Between Good and Ghetto

This book adds invaluable information and analysis to the growing debate on the violence perpetrated by girls, and the ethnographic method is exactly what is needed to further the question of whether today's girls—particularly those most marginalized due to class, race, and neighborhood—are more violent. Joanne Belknap, author of The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime & Justice

Between Good and Ghetto is an expertly written and fascinating ethnography of the gendered racial dimensions of violence in the inner city. Jones does an excellent job in communicating the strength and sensitivity [of the girls she interviewed] to her readers while, simultaneously, producing a work of tremendous insight and immense sociological imagination. Contemporary Sociology

A very compelling account of daily life as experienced by poor, urban, African American adolescent girls. Recommended. Choice

Nikki Jones' sharp, detailed investigation of the way fighting, on the street and in school, shapes the lives of young African American women combines shrewd analytical insight and clear evocative language to give readers an understanding of what it costs a 'good girl' to stay good, and what happens to those who 'go for bad.' Howard S. Becker, author of Outsiders and Writing for Social Scientists

The young women in Between Good and Ghetto compel the reader to consider their lives and the violence they experience in relation to the shifting and dynamic concept of protection. What is perhaps the most significant and disturbing revelation in the book is that there are few contexts, behavioral strategies, institutional spaces, or ways of identifying that fully protect young inner-city African American women's physical well-being, emotional health, and empowered self-perception. Signs

Intellectually and emotionally evocative. Jones’s [book] is hard to put down due to her adept use of imagery and obvious passion for her work. Feminist Formations

This book adds invaluable information and analysis to the growing debate on the violence perpetrated by girls, and the ethnographic method is exactly what is needed to further the question of whether today's girls—particularly those most marginalized due to class, race, and neighborhood—are more violent. Joanne Belknap, author of The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime & Justice

Between Good and Ghetto is an expertly written and fascinating ethnography of the gendered racial dimensions of violence in the inner city. Jones does an excellent job in communicating the strength and sensitivity [of the girls she interviewed] to her readers while, simultaneously, producing a work of tremendous insight and immense sociological imagination. Contemporary Sociology

A very compelling account of daily life as experienced by poor, urban, African American adolescent girls. Recommended. Choice

Nikki Jones' sharp, detailed investigation of the way fighting, on the street and in school, shapes the lives of young African American women combines shrewd analytical insight and clear evocative language to give readers an understanding of what it costs a 'good girl' to stay good, and what happens to those who 'go for bad.' Howard S. Becker, author of Outsiders and Writing for Social Scientists

The young women in Between Good and Ghetto compel the reader to consider their lives and the violence they experience in relation to the shifting and dynamic concept of protection. What is perhaps the most significant and disturbing revelation in the book is that there are few contexts, behavioral strategies, institutional spaces, or ways of identifying that fully protect young inner-city African American women's physical well-being, emotional health, and empowered self-perception. Signs

Intellectually and emotionally evocative. Jones’s [book] is hard to put down due to her adept use of imagery and obvious passion for her work. Feminist Formations