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Los Angeles social psychologist Malcolm Klein has devised a multiple-choice test which “he says could predict if a child is destined to join a gang.”
Oh, destiny, and the people who “say” their work “could” “predict” it.
So, how does Malcolm Klein’s future-gang-member oracle determine whether your little one is “destined” for organized crime? Klein’s 70-question test—-which is meant to “empirically identify which children are headed toward a life on the street”—-employs wide variety of predictors, including a child’s commitment to truth-telling, relationship with her parents—-and her relationship status.
And so, in the same quiz, you find these two predictors:
In the past six months, “did you ‘go out’ on a date with a boyfriend or girlfriend for the very first time?”
and
In the past six months, have you “been a member of a gang”?
We’ve known for years that if you you go out on dates, you might be in a gang. But did you also know that if you are a member of a gang, you might also be in a gang? Thank God Klein is finally asking the tough questions that will solve L.A.’s gang problem before it starts.
If you’re wondering about your own “gang member potential,” you can take the test here [PDF].
[via Pukeimmediately]