Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum

By mapping the intricate social worlds of street gangs and "corner boys," Whyte was among the first to demonstrate that a poor community need not be socially disorganized. His writing set a standard for vivid portrayals of real people in real situations. And his frank discussion of his methodology—participant observation—has served as an essential casebook in field research for generations of students and scholars.

This fiftieth anniversary edition includes a new preface and revisions to the methodological appendix. In a new section on the book's legacy, Whyte responds to recent challenges to the validity, interpretation, and uses of his data. "The Whyte Impact on the Underdog," the moving statement by a gang leader who became the author's first research assistant, is preserved.

"Street Corner Society broke new ground and set a standard for field research in American cities that remains a source of intellectual challenge."—Robert Washington, Reviews in Anthropology

Preface to the Fourth Edition

Introduction: Cornerville and Its People

Part I: Corner Boys and College Boys

I. Doc and His Boys

1. The Members of the Gang

2. Bowling and Social Ranking

3. The Nortons and the Aphrodite Club

4. Doc's Political Campaign

5. Disintegration

II. Chick and His Club

1. The Story of Chick Morelli

2. Organizing the Club

3. Social Activities

4. Opposition to Chick

5. The Second Season

6. Disintegration

7. Republican Politics

8. Chick Morelli's Career

III. Social Structure and Social Mobility

1. The Nature of the Groups

2. The Social Role of the Settlement House

3. Loyalty and Social Mobility

Part II. Racketeers and Politicians

IV. The Social Structure of Racketeering

1. History of the Rackets

2. Organization of the Policy Racket

3. Relations with the Police

4. The Racketeer in His Social Setting

V. The Racketeers in the Cornerville S. and A. Club

1. Tony Cataldo and the Shelby Street Boys

2. Organizing the Club

3. Reorganizing the Club

4. The Political Issue

5. The Crisis and Tony Cataldo

6. Tony's Beano Party

7. The New Administration

8. Carlo and Tony

VI. Politics and the Social Structure

1. The Changing Nature of Political Organization

2. The Political Career

3. Organizing the Campaign

4. Political Rallies

5. Election Day

6. The Nature of Political Obligations

Part III. Conclusion

1. The Gang and the Individual

2. The Social Structure

3. The Problem of Cornerville

Appendixes

Appendix A: On the Evolution of "Street Corner Society"

1. Personal Background

2. Finding Cornerville

3. Planning the Study

4. First Efforts

5. Beginning with Doc

6. Training in Participant Observation

7. Venture into Politics

8. Back on Norton Street

9. Replanning the Research

10. Again in the Corner Gang

11. Studying Racketeering

12. Marching on City Hall

13. Farewell to Cornerville

14. Cornerville Revisited

15. Getting Street Corner Society Accepted as a Doctoral Thesis

16. Revisiting Street Corner Society Fifty Years Later

Appendix B: The Whyte Impact on an Underdog by Angelo Ralph Orlandella

Appendix C: Selected References

Index