[Wuli]

Lousy family and lacking upbringing in a truly Christian home. There is few good substitutes for faith and family and the two tied together.

[EvilCapitalist]

According to the Sheriff’s interview, they were gang members.

[21twelve]

I tie it back to LBJ and the welfare state that was created back then. Black families with no fathers skyrocketed after the mid 1960’s. Families getting handouts from the government with no fathers, no responsibility, no accountability. And of course with no fathers around the boys still seek a father figure, so the gang leaders fulfill that role.