Searching for gang members

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Melissa Pirraglio spent many of her 11 years of gang life in drug-addled despair seeking a way out.

Anti-gang crusaders have known for years that tapping that inner desire can provide a path out of gangs - the problem is finding it in young people hardened by deep mistrust of outsiders and holding little hope in their futures.

Now researchers in Los Angeles think they have a test to measure how likely a gang member is to leave the gang.

The new experiment in the field of gang intervention continues a psychology-based approach started two years ago by the mayor's anti-gang office with a test aimed at finding youngsters likely to join a gang.

Social psychologists at the University of Southern California developed the questionnaires to identify youths likely to either join or leave a gang and get them the support they need to avoid gang life or help them leave it.

The new test is set to be rolled out this month with 80 gang members who anti-gang counselors know through their street outreach programs.

If their loyalty wavers, anti-gang counselors will step up efforts to encourage them to quit. That can include enrolling in drug rehab and job training, as well as working with gang members' families to mend fractured relationships.

Gauging someone's tendency to leave a gang is difficult. It's a decision that usually takes time to come to, and is often triggered by major life change such as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one to gang violence, or the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence. Some gang members simply burn out.