Winner, Best Book on Ethnic and Racial Politics in a Local or Urban Setting , Organized Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics of the American Political Science Association, 2002
This cross-cultural study of Los Angeles gangs identifies the social and economic factors that lead to gang membership and underscores their commonality across four ethnic groups--Chicano, African American, Vietnamese, and Salvadorian.
With nearly 1,000 gangs and 200,000 gang members, Los Angeles holds the dubious distinction of being the youth gang capital of the United States. The process of street socialization that leads to gang membership now cuts across all ethnic groups, as evidenced by the growing numbers of gangs among recent immigrants from Asia and Latin America.
This cross-cultural study of Los Angeles gangs identifies the social and economic factors that lead to gang membership and underscores their commonality across four ethnic groups—Chicano, African American, Vietnamese, and Salvadorian. James Diego Vigil begins at the community level, examining how destabilizing forces and marginalizing changes have disrupted the normal structures of parenting, schooling, and policing, thereby compelling many youths to grow up on the streets. He then turns to gang members' life stories to show how societal forces play out in individual lives. His findings provide a wealth of comparative data for scholars, policymakers, and law enforcement personnel seeking to respond to the complex problems associated with gangs.
This is an ambitious and significant project—to map the ethnic diversity and gang subcultures of a major metropolis.... The book will almost certainly find a large audience. It makes the gang experience accessible to college students [and others] who might easily dismiss these people as only objects of fear and beneath notice as struggling human beings. The life histories are vivid.
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Looking at Gangs Cross-Culturally
3. Mexican Americans in the Barrios of Los Angeles
4. "I Just Wanted to Act Loco": Puppet's Story
5. Blacks in Los Angeles: From Central Avenue to South Central Los Angeles
6. "I Noticed the Problem but Never Had the Cure": Mookie's Story
7. Vietnamese in Southern California
8. "You Couldn't Hang by Yourself": Huc's Story
9. Salvadorans in Los Angeles: The Pico-Union Area
10. "Where Is My Father?": Arturo's Story
11. Charting a New Future for Urban Youth
Notes
References
Index
