they will refrain from participating in criminal activity. 3 figures, 11 notes, and 28 references