Boys from broken homes join gangs to find an alternative family

Children turn to gangs to fill the gap left by poor relationships with their own families, a report said today.

The Salvation Army published research that found many homeless people described a childhood where they were ignored, neglected or even abused at home.

Ivan Congreve - manager of Springfield Lodge in Camberwell, which provides homeless men aged 16 to 21 with a home and teaches them the skills to become independent - said some joined gangs because they provided an alternative family. He said: "All of our guys are from a broken family of one sort or another and that leads them into gangs. That's where they seem to be able to find the family they are looking for. They are accepted, looked after and respected in ways that they don't feel they get from their family."

The Salvation Army is calling for vulnerable families to be identified early so parents and children can be given support.

The Seeds of Exclusion report, published today, is based on interviews with 438 people who used Salvation Army homelessness services in the UK between October 2007 and March 2008.