The last and most important part of membership is the leader. The leaders of a gang determine how much criminal activity the gang will be involved in, and over sees the gang activities (Gangs 101 1-2). .
Gangs have many different recruitment techniques they use to get new members. They create glorified myths about the gang, which may be very attractive to youths. The most common are money, sex, glamour, and power. Recruiters use lies to convince the youth it really isn't a gang but a club of close friends. Sometimes gang members might do a favor or make a loan to someone and demand loyalty as payback. Sometimes gangs will force youths to join by threats, and assault. Most youths contact the gang to join themselves (Gangs 101 2-4). To join a gang one must either be jumped in, which means all of the other gang members will fight whoever is being jumped in to see how well they can handle themselves, or one must commit a crime such as assault or even murder. Once you are in a gang to them there is no getting out. If you try to leave then the people you called your family and friends will either beat you until your almost dead, or they will just kill you.
One of the great incentives for joining a gang is for protection. Although from an objective point of view, we can see joining a gang brings more danger than it saves you from. This is not always the way it is seen by kids. In slums such as the Bronx or the very worst case, Compton children will no doubt be beaten and robbed if they do not join a gang. Of course they can probably get the same treatment from rivals when in a gang. The gang also provides some money for these children who quite often need to feed their families. The reason kids think that the gang will keep is from lies from the gang tells them. Gang members will say that no one will get hurt and make a public show of revenge if a member is hurt or killed. People in low rent areas are most often being repressed due to poverty and most important, race.
