I agree Jim. Sure you need to be strong to change but it is possible.
Some are just too lazy and some just dream .. thinking oh i'll see later ....... life will be good soon, like if someone will knock at their door to give them the job they'd like and their driving licence etc etc ... It's not life.

As you said a good kick up in the arse and something or someone to show them they can do something and sometimes it's enough ! they realise what is life.

I wasn't an angel either Jim .... i did some really stupid things and i know it's easy to stay in this circle, it's more difficult to decide to change. The guys from the gang where i lived when i was 12/13 years old changed a lot with the help of martial arts, now i know maybe half are in jail or doing nothing of their life but half of them work and have a family etc ... that's good to know. For us it was Taek Won Do and Kung Fu. I stayed with them a few years, i think i was the first one to make a move in the "right direction", first they didn't really understood, they were nearly all older than i was and i was the one who tell them you can't live your life like that !!!

What i don't really understand is the fascination some have for gangs or prison etc ...... why do they want to become like them ?