"Reading Girls" captures the voices and literacy experiences of a diverse group of urban adolescent girls. The author--an experienced researcher and middle school teacher--intertwines investigations of multiple literacies, technologies, race, class, gender, sexuality, and gender expression to provide a provocative look at what helps and what hurts…

In "Streetsmart Schoolsmart", two respected scholars present original research on youth gangs and school success to explain why some boys become disengaged and join gangs while others do not. Chapters vividly describe how urban boys from different ethnic backgrounds (Asian, African American, and Latino) approach schooling and identify the…

Adolescents are routinely demonised by politicians and the media.Ross Deuchar's compelling research into the views of some of the toughest--youths who are growing up in socially deprived urban areas of Glasgow in Scotland--reveals the true facts. They talked to him about their lives, gang culture and territorialiity and he passes on their words…

The goal of this book is to encourage educators and researchers to understand the complexities of adolescent gang members' lives in order to rethink their assumptions about these students in school. The particular objective is to situate four gang members as literate, caring students from loving families whose identities and literacy keep them on…

This manual is a comprehensive guide to identifiers of gang activities and memberships. The "People" and "Folks" concepts it uses represent the two main divisions of street gang affiliation. Gangs that belong to the "People" nation use the left side as an identifier, use a five-pointed star as an emblem, and claim…

This book presents the story of a young boy who overcame the obstacles of a neglectful home life, juvenile crime, and abusive foster parents, to become a successful professional. It provides an account of growing up in poverty and neglect, explaining the complexities of juvenile gangs and deviant behavior. The book also discusses the shortcomings…

This book examines the role of female gangs and the part women play in those that are predominantly male and provides an account of how these people came to accept casual killings, fire bombings, and the warfare and violence of the streets. It focuses on female gang members by setting out their stories as biographies and accounts of relationships…

This book describes the experiences of an inexperienced young teacher who, with the support of parents and teenagers in a Los Angeles (California) neighborhood, created a one-room schoolhouse and began to teach 30 gang members, ranging in age from 13 to nearly 20. He had no teaching credentials or college degree and the school had a tiny budget,…

This book presents papers from some leading social scientists and scholars who examine the contemporary contours of America's gang problem. New material is provided on wilding (i.e., running amok for no specific reason) gangs, migration and drug trafficking, and public education disruption. Other topics involve organization of gangs, their social…

The first part of this book describes juvenile gangs in schools and provides information to help recognize gang presence. The second part focuses on effective interventions to deal with the gang problem. An introduction describes the history and current status of youth gangs in the United States to set the stage for the subsequent exploration of…

Minority gangs of the 1980s are examined as groups of juveniles and young adults and as a fraction of the forming underclass. Gangs today no longer disappear as their ethnic groups rises socially. Instead, gangs are becoming institutionalized in the central cities. This discussion of prior research in Los Angeles (California) and more recent…

Written by a prominent array of scholars and practitioners, this book elucidates the complexities, contradictions, and confusion surrounding adolescence in American culture and education. For too long, harmful public myths and lies have portrayed teenagers as a principal cause of our nation's social ills. Similar unfair charges have been lodged…

This book explores the U.S. gang problem, based on the author's 35 years of experience as a high school and junior high school teacher, principal, and community organizer in Oakland and Los Angeles (California). Chapters discuss the subculture of gang worlds, reasons why youth are attracted to gangs, how educators can reach out to students, the…

This book presents essays concerning culturally responsive psychotherapeutic interventions for specific problems commonly experienced by ethnic-minority youth. Each essay offers case examples, along with a clinical how-to approach for dealing with problems such as cross-racial foster care, gang involvement, child abuse, and substance abuse. Essays…