Lewis Yablonsky

In the following viewpoint, Lewis Yablonsky contends that children who grow up in abusive and dysfunctional homes or who have parents who abuse drugs are more likely to participate in gang violence than children who have nurturing parents. According to Yablonsky, substance-abusing parents are self-centered and unable to teach their children how to be caring and compassionate. In addition, he asserts that abused or neglected children develop low self-esteem and have little regard for their well-being, which leads to self-destructive behavior such as joining gangs. 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. What do youth learn from effective adult role models, in Yablonsky’s opinion?
2. What traits does a...