|
How to order our books
Contact Lake View Press
Current Titles
People and Folks: Gangs, Crime and the Underclass in a Rustbelt
City. Second Edition
John M. Hagedorn
When
People and Folks first appeared, William Julius Wilson called it
"the most insightful book ever written on inner-city gangs" and
"required reading for anyone seeking an understanding of gang activity
in our large urban centers." It was also praised by Ron Huff
as "a vicarious journey into the underbelly of a rustbelt city,
the breeding ground of gangs—Underclass America." This gritty and
poignant portrait of gang members has become a major contribution
to the academic literature.
The first edition of People and Folks
broke new ground, influencing a generation of researchers.
This expanded edition also offers provocative new insights into
race and class, challenging accepted theories with fresh data from
one of the most extensive studies ever undertaken of street gangs
in a single city. In particular, Hagedorn questions prevailing
assumptions about gang violence, drug use, and the cultural differences
between the inner-city "underclass" and the suburban middle classes.
Unlike many other gang studies, he explores the nature of
gender for both male and female gangs members and examines the differences
between male and female gangs.
"When the first edition of People and Folks appeared, it challenged
and ultimately changed the way we thought about gangs in America.
With the second edition, important new information has been added
to this path-breaking research. We now hear the voices of girls
and learn of their special problems in marginalized communities;
we also hear what has happened to the boys we first met in the first
edition. The news is not good on either count, but it is an important
read. That in one post-industrial American city, drug sales have
become the single largest employer of African-American and Hispanic
men, should be seen as a national disgrace. Maybe after this book
is published, it will be."
(Meda Chesney-Lind, Professor, Women's Studies, University
of Hawaii at Manoa)
"This new edition...gives the reader a succinct summary of major
developments in gang research and opens up new and important questions.
Nothing else in the field gives the student such a good feel for
research and for why direct research with gang members is so important."
(Joan Moore, Former President, Society for the
Study of Social Problems; Author, Homeboys: Gangs, Drugs and Prison
in the Barrios of Los Angeles)
|
