This book traces the histories of two Chicano gangs in East Los Angeles since the early 1940s, when common gang stereotypes were created by the media and law enforcement agencies. In an unusual collaborative effort, researchers worked with former gang members to make contact with and interview members of various "cliques" (cohorts) of…

In British schools, and in the United States, black boys are both the heroes of a street fashion culture that dominates inner cities and students who receive a disproportionate amount of punishment in school. A central thesis of this book is that teachers in elementary and secondary schools cannot escape the wider social perceptions about young…

To reduce the number of school dropouts and youth homicides and to change poor social outcomes for children and youth at risk, it is necessary to consider socially imposed risk factors and reconceptualize ways of thinking about risk. Chapters in this collection discuss risk factors and show that schools can become supportive environments that…

This book is a defense of remedial affirmative action and an assertion that it is a policy that is a fair and workable solution to the chronic problem of racial caste in the United States. The personal narrative of the author, eighth of 10 children born to a single mother on public assistance, is combined with the discussion of American history…

The goal of this text is to help educators recognize and reduce ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, contextual, and communicative disparities and inequalities in school. It is designed for preservice educators and attempts to help them understand the influence of diversity factors on the educational careers of their students. Chapter 1 describes the…

Books in the New Americans Series are designed for high school students and general readers who want to learn more about the immigrants who have become their new neighbors. This volume deals with the experience of Dominican Americans, a settled community in its North American abode. The book begins with a brief historical background that traces…

This book addresses issues facing racial and ethnic minority families. These chapters grew out of a conference at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, that focused on the strengths and resources of minority families. They represent an effort to share knowledge that can be used for the design of ethnically and culturally sensitive family services.…

This book examines the threat to childhood development posed by living amid chronic community violence and the link between a child's response to growing up in an atmosphere of violence and danger and the social context established for that child by community and caregivers. The 11 chapters in the book are as follows: (1) "The Meaning of…

Youth violence and the juvenile justice system in the United States are explored. Part 1 takes stock of the situation. The first chapter discusses the origins and evaluation of the juvenile justice system, and the second considers the contributions of the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act to the existing juvenile justice…

This book attempts to assist readers in expanding their knowledge base in the area of quality practices for Latino students. The chapters contain many practices that can be implemented in educational settings from preschool to secondary school. The following chapters are included: (1) "Successfully Educating Latinos: The Pivotal Role of the…

This volume draws on data from the National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) to explore the condition of the black family in America. The first chapter provides a general introduction, and each of the other chapters presents additional information about the NSBA as it pertains to specific subsamples of NSBA respondents. The following chapters are…

This cultural heritage resource guide has been prepared as a tool for teachers to help them understand the cultural heritage of their Haitian students, their families, and their communities in order to serve them better. Although Haiti became an independent country in 1804, the struggle of its people for justice and freedom has never ended. Many…

The essays in this collection conduct a dialogue about race from a multiracial perspective. The biracial baby boom that began in the 1960s practically guarantees that anyone living in a large American city knows someone who is racially mixed. The contemporary presence of racially mixed people is unmatched in our country's history. These essays…

The Chicago School Reform Act provided a rare opportunity for those who were involved in the development of the legislation to be primarily responsible for the initial implementation of the plan. The governance model of the Reform Act, which is the subject of this study, provided for an elected school counsel at each of 542 schools and maintained…

An in-depth discussion of national and local statistics regarding teenage and adolescent pregnancy and the developmental issues involved opens this analysis. Problems and adverse consequences of adolescent pregnancy in an urban setting are explored using a city-wide random sample of adolescent births. A model pregnancy and parenting program and…