The projects : gang and non-gang families in East Los Angeles
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The projects : gang and non-gang families in East Los Angeles
University of Texas Press, 2007
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-225) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Winner, ALLA Prize for Best Book on Latina/o Anthropology, 2008 The Pico Gardens housing development in East Los Angeles has a high percentage of resident families with a history of persistent poverty, gang involvement, and crime. In some families, members of three generations have belonged to gangs. Many other Pico Gardens families, however, have managed to avoid the cycle of gang involvement. In this work, Vigil adds to the tradition of poverty research and elaborates on the association of family dynamics and gang membership. The main objective of his research was to discover what factors make some families more vulnerable to gang membership, and why gang resistance was evidenced in similarly situated non-gang-involved families. Providing rich, in-depth interviews and observations, Vigil examines the wide variations in income and social capital that exist among the ostensibly poor, mostly Mexican American residents. Vigil documents how families connect and interact with social agencies in greater East Los Angeles to help chart the routines and rhythms of the lives of public housing residents.
He presents family life histories to augment and provide texture to the quantitative information. By studying life in Pico Gardens, Vigil feels we can better understand how human agency interacts with structural factors to produce the reality that families living in all public housing developments must contend with daily.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Tom Weisner Preface Chapter One. Introduction Chapter Two. Rationale and Methods Chapter Three. A History of the Cuatro Flats Barrio Gang Chapter Four. The Gang Subculture: Change and Continuity Chapter Five. The Pico Gardens Clique Chapter Six. A Gang Life Chapter Seven. Cholas in the World of Gangs Chapter Eight. Why Children Either Avoid or Affiliate with Gangs Chapter Nine. Families Not Involved with Gangs Chapter Ten. A Closer Look at Gang-Affiliated Families Chapter Eleven. Gang Prevention and Intervention Strategies over Time Chapter Twelve. Conclusion and Recommendations References Index
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