Life in the gang : family, friends and violence

Bibliographic Information

Life in the gang : family, friends and violence

Scott H. Decker, Barrik Van Winkle

(Cambridge criminology series)

Cambridge University Press, 1996

  • : pbk
  • : hardback

Available at  / 4 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-291) and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This study is based on three years of field work with 99 active gang members and 24 family members. The book describes the attractiveness of gangs, the process of joining, their chaotic and loose organisation, and their members' predominant activities - mostly hanging out, drinking, and using drugs. The authors also discuss gang members' rather slapdash involvement in major property crime and their disorganised participation in drug traffic, as well as the often fatal consequences of their violent life-style. Although the book focuses on the individual, organisational, and institutional aspects of gang membership, it also explores gang members' involvement with other school and neighborhood structures. Extensive interviews with family members provide groundbreaking insights into the gang members' lives. As much as possible, however, the story is told in the gang members' own words.

Table of Contents

  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. 'Are you claiming?': methods of study
  • 3. 'I'm down with the Bloods, what's up cuz?': individual issues
  • 4. 'We ain't no worldwide thing or nothing': group membership issues
  • 5. 'Where you hanging?': minor crime and gang members
  • 6. 'I love to bang': serious crime by gang members
  • 7. Gang members and social institutions
  • 8. Gang members and their families
  • 9. Responding to gangs: theory and policy
  • References.

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