> So it's totally rational for kids to be more preoccupied with whether joining the right gang will keep them from getting harassed on the way home from school.

There is a reference that I can't dig up right now. Basically, it was talking about if how you diss someone with a stable job/relationship/adult identity - they don't take it that personally because they are 'stable'. But if you diss/disrespect someone from a gang - who has a singular-faceted life of the gang, you may end up paying with your life because you have basically diss'd the person by disrespecting their identity. Even as simple as making eye contact and not breaking it. The gang is their life.