Synopses & Reviews
The topic of youth gangs has received considerable scholarly attention in the United States, and numerous publications have addressed the prevalence of, trends in, and responses to youth gangs. Relatively missing from this field, however, is examination of the youth gang phenomenon outside of the United States. In this volume, youth gang scholars from a variety of countries and disciplines provide unique insights into: 1) definitional and measurement issues; 2) group processes of gangs; and 3) gang research in a number of European countries. This key work is the fourth such product of the Eurogang Network, a cross-national collaboration of researchers, including top European and American scholars, devoted to comparative and multi-method research on youth gangs and troublesome youth groups. Some of authors are already well-known scholars in the field, while others are breaking new ground in terms of being the first in their countries to raise interest in and conduct research on youth gang issues. Authors come from a variety of scholarly disciplines as well as cultural perspectives, providing rich and diverse views of the youth gang phenomenon. The works presented in the chapters also represent various and rich research traditions, including ethnographic methods, self-report surveys or interviews of youth, surveys or interviews with law enforcement, official records data, and victim interviews. Importantly, and unique in this volume among the few texts that deal with gangs outside the United States all of the contributions utilize the Eurogang Program's definition of "youth gang" so that, while the groups they describe are located in different countries, comparisons may be drawn between them. The resulting work provides new insights into youth gangs outside the United States, and provides key questions for important future research.
Review
From the reviews: "This book will be of interest to scholars who are pursuing a broader understanding of gangs around the world. ... The present volume features studies of group processes while also addressing definitional issues and research methods. ... this book is further testimony to the excellent contributions they are making toward understanding gangs around the world ... . The plethoras of insights the assembled scholars provide are of enormous value in the ever-growing gang literature." (James C. Howell, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books, July, 2012)
Synopsis
This volume provides a rare look into youth gangs on a global scale. Topics include definition and measurement issues, group processes of gangs, and gang research in a number of European countries.
Synopsis
As a steady source of juvenile delinquents and an incubator for future adult offenders, the youth gang has long been a focus of attention, from their origins and prevalence to intervention and prevention strategies. But while delinquent youth form gangs worldwide, youth gang research has generally focused on the U.S. Youth Gangs in International Perspective provides a needed corrective by offering significant studies from across Europe, as well as Trinidad-Tobago and Israel. The book spans the diversity of the field in the cultural and scholarly traditions represented and methods used, analyzing not only the social processes under which gangs operate and cohere, but also the evolution of the research base, starting with the Eurogang Program's definition of the term youth gang. Cross-national and gender issues are discussed, as are measurement concerns and the possibility that the American conception of the youth gang is impeding European understanding of these groups. Among the topics covered: Gang dynamics through the lens of social identity theory.Defining gangs in youth correctional settings.Gang gender composition and youth delinquency.From Stockholm: a holistic approach to gang intervention.Gang membership as a turning point in the life course.The impact of globalization, immigration, and social process on neo-Nazi youth gangs.
Table of Contents
Finn-Aage Esbensen and Cheryl L. Maxson: The Eurogang Program of Research and Multi-method Comparative Gang Research: Introduction.-Definitional issues in the comparative context.-Kristy N. Matsuda, Finn-Aage Esbensen & Dena C. Carson: Putting the "Gang" in "Eurogang": Characteristics of Delinquent Youth Groups by Different Definitional Approaches.-Judith Aldridge, Juanjo Medina-Ariz & Robert Ralphs: Counting Gangs: Conceptual and Validity Problems with the Eurogang Definition.-Hannah Smithson, Leanne Monchuk & Rachel Armitage: Gang Member: Who Says? Definitional and Structural Issues.-Frank van Gemert: Five Decades of Defining Gangs in the Netherlands: The Eurogang Paradox in Practice.-David C. Pyrooz, Andrew M. Fox, Charles M. Katz & Scott H. Decker: Gang Organization, Offending, and Victimization: A Cross National Analysis.-Cheryl L. Maxson: Betwixt and Between Street and Prison Gangs: Defining Gangs and Structures in Youth Correctional Settings.-Group processes in the comparative context.-Karen Hennigan & Marija Spanovic: Gang Dynamics Through the Lens of Social Identity Theory.-Emma Alleyne & Jane L. Wood, Gang Membership: The Psychological Evidence.-Chris Melde & Finn-Aage Esbensen: The Onset of (Euro)Gang Membership as a Turning Point in the Life Course.-Dana Peterson & Dena C. Carson: The Sex Composition of Groups and Youths' Delinquency: A Comparison of Gang and Non-gang Peer Groups.-Revital Sela-Shayovitz: The Impact of Globalization, Migration, and Social Group Processes on Neo-Nazi Youth Gangs.-Jan Dirk de Jong: Typically Moroccan? A group dynamic explanation of nuisance and criminal behavior.-Gang depictions in non-American contexts.-Maria Libak Pedersen & Jonas Markus Lindstad: The Danish gang joining project: Methodological issues and preliminary results.-Amir Rostami & Fredrik Leinfelt, The Stockholm Gang Intervention and Prevention Project (SGIP): Introducing a Holistic Approach to Gang Enforcement .-Frank M. Weerman: Are the Correlates and Effects of Gang Membership Sex-Specific? Troublesome Youth Groups and Delinquency among Dutch Girls.- Future Directions.-Malcolm W. Klein: The Next Decade of Eurogang Program Research.-Cheryl L. Maxson & Finn-Aage Esbensen: The Intersection of Gang Definition and Group Process: Concluding Observations.