Wannabe: Gangs in Suburbs and Schools - Softcover

Monti, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1557866155 ISBN 13: 9781557866158

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 1994

Synopsis

America's Suburban Gangs is the first book written about youth gangs in suburbs and schools. Based on interviews with over 400 boys and girls between the ages of ten and twenty, the author offers a vivid portrayal of their lives in and around gangs. It chronicles the way in which suburban youths become involved with gangs, learn about committing crimes and violent acts, and gradually begin to question their loyalty to gang life.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Wannabe is the first book written about youth gangs in suburbs and schools. Based on interviews with over 400 boys and girls between the ages of ten and twenty, the author offers a vivid portrayal of their lives in and around gangs. It chronicles the way in which suburban youths become involved with gangs, learn about committing crimes and violent acts, and gradually begin to question their loyalty to gang life.

Contrary to the popular view of gang members as thoughtless thugs, Monti describes the difficult choices they make and explores the youngsters' ambivalence toward dealing in illegal narcotics and taking up arms against neighbors and their fellow students. Youngsters use gangs to express their disdain for an adult world that provides them with few effective ways to become a conventional person and, at the same time, as a means to negotiate an entrance into that very world.

Surburban Gnags are seen to be different from innercity gangs in some important ways. What young persons find in their families, neighbourhoods, and schools clearly has an impact on the making and unmaking of gang members. Existing theories and intervention strategies intended to suppress gangs or lure youngsters from gangs are found to be ineffective. Far more important, Monti argues, are explanations of gang behaviour that focus on the power of conventional institutions to make human beings that move from gangs into the larger world as the youngsters grow older. An ambitious plan to rebuild a middle-class population of residents and business owners in cities is advanced as a way to help young persons make their way into the conventional adult world that has heretofore been denied.

About the Author

Daniel Monti is Associate Professor of Sociology at Boston University. He has written extensively on ethnic relations, educational reform, violence, and urban affairs.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1557866155
• ISBN 13: 9781557866158
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 188