Islands in the Street : Gangs and American Urban Society

"Vivid, lively, and yet theoretically informed, a triumph of patient and sustained fieldwork. . . . Jankowski presents the gang and its members not as pathological departures from social norms, but as shrewd and resourceful operators."—Michael Lipsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "__Islands in the Street__ fills a wide gap in the literature on gangs. Jankowski's innovative model of gang participation and organization is important and elegant, guaranteeing that this will be __the__ book on gangs for the next ten years, if not longer."—Ruth Horowitz, University of Delaware The overall goal of the research in this book was to understand gang phenomenon in the United States. In order to accomplish this goal, the author investigated gangs in different cities in order to understand what was similar in the way all gangs behaved and what was idiosyncratic to certain gangs. The research for this book took place over ten years and five months from 1978 to 1989 and will give the reader a comprehensive overview of gang behavior in the United States in that time period.  Contents Preface Introduction 1. A Theory of Gang Behavior and Persistence Part One: The Gang and Its Environment 2. Gang Involvement 3. In the Organization 4. Gang Business: Making Ends Meet 5. The Anatomy of Gang Violence 6. The Gang and the Community Part Two: The Gang and the Outside World 7. Gangs and Governments 8. Gangs, Criminal Justice, and Public Order 9. The Media and Gangs: Image Construction and Myth Management Conclusion Appendix: Summary of Gangs Studied Notes Bibliography Index