"Violence," "prison" and "troublemakers" are words that often come to mind when discussing gang activity. "Hopelessness," "despair," "poverty" and "abuse" are not normally the focus.

Adult Friends for Youth has spent the past 25 years trying to change that perception to one of young people in hard-luck situations who can be redeemed if given the right support.

Sid Rosen, founder of Adult Friends for Youth, believes gang members are "alienated youths who are worthy of and responsive to help."

In his new book, "Turning It Around: Redirectional Therapy" (Vantage Press, $18.95), co-authored with Deborah Spencer-Chun, personal stories of former gang members are shared along with the methodology used over the years at the nonprofit agency.

"It was written for anyone with a brain and a heart," Rosen said. "By improving their lives, we are creating a safer, healthier and more stable environment for everyone. Our effort will have served a good purpose."

The bedrock principles of redirectional therapy are that people have the capacity to change; gang youths have the potential to enter the social and economic mainstream; and most people have the ability to make decisions that are in their best interests but might require support and encouragement.

The book describes the group therapy used to reach out to and engage youth gang members and other youths at risk of heading down the wrong path. The process helps them "to believe that they are worthwhile human beings and that they live successful, constructive lives," Rosen said.

"The stories of the 12 young people that we tell in the book provide insights into the realities of what life was like for them … the hopelessness that they felt before Adult Friends for Youth came into their lives."

Christopher Ulep is one of the dozen case studies in the book. Now a 35-year-old journeyman metalworker, he is married, owns his own home and runs a day-care center for older adults. But his life was not always as filled with purpose.

When he was 12 he moved to Hawaii from the Philippines. He recalls people spitting in his face and calling him names. His story is featured in "Turning It Around" under the pseudonym Rolando.

"It was hard being an immigrant. I got teased a lot," he said. "I was trying to fit in the crowd. I wasn’t looking to be a gang member."

He said his father was a drug user, and his parents were always fighting. After being arrested for possession of drugs and firearms, Ulep was sent to the Habilitat residential substance abuse program, where he kept in contact with Spencer-Chun.

He has been off drugs for 14 years and completed a five-year apprenticeship in sheet-metal work. "Debbie would always help direct me back to the right way. She never gave up and was always there for me with open arms," he said. "I never imagined that I’d be working in an adult day-care center, but it feels good to give back to the community."

Lester Orsino, whose pseudonym in the book is Jose, says his life fell apart after he was attacked by members of his own gang.

"They turned against me over a simple misunderstanding," he explained.

Orsino graduated in 2006 from Waipahu High School, where he played basketball and football and attended Adult Friends for Youth group meetings to try to stay on track.

"If I could go back and hit a ‘reset’ button, I would. I’d start all over again," he said.

Orsino credits Malakai "Mo" Maumalanga with helping him to succeed. Maumalanga, whose story is also featured in the book, ended his "gang-banger" lifestyle in 1996, eventually obtaining a master’s degree in social work and working on the streets and in schools with kids headed down the same path he was on many years ago.

"Mo knew what we’d been through. We looked up to him," Orsino said. "You’d never think a guy like that would have gotten his life together and be giving back. It’s given me an urge to give back."

The 24-year-old Orsino now helps with the varsity basketball team at Waipahu High. "I don’t just talk basketball with them. We talk about life, too," he said.

He hopes to be that "friend" he found as a lost teenager. "They (Adult Friends for Youth) were really my friends — the ones that I could talk to. If I was lonely or had problems, I’d call them and they were there."

Rosen said the book’s case studies are evidence that redirectional therapy works. "In the beginning they were hopeless. They believed that their lives would be short and brutal and that they would end up in prison or dead. They saw life as having very little value, neither for themselves nor for others. It made them dangerous people."

Rosen said the authors want to spread the word to other professionals and agencies in the same field that this type of therapy can make a huge difference for youths who might otherwise be a lost cause.

"It’s been relatively easy to reach out to the kids. When we do they’ve often said, ‘We are so screwed up already, why do you bother with us?’ They still grab onto the staff as if they are life rings," Rosen added. "The academic and professional communities are not so easy to reach."

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Contact Adult Friends for Youth at 833-8775 or visit afyhawaii.com.