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Youth Gangs

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In 1983, sociologists Hedy Bookin-Weiner and Ruth Horowitz asked
whether the end of the youth gang was “fad or fact.” Although their concern
was largely with the influence of politics and ideology on both the funding
and the nature of research about gangs, the fundamental question regarding
the “end” of youth gangs seemed a reasonable one. After all, the major gang
“epidemic” of the 1960s had appeared to subside in most cities except,
most notably, in Chicago and Los Angeles. Gangs had certainly faded from
the research agendas of most criminologists, as shown by the lack of empirical
and theoretical work using gangs as a focal point. But like many cyclical behaviors,
including crime (Klein 1995b), gangs returned. And with their return
came increased attention from the research community.
This volume represents one segment of the increased attention that gangs
received during the past decade. That decade saw a dramatic increase in the
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Posted by: Sheryl Hogges

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