The view is that nothing has worked in tackling gang-related crime in Glasgow for 40 years. There has been the odd small drop in violence here and there, but nothing has managed to break the culture of territorial street fighting which has defined parts of Glasgow for decades, sometimes centuries.

Yesterday, a very modern step forward was taken in a bid to end the hostilities.

Around 200 young people with known links to gang violence and those who perpetrate it were invited to Glasgow Sheriff Court - not for punishment, but to hear a plea for the violence to stop.

Rival gang members sat side by side in a courtroom, brought together by a fresh attempt by the authorities to end the stabbings and beatings and halt the fear.

To deliver this message was a potent mix of former gang members, sheriffs, police and workers from Strathclyde's Violence Reduction Unit, social services and health professionals. They talked of violence, its consequences and the alternatives.

Jail sentences were discussed but so were the daily punishments of being involved in a gang - like how a facial scar will be with you for 60 years and could stop you getting a job, a girlfriend and respect from the outside world. Photographs were shown of injuries inflicted during street fights. They were too disturbing to be released to the press Bringing young people tainted by gangs face-to-face with the authorities is not new, but in Glasgow it is a first.

Rosemary Dickson, project director of Families Around Rogerfield and Easterhouse, an area which has had historic gang problems, said yesterday: "If what we are currently doing generation after generation isn't doing what we need it to do, we need to try something new. Trying something new is not going to have poorer results than what we have already."

Yesterday's summit borrows elements from the highly successful Operation Ceasefire run in Boston, Massachusetts, which is credited with reducing and finally halting the gang violence in the city. After two "interventions" like those held in Glasgow yesterday, violent gang offending dropped markedly.

For the second full year of Operation Ceasefire through to May 31, 1998, there was a 71% decrease in homicides by people aged 24 and under and a 70% reduction in gun assaults.

The adoption of Operation Ceasefire techniques comes after a link-up between Glasgow and Chicago in dealing with gang-related problems.

Former gang member Kenny Ruiz, now head of the YMCA street intervention programme, was in Scotland this month to discuss tactics with Strathclyde Police.

The authorities in Glasgow are keen to stress that they would never lift "wholesale" a programme from another city or country and drop it on to Glasgow, but it has been confirmed that certain "elements" have been drawn from the successful American model, which has also been used by the Metropolitan Police to tackle gun crime.

In Boston, the message was emphatically delivered to the gang members that violence would no longer be tolerated - it had to stop or the full weight of the law enforcement and criminal justice systems would be used. That message is one that was delivered by the authorities in Glasgow yesterday.

"What we want to say to people is live a decent life, go out to work - there is a lot more to life than being in a gang," one source said yesterday.

Research shows that 51% of young people in Glasgow consider themselves as part of a gang. During 2006-2007 there were 34 serious assaults per 10,000 people in Glasgow compared with 13 per 10,000 across Scotland.

Reporting of crimes of non-sexual violence was also much greater, with a rate of 70 per 10,000 in the city - more than double the Scottish rate of 28. The hidden crime rate, of those offences not reported to police, takes the figures higher. It is thought that about 3000 people were seriously assaulted with a weapon in Glasgow last year - but only 1000 victims made a report to police.

Recent research from Glasgow University found that becoming involved in gang or territorial behaviour could provide young people with leisure, excitement and support outside their home.

The study, for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, also found that territorial behaviour placed major constraints on young people, with many unable to go to certain areas because they did not feel safe, and could not access amenities for the same reason. This put their job and education prospects at risk as fear prevented them leaving their neighbourhood.

Ross Deuchar, of Strathclyde University, has been researching gang membership among young people in Glasgow - particularly Govan, Shettleston and Govanhill. He said yesterday's summit had great potential.

"I am talking a lot with gang members and it (their lifestyle) is something they really enjoy talking about.

" A lot of these youngsters come from dysfunctional backgrounds and have never really been listened to or had role models. Someone coming along and listening to their views could be a very effective tool."