Well said.

"I certainly dont know, despite dedicating myself to this problem. My first instinct is to diagnose what went wrong. And that's what got me writing about hopelessness and despair in my previous post. If I were to state what I think was the biggest misconception about the 'ghetto poor' among people with no contact there, it is that these damned teenage thugs just arent scared enough. They need to be frightened into respecting authority, moral codes, old fashioned American values, etc. This is a misdiagnosis, I think. The problem isnt a lack of fear, but a lack of hope. These adolescents have absolutely no hope for their future."

Pretty much. You can't scare people into accepting the things you listed. It is LIFE that is not respected in today's Urban ghetto- hence the lack of hope. The ingredients necessay to change this though, are beyond me. Change this though, and the rest will fall into place.