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American Youth Gangs at the Millennium

 

Finn-Aage Esbensen, Stephen G. Tibbetts, and Larry Gaines

 

For generations, scholars, law enforcement personnel, politicians, and the media have tried to understand and explain youth gangs and violence. This insightful collection contains the work of leading scholars, integrating previously published articles with new material to provide the most comprehensive information about the status of American youth gangs. The contributors attempt to answer crucial questions for understanding gangs: What is a gang? What are the risk factors associated with joining a gang? What is the nature of gang violence? How involved are girls in gangs and gang violence? The contributors’ multifaceted approach to these questions and their ensuing discussions describe the varied and individual responses to gang violence. The topics are grouped in four sections: The first section explores the issues and ramifications of current terminology and survey information. In the second section, nontraditional gangs, such as female gangs and hybrid gangs, are discussed. The third section attempts to examine gang activities objectively and place them in a proper perspective. The final section looks at historical and current response techniques to youth gangs, such as suppression, prevention, and legal injunctions. For a sample syllabus and chapter outlines, visit http://criminaljustice.csusb.edu/lgaines/CJUS453/.

Drugs, Crime, and Justice, 2/E

Readings in White-Collar Crime

 

Victims and Victimization
 

 

$29.95 list, 389 pages

10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-324-1

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-324-9

© 2004

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“One of the most up-to-date gang readers with both younger and older researchers in the mix. Thorough and well referenced.”    — James Diego Vigil, University of California, Irvine

 

Table of Contents

 

Introduction

Section I. DEFINITIONS AND CURRENT TRENDS

1. Youth Gangs: An Overview (James C. Howell)

2. Youth Gangs and Definitional Issues: When Is a Gang a Gang, and Why Does It Matter? (Finn-Aage Esbensen, L. Thomas Winfree, Jr., Ni He, and Terrance J. Taylor)

3. Comparing the Criminal Behavior of Youth Gangs and At-Risk Youths (C. Ronald Huff)

4. Recent Patterns of Gang Problems in the United States: Results from the 1996–2002 National Youth Gang Survey (Arlen Egley, Jr., James C. Howell, and Aline K. Major)

Section II. VARIETIES OF GANGS

5. Voices from the Barrio: Chicano/a Gangs, Families, and Communities (Marjorie S. Zatz and Edwardo L. Portillos)

6. Exploring Race and Ethnic Differences in a Sample of Middle School Gang Members (Adrienne Freng and L. Thomas Winfree, Jr.)

7. Gender Dynamics in Youth Gangs: A Comparison of Males' and Females' Accounts (Jody Miller and Rod K. Brunson)

8. Early Precursors of Gang Membership: A Study of Seattle Youth (Karl G. Hill, Christina Lui, and J. David Hawkins)

9. Hybrid and Other Modern Gangs (David Starbuck, James C. Howell, and Donna J. Lindquist)

Section III. GANG ACTIVITIES

10. Street Baptism: Chicano Gang Initiation (James Diego Vigil)

11. Alcohol and Violence in the Lives of Gang Members (Geoffrey P. Hunt and Karen Joe Laidler)

12. The Financial Activity of a Modern American Street Gang (Sudhir Venkatesh)

13. A Tale of Two Cities: Gangs as Organized Crime Groups (Scott H. Decker, Tim Bynum, and Deborah Weisel)

14. Gang Homicide: A Review and Extension of the Literature (Cheryl L. Maxson)

Section IV. RESPONDING TO YOUTH GANGS

15. The Political and Organizational Response to Gangs: An Examination of a "Moral Panic" in Nevada (Richard C. McCorkle and Terance D. Miethe)

16. Youth Violence: Prevention, Intervention, and Social Policy (C. Ronald Huff)

17. Police Youth Violence Interventions: Lessons to Improve Effectiveness (Jack R. Greene)

18. Gang Prevention: A Case Study of a Primary Prevention Program (Finn-Aage Esbensen, Dana Peterson, Terrance J. Taylor, Adrienne Freng, and D. Wayne Osgood)

19. Civil Gang Injunctions: The Ambiguous Case of the National Migration of a Gang Enforcement Strategy (Cheryl L. Maxson)