Street Gangs Throughout the World
Street Gangs Throughout the World

Author: Herbert C. Covey

Publisher: Charles C Thomas Publisher

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0398079064

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This updated and expanded new edition continues the theme of the first edition of emphasizing the substantial growth of street gangs throughout the world. Although a substantial amount of research on street gangs has been conducted in recent decades, much of it has focused on the United States. This book summarizes much of the research being conducted in many other countries where the street gang phenomenon is currently developing, which includes poverty, the retreat of the state, increasing income inequality, urbanization, population growth, exploitation, marginalization, underground economies, racism, and ethnocentrism. The introductory section of the text addresses important topics on the various definitions of gangs and youth subcultures and presents methodological issues concerning the measurement of street gang activity in different countries. The second section offers an overview of the primary studies and most recent findings regarding American street gangs. The third section discusses recent and historical findings about street gangs in Europe and highlights studies in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Belgium, Scandinavia, and the Eastern European bloc. The fourth section provides current research on the Western Hemisphere and focuses on Canada, Jamaica, Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Trinidad, Ecuador, Tobago, and El Salvador and further examines the influence of American-style gangs on the region. Section five addresses street gangs in India, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea with special emphasis on Russia. The sixth section discusses the emerging street gang activity in Africa and Australia, as well as many of the island nations of the Pacific Ocean. The final section compares gang research from the various parts of the world and projects universal trends. This book provides the most current and comprehensive overview of worldwide street gang activity stressing those features that are shared by all gangs regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or gender, and postulates what the future holds for street gangs throughout the world.

Latino Youth, Gangs, and Community Activism
Latino Youth, Gangs, and Community Activism

Author: Tina M. Kabarec-Quiroz

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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A social issue of great importance in contemporary society is the involvement of youth in gangs. Youth involvement in gang activity has dominated the national media and the minds of public policy makers in contemporary society. In this thesis I examine how Latino and Chicano youth sub-culture, language, dress, and style, has been first, misinterpreted and secondarily reconstructed, as a criminal subculture by public policy makers, local law enforcement officials, public school administrators, and the general public. The construction of Latino and Chicano youth subculture as criminal has occurred through the process of labeling. In this process culture and crime have become intertwined where specific cultures and their members are perceived and then reclassified as criminal subcultures. This thesis provides a case study of the process of labeling in a community located in the Pacific Northwest. The community where this research project was conducted has undergone tremendous fluctuations in its population demographics. These changes have led to underlying tensions and conflicts between the various ethnic and linguistic groups represented in the community. It is within this context that the issue of youth gangs must be analyzed. The specific purposes of thesis are to: provide the theoretical framework to view the social discourse of youth gangs; document and analyze the community context which has contributed to the emergence of the social discourse of youth gangs; to document how culture, style, and crime have become intertwined to inaccurately characterize Latino and Chicano youth sub-culture as gang culture; to document and analyze how the social discourse of youth gangs has been constructed as a moral panic; and to provide possible solutions from applied anthropology.

The Youth Gang Problem
The Youth Gang Problem

Author: Irving A. Spergel

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 0195092031

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This systematic analysis of the youth gang problem in the USA focuses on current patterns of gang behaviour, with reference to historical and cross-cultural dimensions. The author integrates his own theory and practices with material on research programmes set up to address the problem.

A Rainbow of Gangs
A Rainbow of Gangs

Author: James Diego Vigil

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-07-05

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0292788517

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Winner, Best Book on Ethnic and Racial Politics in a Local or Urban Setting , Organized Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics of the American Political Science Association, 2002 This cross-cultural study of Los Angeles gangs identifies the social and economic factors that lead to gang membership and underscores their commonality across four ethnic groups--Chicano, African American, Vietnamese, and Salvadorian. With nearly 1,000 gangs and 200,000 gang members, Los Angeles holds the dubious distinction of being the youth gang capital of the United States. The process of street socialization that leads to gang membership now cuts across all ethnic groups, as evidenced by the growing numbers of gangs among recent immigrants from Asia and Latin America. This cross-cultural study of Los Angeles gangs identifies the social and economic factors that lead to gang membership and underscores their commonality across four ethnic groups—Chicano, African American, Vietnamese, and Salvadorian. James Diego Vigil begins at the community level, examining how destabilizing forces and marginalizing changes have disrupted the normal structures of parenting, schooling, and policing, thereby compelling many youths to grow up on the streets. He then turns to gang members' life stories to show how societal forces play out in individual lives. His findings provide a wealth of comparative data for scholars, policymakers, and law enforcement personnel seeking to respond to the complex problems associated with gangs.

The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation
The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation

Author: David Brotherton

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 0231114192

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How a notorious street gang became a social organization providing leadership to New York City's Latino/a youths.

Gangs
Gangs

Author: Scott Cummings

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1993-01-01

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 9780791413258

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This book is an examination of contemporary gangs in American cities. Gangs have proliferated over the past ten years and pose a new set of challenges to public officials, law enforcement agencies, and urban educators. Most major cities are now confronted with serious problems derived from gang violence, drug traffic, and disruption of the public educational system. In the face of deindustrialization and deepening recession, many minority youngsters view gangs as attractive alternatives to a futile search for employment in a deteriorating urban economy. Perhaps most significant, gangs are now beginning to emerge in small and medium-sized cities. Some of the nation's leading scientists and scholars have been brought together in this book to examine the contemporary contours of America's gang problem, including Daniel J. Monti, Joan Moore, Scott Cummings, Howard Pinderhughes, Diego Vigil, Ray Hutchison, Felix Padilla, Jerome H. Skolnick, Pat Jackson, and Robert A. Destro. New material dealing with wilding gangs, migration and drug trafficking, and public educational disruption appear in this volume. Other topics covered include how gangs are organized, what social function they serve, their relation to conventional society, and the social and psychological factors that contribute to their rise. The relationship of the contemporary gang problem to past research is explored, and a rich variety of case histories and comparative analysis is presented. The book also includes a section on public policy.

The Re-Evolution of American Street Gangs
The Re-Evolution of American Street Gangs

Author: Dale L. June

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2015-09-25

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 1439871523

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The problem of gangs and gang subculture is a growing threat to the stability of neighborhoods and entire communities. During the past two decades, gang members have increasingly migrated from large urban centers to suburban areas and other countries. This book addresses the intricacies and diversities of street gangs, drawing on the expertise of high-ranking law enforcement officials monitoring terrorist activity and gang-related crimes as well as professional private investigators who have spent several decades investigating gangs and learning their subculture, lifestyle, motivations, and relationships. Ideal for supplemental reading in gang violence courses on criminal justice, sociology, law, and psychology, this comprehensive anthology presents thorough coverage of a notoriously difficult subject. It explores the following key topics: Social, psychological, and criminal impact of street gangs on juveniles Psychology of gang membership and the pathways that lead into and out of gang culture Relationship between religion and dangerous criminal gangs How U.S.-based gangs are using technology to advance their operations Use of graffiti by street gangs Evolution of gangs and recommendations for preventing future growth Gang enhancement crimes and associated misconduct of police and prosecutors Like any type of crime, street gang criminal activity cannot be totally eliminated. This book aims to provide a better understanding of gangs so that we can influence today’s potential gang members to make the right decisions for their sake and the sake of society.