For eighteen months, Timothy R. Lauger interviewed and observed a mix of fifty-five gang members, former gang members, and non-gang street offenders. Through this research, Lauger is able to understand and explain the reasons for gang membership, including a chaotic family life, poverty, and the need for violent self-assertion in order to foster the creation of a personal identity.

Gangs and their environments
Joining a gang
The dilution narrative: an understanding that some gang members are not "real"
The paradox of legitimacy
Known in Naptown
Teenage gossip and the presentation of self
The violent encounter
Hope, intervention, and tragedy
Appendix: Researching gangs