This paper will report the results of interviews and observations conducted among 22 youthful gang leaders in the city of Philadelphia. I first met the gang youth on the campus of the University of Pennsyl- vania. They were about to begin a training program which was jointly sponsored by the University and the Young Great Society, a Black community organization. The chief aim of the Urban Leadership Train- ing Program was to train the young gang leaders for careers in commu- nity service. It was felt that the energies of gang youth could be chan- nelled into positive neighborhood projects. My assignment was to pro- vide an evaluation of the program, but during the research period, interest and concern extended to the subjects of gang delinquency, the effects of poverty, and other features of the community in which the gang leaders lived.