The History of Street Gangs in the United States

Their Origins and Transformations

James C Howell author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Lexington Books

Published:23rd Mar '18

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The History of Street Gangs in the United States cover

This book provides an in-depth historical analysis of youth gangs and their evolution into street gangs in America, exploring their impact on society.

In The History of Street Gangs in the United States, the author delves into the origins and evolution of youth gangs, tracing their transformation into organized street gangs that are often linked to prison gangs across major American cities. This comprehensive historical account spans over two centuries, from the early 1800s to 2012, revealing how these groups have shifted from informal play groups to heavily armed entities responsible for a significant portion of urban crime.

The narrative highlights the alarming persistence of gang violence, even amidst a decade-long decline in overall violent crime rates in the U.S. The author provides a thorough analysis of the factors contributing to the rise of street gangs, including social disorganization due to large-scale immigration and urban policies that have marginalized minority communities. The book also explores the complex relationship between street gangs and prison gangs, illustrating how the latter have influenced the former throughout different generations.

In addition to documenting the problem, The History of Street Gangs in the United States offers insights into potential solutions for reducing gang violence. It emphasizes the importance of a multi-faceted approach that includes prevention, intervention, and targeted suppression strategies. The role of street workers as violence interrupters is highlighted as a promising method to disrupt the cycle of gang-related violence, aiming to foster safer communities in the long term.

This book represents the most complete and informative history of gangs in America. Instead of painting with a broad brush, Howell provides a systematic analysis that uniquely and thoroughly traces gang development specific to each region of the United States, noting similarities and differences among the gang developments in those regions. Readers will come away with a much deeper appreciation for the ever-increasing complexity of "the gang problem" and a greater understanding of its history in the United States. * The Historian *
Howell’s rare blend of scholarly and public policy expertise is evident in this definitive and well written historical analysis of gangs - - street gangs, prison gangs, and transnational gangs - - that includes a breakdown by regions of the U.S.  It should be read by all those who seek to understand the emergence and growth of gangs in the United States. -- C. Ronald Huff, University of California, Irvine and The Ohio State University
Buddy Howell has produced an informative book on the history of American gangs; it fills a void in the literature.  The book presents a nice synthesis of what has become a voluminous literature detailing the American gang situation. -- Finn Esbensen, University of Missouri-St. Louis
This book covers the waterfront on American street gangs, past and present, including some of the new developments and issues that have plagued law enforcement and other government agencies. -- Diego Vigil, University of California, Irvine
Buddy Howell displays a dizzying mastery of gangs. Very few people can claim expertise of any single type of gang, gang behavior, or type of data and Howell’s uncanny ability to synthesize such material has produced a book of great value to the field. This book tackles historical, anthropological, sociological, psychological, and criminological analyses on gangs from just about every corner of the world. Howell weaves together these different strands of research to provide a serious and thoughtful analysis of gangs from their emergence in the US during the 1800s to the present. Serious debates are addressed head-on, and new directions for research and policy development are raised. -- Andrew V. Papachristos, Yale University

ISBN: 9781498511346

Dimensions: 230mm x 152mm x 14mm

Weight: 277g

200 pages