The children involved in these gangs were orphans (either because of having been abandoned or because their parents had died), and the whole relationship they had with the adult ruling the gang and the other children was that of a "surrogate family".
As crianças envolvidas nestes bandos eram órfãs (porque tinham sido abandonadas ou porque os seus pais tinham morrido), e o relacionamento que tinham com o adulto que controlava o bando e as outras crianças era o de uma "família de substituição".