This book presents a comparative look at the norms and attitudes related to youth violence. It aims to present a perspective outside of the typical Western context, through case studies comparing a developed / Western democracy (Germany), a country with a history of institutionalized violence (South Africa), and an emerging democracy that has experienced heavy terrorism (Pakistan). Building on earlier works, the research presented in this innovative volume provides new insights into the sociocultural context for shaping both young people's tolerance of and involvement in violence, depending on their environment.
This volume covers:
- Research on interpersonal violence.
- Thorough review of the contribution of research on gangs, violence, neighborhoods and community.
- Analyses on violence-related norms of male juveniles (ages 16-21 years old) living in high-risk urban neighborhoods.
- Intense discussion of the concept of street code and its use.
- Application of street code concept to contexts outside the US.
- An integrating chapter focused on where the street code exists, and how it is modified or interpreted by young men.
With a foreword by Jeffrey Ian Ross, this book aims to provide a broader context for research. It does so via a rigorous comparative methodology, presenting a framework that may be applied to future studies. This open access book will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, as well as related fields such as sociology, demography, psychology, and public health.
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Heitmeyer, born 1945, was founder and director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University in Germany from 1996 till 2013. Since 2013, he is working as senior research professor. From 2008 to 2014, he was editor-in-chief of the International Journal on Conflict and Violence Research and editor of several book series. His main research interests are: social disintegration, violence, right-wing extremism and ethnic-cultural conflicts.
Dr. Simon Howell, born 1984, is a research fellow in the Global Risk Governance program and Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town. He has published a number of academic articles, book chapters and reports, teaches a number of postgraduate courses, and comments regularly on select topics in the national press. His core research interest focused on the relationship between justice and violence, and how this relationship is made manifests both in the structures of modern governance and in the architecture of marginalized peoples’ identities.
Dr. Sebastian Kurtenbach, born 1987, became interim professor for social policy at the University of Applied Sciences Münster in 2018, and was senior researcher at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University in Germany from 2016 to 2018. His research interests are urban sociology, conflict studies and migration.
Abdul Rauf, M.A, born 1988, works as a research associate at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University. Previously, he was part of the interdisciplinary research team at the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies at University of the Punjab in Pakistan. His research interests are urban sociology, youth studies, migration, boundary-making and group relation.
Dr. Muhammad Zaman, born 1981, established the Department of Sociology, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad in 2014 and was the Chair from 2014 to 2017. He is also a researcher at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University since 2016 on the project “Violence related norms, attitudes and beliefs of young men in high-risk urban neighborhoods.” His main interests are youth violence and politics, childhood, marriage and family.
Dr. Steffen Zdun, born 1975, is a research associate at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University in Germany since 2006. He is also a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Management of North Rhine-Westphalia. His main research interests are: juvenile delinquency, street culture, desistance, and inter-ethnic relations.
