For the middle class and the affluent, local ties seem to matter less and less these days, but in the inner city, your life can be irrevocably shaped by what block you live on. "Living the Drama" takes a close look at three neighborhoods in Boston to analyze the many complex ways that the context of community shapes the daily lives and…

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…

Many commentators have expressed alarm over the increase in the number of single-parent families in the United States over the past four decades. The growth in single-parent families has been fueled by a rise in the number of out-of-wedlock births. Whether children are more likely to suffer social and economic problems when raised by one parent…

Presented in this book are studies of social projects for economically disadvantaged inner-city youth engaged in neighborhood revitalizations in low-income communities around the country. Children and teens are highlighted as they participate in nonschool initiatives to achieve economic and political self-determination coupled with personal…

The underlying causes of black urban poverty are examined, and means are recommended to escape the cycle of violence it creates. Black activists and scholars analyze theoretical and practical problems facing the black community in the United States in the following papers: (1) "Towards a Theory and Strategy for Black Economic…

The seven short stories in this collection portray the lives of Puerto Rican children and adolescents in the South Bronx (New York City). The hopelessness of many Puerto Rican and Black youth is vividly depicted in stories dealing with drug use, discrimination, unwanted and early pregnancy, and a host of other urban social ills. Titles of the…

This book provides a national and state-by-state (including the District of Columbia) compilation of benchmarks of the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children in the United States. Ten indicators of children's well-being are taken from government sources: (1) percent low birth-weight babies; (2) infant mortality rate;…

This book provides an account of life in the inner city from World War II to the present. Poor, jobless, and racially outcast young black people are economically and socially excluded from the American mainstream. To compensate for this, inner-city children turn to American traditions of consumerism and violence. Buying into the implicit message…

This book, the last volume in a three-part series, draws on a large-scale worldwide poverty study to present the views, experiences, and aspirations of poor people in 14 selected countries. In each country, interviews and discussion groups were held in 8-15 rural and urban communities that reflected the most prevalent poverty groups and the…