Street Gangs : Gaining Turf, Losing Ground (World Issues Ser., Vol. 3)

A collection of fictional and non-fictional stories and essays by a variety of authors dealing various aspects of gang life and its influence on disenfranchised youth.

Grade 6-9-- An eclectic anthology of essays, interviews, and stories about this international phenomenon. At best, the entries serve as an introduction to a subject that requires further analysis. The essays on Asian youth gangs in the U. S. and the Protestant ones in Scotland, for example, successfully mix social history, personal experience, and rudimentary analysis. More often, though, the contents portray slices of life without a proper context; the articles on Soviet gangs and the interviews with American gang members lack adequate setting and examination. The introduction states the book's intent "to convey the universality of the condition of the outsider trying to get in." However, this describes a variety of social behaviors, not just that of this subculture. Also, it doesn't consider dissimilarities throughout the world--and even within the U. S. Individual selections might motivate readers to pursue further research, but the book falls short of being an analytical and cross-cultural survey of the subject. --Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.