Youth living in violent urban neighborhoods increasingly post messages online from urban street corners. The decline of the digital divide and the proliferation of social media platforms connect youth to peer communities who may share experiences with neighborhood stress and trauma. Social media can also be used for targeted retribution when…

When it comes to higher education, finding the right school is only one obstacle in the lives of most African-American males. Studies show that even out of the number of enrolled African-American males in the nation, about one-third of them will actually complete an undergraduate degree. A lack of experience in higher education may affect the…

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…

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…

While America fights an international war on terrorism a greater war looms in our own backyard. Poverty, the lack of resources and a failing educational system continues to strangle our urban youth. Violence between youth in urban schools perplexes our society everyday. Within this context lie the ever growing confrontation between black and…

Wilson's deindustrialization thesis has been the focus of much recent research. This study is the first to empirically test his thesis as it relates to suicide among young black males, which has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Using 1998-2001 Mortality Multiple Cause-of-Death Records and 2000 census data, we examine the influence…

This document comprises a study of how inner city adolescent males who used and/or sold drugs or had been involved in other criminal activities differed from those who had not, in order to design prevention and treatment programs and policies. The study sample consisted of 387 minority male youth (96 percent Black; 4 percent Hispanic) of ninth and…

The story of the Stop the Violence movement among rap music artists and music industry colleagues is told, along with the story of a video that was produced as part of this initiative. The Stop the Violence project grew out of the reaction to violence among concert goers at a 1987 rap concert on Long Island (New York). Rap musicians have joined…

Using linked individual and census tract data from the 1980 U.S. Census, it is found that when a teenage boy drops out of school depends not only on his family background and the increase in earnings associated with graduating, but also on the characteristics of the neighborhood in which he lives. Both the good and bad dimensions of neighborhood…