The Gang Paradox

The Gang Paradox tells a story about the Mexican American experience on the border, including gangs and institutional reactions to them. In clear, descriptive, and refreshingly reflexive language Durán argues that the reality of gangs is far from its media image, and provides ample data to make his point. This book is educational in the best sense and should be welcomed. -- John Hagedorn, University of Illinois at Chicago, author of A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture
Anchored in a critical revisionist history of the Southwest borderlands and the social construction of 'the Hispanic gang,' The Gang Paradox offers a multidisciplinary analysis of the origins, composition, and cultural significance of gangs as a site of group identity. Drawing upon theories of racial formation, settler colonialism, applied ethnography, criminology, and personal knowledge as a former gang member, sociologist Robert J. Durán pushes back against the dominant claims that gang members are criminals, and that gangs embody dysfunction. Rather, Durán situates gangs as social identities within a complex matrix of racial oppression, militarization, and social justice activism in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. This theoretically rich and methodologically sophisticated book will change the way we think about gangs in the modern era. -- Cynthia Bejarano, New Mexico State University, author of ¿Qué Onda? Urban Youth Culture and Border Identity
The Gang Paradox delivers keen insight on Mexican-origin crime and contradicts fearmongering claims regarding border violence. In it, he draws from his decade-long ethnographic research to draw out the complex relationship among crime, gang activity, ethnicity, and inequality on the U.S.-Mexico border. This revealing and highly engaging tome provides penetrating insight on gang activity, making sense of seemingly contradictory historical trends and cross-city comparisons, while painstakingly placing his investigation in the intersections of race, class and gender. More than just a strong read, this book sets an agenda for the next generation on how, and why, border residents have lower rates of violence and gang membership than urban residents in many locations across the nation. The Gang Paradox is a critical and well-timed research asset. -- Ramiro Martinez Jr., author of Latino Homicide: Immigration, Violence, and Community and coeditor of Punishing Immigrants
Takes a social justice, social activist approach, using narrative and dispelling many myths about gang violence spilling over the border...[this] book is approachable and doesn't simply offer doom and gloom: he also offers glimmers of hope for at-risk youth. * Choice *
A comprehensive profile of the historical and contemporary elements that contextualize delinquency and gang issues in several communities...[The Gang Paradox] is a masterful research project. -- Mike Tapia * American Journal of Sociology *