Read complete books and articles on: Youth Gangs

Gang - group of people organized for a common purpose, often criminal. Gangs of criminals were long known on the American frontier and also flourished in urban settings. Notorious were the outlaws led by Jesse James and his brother, the Sydney Ducks of San Francisco (active in the 1850s), and the Hudson Dusters of turn-of-the-century New York City. Modern criminal gangs are largely urban and highly organized (see organized crime). Adolescent gangs before World War II were generally poverty-area recreational groups that turned to crime under the influence of adult gangs. Often the groups were rehabilitated through recreational leadership and guidance in community centers. In the late 1940s fighting gangs arose in the poverty areas of most large cities. Uniting to seek security and status in a discouraging environment, the young members divide their neighborhoods into rival territories and amass homemade and stolen weapons. Boundary violations or other insults invite intergang fights in streets or parks. Most fighting gangs are organized intricately, with caste systems and with officers who arrange battles and prepare strategy; the gang may range in size from several members to over 100. Factors related to the development of delinquent gangs include blighted communities, dropping out of school, unemployment, family disorganization, neighborhood traditions of gang delinquency, psychopathology, and ethnic status. Gangs provide acceptance and protection to inner-city youth; in Los Angeles gangs doubled from 400 in 1985 to 800 (with 90,000 members) in 1990. See also juvenile delinquency.

See L. Yablonsky, The Violent Gang (1962, repr. 1970); M. W. Klein and B. G. Myerhoff, Juvenile Gangs in Context (1967); J. F. Short, ed., Gang Delinquency and Delinquent Subcultures (1968); E. Liebow, Talley's Corner (1968); J. Haskins, Street Gangs: Yesterday and Today (1977); W. F. Whyte, Streetcorner Society (1981); A. Campbell, Girls in the Gang (1984); E. Dolan, Youth Gangs (1984); L. Bing, Do or Die (1991).

Show Excerpt Only

15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Youth Gangs

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Teen Gangs: A Global View » Read Now
by Maureen P. Duffy, Scott Edward Gillig. 230 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

Teen gangs are a hot issue in the United States. This volume shows the international scope of the phenomenon today. Gang activity in 14 countries, including the United States, is discussed within the larger framework of social and economic conditions. Each chapter explains the nature of the gang...
Read More

Teen gangs are a hot issue in the United States. This volume shows the international scope of the phenomenon today. Gang activity in 14 countries, including the United States, is discussed within the larger framework of social and economic conditions. Each chapter explains the nature of the gang activity in that country; touches on the causes, such as poverty, marginalization, and self-identity problems; and heavily emphasizes the responses, including education and community-based intervention.
Show less
2.

Youth Crisis: Growing Up in the High-Risk Society (Chap. 9 "The Gang as Pseudo Community") » Read Now
by Nanette J. Davis. 374 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

What is the social condition of youth in modern society? This is the question taken up by this passionate and substantive book. The author argues that youth are at a crisis state. The crisis has been brought about by the general state of social crisis; violence, questions of political legitimacy...
Read More

What is the social condition of youth in modern society? This is the question taken up by this passionate and substantive book. The author argues that youth are at a crisis state. The crisis has been brought about by the general state of social crisis; violence, questions of political legitimacy, educational decline; as well as the decline of compassion as a core principle of culture. The author draws on a variety of trends and scholarly research to examine the problems of growing up in a high risk society and offers pathways to spiritual renewal and cultural renewal, esential for salvaging the next generation.
Show less
3.

Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective » Read Now
by Marvin D. Krohn, Alan J. Lizotte, Carolyn A. Smith, Terence P. Thornberry, Kimberly Tobin. 238 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

To reveal how membership in adolescent street gangs influences human development, the authors examine the origins of gang membership and the social and psychological factors that lead to joining. After demonstrating that gang members are responsible for the major share of serious and violent...
Read More

To reveal how membership in adolescent street gangs influences human development, the authors examine the origins of gang membership and the social and psychological factors that lead to joining. After demonstrating that gang members are responsible for the major share of serious and violent delinquency, they indicate how membership facilitates delinquent behavior and other developmental problems such as teen pregnancy and school dropout.
Show less
4.

Winning the War against Youth Gangs: A Guide for Teens, Families, and Communities » Read Now
by Valerie Wiener. 214 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

Gangs have spread throughout the entire sector of society, and what was once viewed as an inner-city problem can now be found everywhere, including suburbia. This guide for teenagers, their families, and impacted communities addresses the youth gang issue in understandable, manageable terms. Quotes...
Read More

Gangs have spread throughout the entire sector of society, and what was once viewed as an inner-city problem can now be found everywhere, including suburbia. This guide for teenagers, their families, and impacted communities addresses the youth gang issue in understandable, manageable terms. Quotes from teens themselves provide valuable insight into the problems that can cause kids to join gangs: absent parents, the need for excitement or to belong to a group, following in the footsteps of family members who are involved in gangs. These factors and others are explored (including an examination of the workings of the adolescent mind), and sound solutions are suggested to help kids resist gang membership.
Show less
5.

Delinquency and Substance Use among Gang-Involved Youth: The Moderating Role of Parenting Practices, in American Journal of Community Psychology » Read Now
by Craig A. Mason, Chanequa J. Walker-Barnes. 16 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
6.

Clinical Interventions with Gang Adolescents and Their Families » Read Now
by Curtis W. Branch. 251 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

"A penetrating analysis of the many complex involvements in understanding gangs & work with gang members. Touches all bases from contextual determinants & the etiology of gangs to psychological assessment of individual, developmental, & family dynamics of gang members to creative, interventive...
Read More

"A penetrating analysis of the many complex involvements in understanding gangs & work with gang members. Touches all bases from contextual determinants & the etiology of gangs to psychological assessment of individual, developmental, & family dynamics of gang members to creative, interventive strategies & outcome research models. A must-study for all who are interested in this frightening, escalating problem." Elaine Pinderhughes Boston College Graduate School of Social Work "This excellent book provides the most comprehensive work to date on clinical interventions with gang-involved adolescents & their families.... A must for professionals in the mental health & social service fields." Nancy Boyd-Franklin Rutgers University; author of Black Families in Therapy: A Multisystems Approach
Show less
7.

Boys Who Join Gangs: A Prospective Study of Predictors of First Gang Entry, in Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology » Read Now
by David P. Farrington, Rachel A. Gordon, Benjamin B. Lahey, Rolf Loeber, Magda Stouthamer-Loeber. 16 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
8.

Violence and Social Organization in Female Gangs, in Social Justice » Read Now
by Geoffrey Hunt, Karen A. Joe Laidler. 22 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
9.

Gangs in Schools: An Introduction to the Problem and Interventions, in Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association » Read Now
by Melody Griffin, Mike Meacham. 5 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
10.

Cholas, Mexican-American Girls and Gangs, in Sex Roles: A Journal of Research » Read Now
by Mary G. Harris. 13 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
11.

Manufacturing the Gang: Mexican American Youth Gangs on Local Television News » Read Now
by Raul Damacio Tovares. 181 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Coverage of Mexican-American youth gangs has been a staple of local television news in the United States for decades, and its form and content have come to embody many journalistic cliches: the "rising tide" of violence, the spread of drug addiction, the alienated minority youth. But as this bold...
Read More

Coverage of Mexican-American youth gangs has been a staple of local television news in the United States for decades, and its form and content have come to embody many journalistic cliches: the "rising tide" of violence, the spread of drug addiction, the alienated minority youth. But as this bold new study argues, these stories contain gross exaggerations that lead to the reinforcement of stereotypes about Mexican-American young people and the Mexican-American community in general. Indeed, the police and community leaders greatly influence the content of this coverage by deciding what information to make available to the news media, while reporters select certain sources and ignore others, thus slanting the story even further. As author Raul Tovares makes clear, the true story of Mexican-American youth is far more complex than local news would have its viewers believe.
Show less
12.

Pride and Prejudice in High School Gang Members, in Adolescence » Read Now
by Alvin Y. Wang. 13 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
13.

Representations of Gangs and Delinquency: Wild in the Streets, in Social Justice » Read Now
by Meda Chesney-Lind, Paul A. Perrone. 21 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
14.

Understanding and Responding to Youth Gangs: A Juvenile Corrections Approach, in Corrections Today » Read Now
by Lonnie Jackson. 3 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
15.

Turning Youth Gangs Around: Throwaway Kids, in The Nation » Read Now
by Luis J. Rodriguez. 4 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library