Brotherton, David C.  The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation: street politics and the transformation of a New York City gang, by Davd C. Brotherton and Luis Barrios.  Columbia, 2004.  397p bibl index afp ISBN 0-231-11418-4, $64.50; ISBN 0-231-11419-2 pbk, $24.50. Reviewed in 2004oct CHOICE.
42-1249 HV6439 2003-61751 CIP

Sociologist Brotherton and psychologist Barrios (both, John Jay College of Criminal Justice) address the social, cultural, spiritual, and political transformation of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) in New York City, successfully refuting contentions that gangs cannot effectively engage in politics. The authors confront gang theory by introducing the alternative construct “street organization” and its associated definitional model. They employ critical ethnography, and collaborate with their research subjects to develop a database from a sample of 67 gang-member life histories. Major issues addressed include the social-movement potential of gangs, gang reforms, societal reactions to gang transformation, major factors that explain reformist change, and recommended policy changes. The book features very useful endnotes and an impressive bibliography. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and policy makers. — A. A. Sisneros, University of Illinois at Springfield

Capozzoli, Thomas K.  Kids killing kids: managing violence and gangs in schools, by Thomas K. Capozzoli and R. Steve McVey.  St. Lucie, 2000.  156p bibl index afp ISBN 1-57444-283-X pbk, $24.95. Reviewed in 2000jun CHOICE.
37-5798 LB3013 99-52301 CIP

Capozzoli and McVey offer a timely and much needed practical “solution” to violence in schools. They make good use of their studies of workplace violence to inform school officials of the type of action plan they must not only develop but implement as well. Their work is a manual for guiding school personnel in the formation of plans, policies, and in determining how and who should implement those plans. The first half of the book describes the current state of violence in schools, with particular attention to the development of gangs. The second half consists of 12 appendixes that describe how administrators and teachers can develop a crisis plan and management team and how to implement such plans. Kids Killing Kids should be read by anyone who is concerned about violence in the schools, and especially by teachers and school administrators. Recommended at all levels. — J. F. Biter, St. Bonaventure University

Decker, Scott H.  Life in the gang: family, friends, and violence, by Scott H. Decker and Barrik Van Winkle.  Cambridge, 1996.  303p bibl indexes ISBN 0-521-56292-9, $59.95; ISBN 0-521-56566-9 pbk, $18.95. Reviewed in 1997feb CHOICE.
34-3600 HV6439 96-7896 CIP

Decker and Van Winkle report findings of a study of emerging juvenile gangs in St. Louis, Missouri. Data were gathered in the field using a survey instrument and unstructured interviews. The focus of the work is on the gang members themselves; the authors make effective use of direct quotes from subjects as well as limited bar charts to present distributions of characteristics of the youth and their beliefs. This book joins a long list of works that assess juvenile gangs and their impact, beginning with Frederic Thrasher’s classic work, The Gang (1927), through more recent works, e.g., Joan Moore’s Going Down to the Barrio: Homeboys and Homegirls in Change (1991), Felix Padilla’s The Gang as an American Enterprise (1992), William Sanders’s Gangbangs and Drive-bys: Grounded Culture and Juvenile Gang Violence (CH, Sep’94), and Carl Taylor’s Girls, Gangs, Women and Drugs (CH, Jan’94). It differs from many of these earlier works in its focus on emerging (reemerging) gangs rather that multigenerational gangs, and on the number of different gangs studied. The book is well written, adequately indexed, and well referenced. Recommended for libraries serving social science, counseling, or social work programs. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — R. T. Sigler, University of Alabama

Diaz, Tom.  No boundaries: transnational Latino gangs and American law enforcement.  Michigan, 2009.  341p bibl index afp ISBN 0-472-11629-0, $26.95; ISBN 9780472116294, $26.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE.
47-2312 HV6439 2008-51144 CIP

In this masterful accounting of notorious Latino gangs, lawyer Diaz (Violence Policy Center) compares and contrasts policing neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami, explaining the power of these criminal organizations and the deadly products they supply to US consumers. He presents issues of history, turf, violence, and law enforcement leadership failures, challenges, and strategies, and he supplies incredible crime case details supplemented with authoritative scholarship. The author also skillfully presents a long-overdue consideration of historical forces, national deportation policy, police-state mentality of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, socioeconomic conditions in the US and associated societal norms, engagement of second-generation immigrant and native youth, and gang culture generally. Diaz demonstrates the courage to challenge contemporary dishonest debates about the relationship between crime and immigration policy, and concludes that root causes nurturing gang culture remain unchanged. He expresses concern for national security implications, and provides the opportunity to revisit the debate regarding choice between police and welfare state strategies in the context of the US multiculture and the politics of national identity. No bibliography; excellent footnotes. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — A. A. Sisneros, University of Illinois at Springfield

Encyclopedia of gangs, ed. by Louis Kontos and David C. Brotherton.  Greenwood, 2008.  289p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780313334023, $85.00. Reviewed in 2008jul CHOICE.
45-5929 HV6439 2007-29804 CIP

Billed as the “first encyclopedia of gangs in the United States,” this volume provides an extensive overview of the great variety of gangs in American society and selected other countries (e.g., Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, South Africa, and Spain), and the various public programs and policies that have been developed to ameliorate their negative impacts. Most of the 100 entries fall into four categories: gang theory, practices, types, and expansion. This work contains all the expected entries (Bloods, Crips, Gangs in Prison, Organized Crime, Racist Skinheads, and Transnational Gangs), plus a few that are unexpected (Football Hooligans, Gangster Wannabes, and Trenchcoat Mafia). Each entry provides references and suggested readings for further exploration. This encyclopedia will be useful for college and university libraries, or other settings where readers desire further understanding of this complex topic. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. — J. J. Harrison, Michigan State University

Esbensen, Finn-Aage.  American youth gangs at the millennium, by Finn-Aage Esbensen, Stephen G. Tibbetts, and Larry Gaines.  Waveland Press, 2004.  389p bibl ISBN 1-57766-324-1, $26.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2004nov CHOICE.
42-1902 HV6439  MARC

Criminology professors Esbensen (Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis), Tibbetts, and Gaines (both, California State Univ., San Bernardino) provide a welcome addition to an area of criminology that has seen some signal advances in both theory and program application in the past decade or so. In 19 chapters divided into four sections–“Definition and Current Trends,” “Varieties of Gangs,” “Gang Activity,” and “Responding to Youth Gangs”–the authors provide readers with a wealth of detailed research on youth gangs in the US in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the introduction, they note that “During the last fifteen years of the twentieth century, there was a virtual explosion of attention to youth gangs and youth violence that prompted the proliferation of numerous myths and misperceptions about American youth gangs.” The contents of this excellent work place these myths and misrepresentations in their appropriate place and offer, instead, an enlightened, easy-to-read, research-based analysis of the true state of juvenile gang lawlessness in the US, in contemporary perspective. Each chapter concludes with a robust reference section that is a welcome addition for both casual readers and serious students of juvenile gang delinquency. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — J. C. Watkins Jr., University of Alabama

Fleisher, Mark S.  Dead end kids: gang girls and the boys they know.  Wisconsin, 1998.  278p index afp ISBN 0-299-15880-2, $24.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 1999apr CHOICE.
36-4782 HV9106 98-15537 CIP

Fleisher, an urban anthropologist, has written a superb ethnographic study filled with enough detail about gang girls to reveal their life from the “inside.” His research focuses on a Kansas City gang, the Fremont Hustlers, and their escapades with boyfriends, pregnancies, minimum-wage jobs, dysfunctional relationships, drugs, guns, and many other forms of delinquency and crime. The book is both captivating and depressing. Fleisher’s writing makes the lives of these girls and their experiences at ages 13 and up real and understandable. The author makes clear that the juvenile justice system in the US has too many shortcomings and needs progressive changes. One criticism is that at times there is too much detail that appears without direction. Aside from this, the strength of the ethnography far outweighs any other shortcomings. This is an outstanding piece of ethnographic research. The last chapter, “Street Ethnography: Methods, Ethics, and Politics,” should be required reading in college courses emphasizing qualitative research methods. Endnotes are interesting and instructive. Highly recommended for anyone interested in social deviance, delinquency, family, socialization, rehabilitation, and other related fields of inquiry. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — P. J. Venturelli, Valparaiso University

Gangs and society: alternative perspectives, ed. by Louis Kontos, David Brotherton, and Luis Barrios.  Columbia, 2003.  352p index afp ISBN 0-231-12140-7, $54.50; ISBN 0-231-12141-5 pbk, $24.50. Reviewed in 2004jan CHOICE.
41-3127 HV6439 2002-35038 CIP

This is a refreshing anthology on gang life in the US. The editors have compiled fascinating, serious, and informative articles concerned with the theoretical and methodological contexts of gang research, women and gangs, links between gangs and politics, the problems of youth and gang life, and the social control of gangs. There is also a photographic section. The majority of the articles use phenomenological and qualitative approaches to analyze issues of participation and recruitment, subcultural dynamics, and economic linkages. While the articles are carefully steeped in the theoretical traditions of studying gangs, they also debunk myths surrounding the gang experience, such as the view that gangs are simply a symbol of social disorganization or a conduit for selling illegal drugs. The articles and photographs remind readers of many of the disturbing aspects of gang life, such as violence, prison, early death, hypermachismo, and children having children. An excellent, very readable resource. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — B. J. Goetz, Western Michigan University

Gangs in America, ed. by C. Ronald Huff.  Sage, 1990.  351p bibl indexes ISBN 0-8039-3828-4, $36.00; ISBN 0-8039-3829-2, $17.95. Reviewed in 1991apr CHOICE.
28-4805 HV6439.U5 90-39608 CIP

A collection of essays on delinquent gangs, this volume is of exceptionally high quality. Coverage of the issue is comprehensive and includes historical background, theoretical and definitional issues, examples and assessments of contemporary research, and policy issues. The contributors are for the most part leading scholars with an interest in gangs and with impressive reputations for the quality and depth of their work. Essays are well written and make use of tables and figures when appropriate. The quality of the references varies but the collection generally is adequately referenced. For all libraries serving programs in sociology, social work, clinical psychology, or counseling. — R. T. Sigler, University of Alabama

Hagedorn, John M.  A world of gangs: armed young men and gangsta culture.  Minnesota, 2008.  198p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780816650668, $24.95. Reviewed in 2009may CHOICE.
46-5336 HV6437 2008-82 CIP

Hagedorn (criminal justice, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago) presents a searing study of the cultural phenomena of gangs. His exploration demonstrates how globally entrenched gangs are, and how these bands of destructive youth cross country boundaries to threaten even international peace. From inner-city gangs to murderous political insurgents to international terrorists operating in cells, Hagedorn’s work characterizes gang life, culture, and its many violent illegal enterprises as a worldwide crisis that feeds off society’s counterproductive, predatory values of racism, sexism, and classism. With examples of gangs from the US, South Africa, and Brazil (amid other international examples), Hagedorn helps readers understand the nihilistic nature of gangs and how they infiltrate families and communities. He raises various strategies to diminish the power of gangs across communities. Once people understand that gangs recruit young children to perpetuate their stronghold on family and community life and economic well-being, people will see young children as the vulnerable capital they are and develop initiatives that strengthen their resilience against gang influence. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All general, graduate, and undergraduate collections. — D. E. Kelly, Adelphi University

Katz, Charles M.  Policing gangs in America, by Charles M. Katz and Vincent J. Webb.  Cambridge, 2006.  310p bibl index ISBN 0-521-85110-6, $75.00; ISBN 0521616549 pbk, $29.99. Reviewed in 2006dec CHOICE.
44-2418 HV8080 2005-15711 CIP

Well known and regarded scholars Webb (sociology, Southern Illinois Univ.) and Katz (criminal justice, Arizona State Univ.) offer a comprehensive report of a research project that evaluated the effectiveness of the police response to gangs with an emphasis on the use of gang intervention units. Data were gathered from four police departments in the Southwest. The data collection was extensive, using primarily interviews and records research. The authors used these data to examine closely the context, operations, and effectiveness of gang intervention efforts, with a focus on the impact on the gang unit officer. The result is a strong descriptive manuscript with a solid conclusions and implications chapter. The text is clearly written and well within the grasp of average readers. Katz and Webb make good use of a limited number of tables. The work is well referenced and adequately indexed. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries serving departments of criminology, criminal justice, social work, and sociology, all levels. — R. T. Sigler, University of Alabama

Kinnear, Karen L.  Gangs: a reference handbook.  2nd ed.  ABC-Clio, 2009.  303p bibl index afp; ISBN 9781598841251, $55.00. Reviewed in 2009jul CHOICE.
46-5968 HV6439 2008-19138 CIP

This second edition is an expanded reference handbook released 12 years after the original edition (CH, Feb’97, 34-3091). Gangs are a topic of widespread interest within undergraduate curricula in sociology, criminal justice, and related academic departments. This edition builds on the earlier volume but adds new statistical data. Offering an enhanced snapshot of the contemporary landscape of gangs from urban to suburban communities, independent scholar Kinnear captures the international spectrum of gang involvement with descriptions of activities in countries ranging from Central and South America to Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and Africa (other publications have not addressed the latter extensively). This handbook also examines the relationship of youth gangs to gang members, and the influences of street gangs. It features brief biographical sketches of gang leaders, descriptions of specific gangs, and a chronology of gang history and legislation that has been introduced in the US to address prevention and intervention. The volume also directs readers to other resources to support the study of gangs. It complements the Encyclopedia of Gangs, ed. by Louis Kontos and David Brotherton (CH, Jul’08, 45-5929), and updates Gangs in America III, ed. by C. Ronald Huff (2002; 1st ed., CH, Apr’91, 28-4805). Summing Up: Recommended. Public, school, and academic libraries; all levels. — J. Gelfand, University of California, Irvine

Klein, Malcolm W.  Gang cop: the words and ways of Officer Paco Domingo.  AltaMira, 2004.  198p bibl afp ISBN 0-7591-0546-4, $69.00; ISBN 0-7591-0547-2 pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2004nov CHOICE.
42-1906 HV6439 2003-14353 CIP

Emeritus Univ. of Southern California sociology professor Klein, recognized as the leading expert in the study of youth gangs, evaluates the work of police officers who are assigned to work juvenile gangs. The author uses a composite officer to move through several levels of analysis, focusing on general environmental factors as well as on the characteristics of the various actors in the gang-control process. Sections also focus on the victims of gang activity and the analysis of gangs as groups. This work represents a substantial attempt to understand the perspective of the police officers who are assigned to control the activities of groups of youth in the community. Klein makes heavy use of quotes from interviews and draws on his many years as a researcher of juveniles and the justice process. Field based, the content relies heavily on the author’s experience and is well written in language suitable for general readers. Lightly referenced; no index. Summing Up: Recommended. For libraries serving the general public, professionals in social service organizations, and academic libraries serving departments of sociology, social work, and criminal justice. — R. T. Sigler, University of Alabama

Long, Patrick Du Phuoc.  The dream shattered: Vietnamese gangs in America, by Patrick Du Phuoc Long with Laura Ricard.  Northeastern University, 1996.  250p bibl index afp ISBN 1-55553-232-2, $28.95. Reviewed in 1996may CHOICE.
33-5408 HV6439 95-20446 CIP

The bitter legacy of the Vietnam War still haunts Americans in many different ways. This book explores one of the lesser-known tragedies associated with this war. The primary author has spent some years as a counselor to troubled Vietnamese American juveniles. Many of these juveniles came to the US as young refugees, and grew up caught between the contradictions of their parents’ traditional culture and the American way of life. In a very readable account–directed more toward a general than an academic audience–Long and Ricard provide a vivid understanding of the conditions under which these young people came of age, and describe the character of their involvement with gangs as well as individual acts of delinquency and law-breaking. Although no attempt is made here to systematically apply criminological theories to Vietnamese American juvenile gangs, the book does offer some significant raw material for students of this phenomenon. The problem of immigrant children becoming involved with crime is hardly new, but the particular circumstances of the Vietnamese immigration introduced an especially intense measure of juvenile alienation and nihilism. References. — D. O. Friedrichs, University of Scranton

Monti, Daniel J.  Wannabe: gangs in suburbs and schools.  Blackwell, 1994.  174p bibl index afp ISBN 1-55786-614-7, $49.95; ISBN 1-55786-615-5 pbk, $16.95. Reviewed in 1995apr CHOICE.
32-4794 HV6439 94-7851 CIP

Monti’s book is a somewhat chilling portrait of the socialization of teenage youth into gangs in the American suburb, particularly in public school. Monti (Boston Univ.) interviewed more than 400 youngsters, ranging in age from ten to 20. Through these interviews, he gained significant insight into the subculture and motivational mainsprings of youth gang activity. Not surprisingly, Monti found that the juvenile gang phenomenon he investigated was not reducible to a common denominator of race, poverty, ethnicity, or economic circumstance. In his foreword he observes: “When places as different as inner-city slums and suburban townships have gangs, one must submit that either persons in both places share the same values and moral vision or that their unique views about what is right or wrong cannot tell us much about where gangs will develop. I prefer the latter explanation.” Those in public policy-planning positions will find Monti’s study interesting reading, but there are precious few concrete directions for those who have the often thankless task of initiating policies to control and counteract youth gang activity. General readers, upper-division undergraduates, professionals. — J. C. Watkins Jr., University of Alabama

Rodriguez, Luis J.  Always running: la vida loca: gang days in L.A..  Curbstone, 1993.  260p ISBN 1-880684-06-3, $19.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 1993jun CHOICE.
30-5799 HV6439 92-39002 CIP

Rodriguez’s odyssey in the US begins in the late 1960s, in the Mexican barrio of Watts and East Los Angeles, and ends in the inner city of Chicago decades later. As the story opens, his young son, Romerio, is replicating Rodriguez’s own earlier estrangement by joining a gang and rebelling against his family. Father and son, in effect, are “always running.” “It never stopped, this running. We were constant prey, and the hunters soon became big blurs: the police, the gangs, the junkies, the dudes on Garvey Boulevard who took our money, all smudge into one. Sometimes they were teachers who jumped on us Mexicans as if we were born with a hideous strain. We were always afraid. Always running.” This is a riveting autobiographical work in the tradition of Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets (CH, Feb’68) and Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land (CH, Dec’65). It traces Rodriguez’s life as an active gang member, relates his battles with police, the justice system, and teachers, and describes his escape from devastation through writing. His poetry has won several awards and he conducts poetry workshops in shelters for the homeless in Chicago. His presentation of life in the barrio is brutal, blunt, anguished, and lyrical. All levels. — J. Boskin, Boston University

Spergel, Irving A.  The youth gang problem: a community approach.  Oxford, 1995.  346p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-507066-6, $45.00; ISBN 0-19-509203-1 pbk, $24.00. Reviewed in 1995nov CHOICE.
33-1852 HV6439 94-8227 CIP

Youth gangs remains a persistent element of the larger problem of delinquency and criminal violence. Spergel has been working with and writing about youth gangs for some four decades; he provides here a fairly exhaustive exploration of many dimensions of this phenomenon. The first half of the book explores historical, cross-cultural, methodological, demographic, structural, experiential, and ecological aspects of these gangs, with some attention to their involvement with drugs, violence, and organized crime. The second half of the book examines in depth the response of the criminal justice system to youth gangs, and suggests various alternative forms of social intervention. Although he acknowledges the inevitable complexity of successfully addressing the youth gang problem, Spergel has adopted the view that a community-based approach dealing with the factors promoting initial involvement with gangs is the most promising tactic. This book is likely to be a basic resource for students of youth gangs for some time to come. Appendixes; references. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — D. O. Friedrichs, University of Scranton

Valdez, Avelardo.  Mexican American girls and gang violence: beyond risk.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.  209p bibl index afp ISBN 1-4039-6722-9, $65.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2922 HV6439 2006-44807 CIP

Social work professor Valdez (Univ. of Houston) has written a very interesting and innovative book on Mexican American girls who, not gang members themselves, still actively participate in the street-based activity of male gangs. This is a timely book because, in fact, there may be more of these hangers-on than actual female gang members, especially in Hispanic neighborhoods. Valdez defines these girls as “beyond-risk girls,” because they are already engaged in activities such as drug use, crime, and having sex with multiple partners. The author uses a multilevel theoretical and methodological approach to understand these girls’ behavior. Among his various interesting findings, Valdez detects that these females “fail to internalize conventional norms, values, expectations, and behaviors,” developing instead an alternative set of values and norms that are “adaptative to the social-structural conditions of their communities that further increase their probability of engaging in high-risk behaviors.” Another important finding is that “gender inequality reinforced by patriarchal ideology emerges as the dominant source of these adolescent females’ negative experiences. Females often become the victim of violence when they transgress traditional female gender roles.” Should appeal to general readers, undergraduates, graduates, and researchers. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. — P. Vila, Temple University

Vigil, James Diego.  Barrio gangs: street life and identity in Southern California.  Texas, 1988.  202p bibl index  (Mexican American monographs, 12) ISBN 0-292-77613-6, $22.50; ISBN 0-292-71119-0, $8.95. Reviewed in 1989jun CHOICE.
26-5946 HV6439.U7 88-23386 CIP

Vigil’s book presents what it means to be a member of a street gang in Southern California through life histories, interviews, and the author’s personal experience. From an anthropological perspective, Vigil examines how multiple marginal identities are largely responsible for attracting a certain percentage of Chicano youth into gang life. The author contends that poverty, unstable families, poor school performance, and a lack of occupational choices and goals make barrio gang camaraderie especially seductive to Chicano adolescents. Further, Vigil argues that these gangs function as parents, schools, and law enforcement agencies by nurturing friendship, security, and social placement. Gangs reward self-esteem, and strengthen mutual admiration and respect by adhering to intergroup codes of conduct. The study has three flaws. First, Vigil’s main thesis should have been more thoroughly grounded within theories of marginality. Second, some specific details of certain case studies were overused and repetitive. Third, the study lacks comparison with noteworthy similar studies, e.g., Ruth Horowitz’s Honor and the American Dream (CH, Nov ’83). Nevertheless, Vigil’s analysis is comprehensive and complex. His findings make an important contribution to the understanding of how Chicano gangs proliferate in many of our nation’s urban centers. Strongly recommended for undergraduate and graduate students in sociology, law enforcement, and social work. — P. J. Venturelli, Valparaiso University

Vigil, James Diego.  The projects: gang and non-gang families in East Los Angeles.  Texas, 2007.  239p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780292717305, $55.00; ISBN 9780292717312 pbk, $22.95. Reviewed in 2008sep CHOICE.
46-0611 HV6439 2007-24575 CIP

Vigil (social ecology, Univ. of California, Irvine) adds to the literature on urban crime causation and its linkages to family problems and dysfunction. The author knows this subject well, having grown up in the neighborhood under investigation, and having written about this subject for more than 20 years (e.g., A Rainbow of Gangs, CH, Feb’03, 40-3726). Based on a variety of data collection methods–quantitative surveys, interviews, and field observation techniques–Vigil’s thesis advances that urban gangs enlist members from families more dysfunctional than families without gang affiliates. Gang members come from larger, single-parent, multi-problem families, where parents are more likely to have limited parenting skills and are overwhelmed by their own personal problems. With these characteristics, children become marginalized from family and seek social support from gang affiliation. Vigil’s thesis is hardly new, having been embedded in the criminological literature since the pioneering work of Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck from the 1950s. What gives his work value is his ability to trace how this kind of theorizing applies to contemporary Mexican American urban communities. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. — W. Feigelman, Nassau Community College

Vigil, James Diego.  A rainbow of gangs: street cultures in the mega-city.  Texas, 2002.  213p bibl index afp ISBN 0-292-78748-0, $40.00; ISBN 0-292-78749-9 pbk, $17.95. Reviewed in 2003feb CHOICE.
40-3726 HV6439 2002-1063 CIP

With close to a million youths involved in gang activities, gangs remain a major concern for, and challenge to, the management of community life in US cities. Vigil (Univ. of California, Los Angeles) has been studying this phenomenon for four decades and has written several books and published numerous articles in scholarly journals. In 11 chapters, Vigil illuminates the similarities and differences of gang life in the Mexican American, Vietnamese, African American, and Salvadorian communities in Los Angeles. By looking at the historical processes characterizing the gang experiences in each community and providing testimonies of four gang members, he presents a cross-cultural understanding of motivations for gang membership and meanings associated with such an affiliation. This is an excellent study of street institutions, street socialization, ethnic marginality, peer groups dynamics, and the failure of social control by mainstream institutions. Adequately researched and well written, the book is an important source for those interested in developing culturally sensitive intervention strategies and socially effective law enforcement procedures for dealing with gang activities in large urban settings. Recommended for all general and academic levels and collections. — A. Mahdi, Ohio Wesleyan University

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