In 1966 twelve-year-old Fan Shen, a newly minted Red Guard, plunged happily into China’s Cultural Revolution. Disillusion soon followed, then turned... to disgust and fear when Shen discovered that his compatriots had tortured and murdered a doctor whose house he’d helped raid and whose beautiful daughter he secretly adored. A story of coming of age in the midst of monumental historical upheaval, Shen’s Gang of One is more than a memoir of one young man’s harrowing experience during a time of terror. It is also, in spite of circumstances of remarkable grimness and injustice, an unlikely picaresque tale of adventure full of courage, cunning, wit, tenacity, resourcefulness, and sheer luck—the story of how Shen managed to scheme his way through a hugely oppressive system and emerge triumphant. Gang of One recounts how Shen escaped, again and again, from his appointed fate, as when he somehow found himself a doctor at sixteen and even, miraculously, saved a few lives. In such volatile times, however, good luck could quickly turn to misfortune: a transfer to the East Wind Aircraft Factory got him out of the countryside and into another terrible trap, where many people were driven to suicide; his secret self-education took him from the factory to college, where friendship with an American teacher earned him the wrath of the secret police. Following a path strewn with perils and pitfalls, twists and surprises worthy of Dickens, Shen’s story is ultimately an exuberant human comedy unlike any other.

A highly regarded researcher, James Diego Vigil has studied the gang culture in the U.S. for over two decades. He brings vital, hands-on experience and... firsthand knowledge to this latest, multipronged work. In Gang Redux, the author not only offers a compelling analysis of why youths join gangs, but he also discusses effective strategies to steer youths away from gang involvement and redirect them toward productive, rewarding activities. He explores the complex circumstances, such as marginalization, that lead to gang involvement, stresses that understanding the roots of gangs is crucial for providing successful prevention and intervention strategies, and cites specific examples of successful programs that include family, schools, and law enforcement. Also available from Waveland Press by James Diego Vigil: From Indians to Chicanos: The Dynamics of Mexican-American Culture, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577667407). Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Dawley, A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords, Second Edition (ISBN 9780881336283 ); Jensen-Rojek , Delinquency and Youth Crime, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9781577665168 ); Shelden, Delinquency and Juvenile Justice in American Society, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577667070); Shelden-Macallair, Juvenile Justice in America: Problems and Prospects (ISBN 9781577665236).

This popular text is a comprehensive guide for law enforcement and criminal justice-related professionals, mental health professionals, teachers and... parents. It includes gang life style, sociology and characteristics of: Latino, Asian, African-American, White Supremacists, Prison, Outlaw Motorcycle, Occult and Hybrid gangs. The author, Al Valdez, had been in law enforcement for over 17 years and has presented formal gang training to hundreds of police officers, investigators and probation officers, as well as gang awareness classes for parents and teachers

To reveal how membership in adolescent street gangs influences human development, the authors examine the origins of gang membership and the social and... psychological factors that lead to joining. After demonstrating that gang members are responsible for the major share of serious and violent delinquency, they indicate how membership facilitates delinquent behavior and other developmental problems such as teen pregnancy and school dropout.

"Gangs and Girls" is the first major piece of qualitative research specifically aimed at understanding and analyzing the involvement of street gangs in... female juvenile prostitution. Organized around a number of direct central questions, Michel Dorais and Patrice Corriveau document how street gangs control the lucrative trade in underage girls. They discuss how young men are drawn to gang life, how young girls become attracted and attached to the gang members who eventually sell them into prostitution, and why it is so hard to infiltrate and dismantle the distinct but interrelated worlds of the procurer, victim, and client.Rooted firmly in first person testimony, this research deepens our understanding of juvenile prostitution by identifying and exploring the types of motivations and circumstances that lead teenagers into prostitution rings. The ultimate focus is on prevention: the authors provide essential tools for parents and those trying to help adolescents in peril, support and intervention strategies for practitioners, and the tools and information necessary for policy makers to reflect on and design innovative social policy.

Choo explores group delinquency in the Asian American community. His primary focus is two youth groups, a Korean affiliated Chinese youth gang and a... Korean delinquent group. The two groups have evolved through different processes and under different community circumstances. Both manifest differing patterns of delinquent activities and require different approaches to their problems. By analyzing the demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural characteristics of the Korean immigrant community, the book discusses the unique lifestyle of Korean-American immigrants in relation to their youth and group delinquency problem. Choo also explains the phenomenon of gangs and immigrant youth by detailed comparison of the emergence, development, persistence and change of theser two distinctive groups.

This book presents an overview of the prominent quantitative and qualitative data that exists on gangs. Academically sound, it synthesizes gang... research into a format that is understandable and offers a balance between clarity and rigor. Placing a clear distinction between gangs and gang members, it highlights the differences between individual and group perspectives and encourages a richer understanding of the phenomenon.  More visual than competing texts, it uses learning boxes to highlight notable research projects and special topics. Separate chapters are devoted to current issues such as race/ethnicity; gender; prison gangs; and prevention and intervention. A clear distinction between gangs and gang members allows for a richer understanding of the gang problem by highlighting the differences between the individual and the group perspective. Introduces readers to outstanding gang literature and prominent qualitative and quantitative research projects in the field. Brings insight into the prison gang street gang connection for a more thorough comprehension of the gang phenomenon. Increases readers understanding of race and ethnicity in gangs and includes discussion of White, Hispanic, Black, Asian, and American Indian gang experiences.   An excellent reference for practioners in the field and within the corrections system.

Exceptionally complete and more informative than any other book on organized crime and gangs, this volume explores in detail the formation of gangs... worldwide, the history of the gangs' criminal activities, and the future of the gangs in society--including gangs that are hardly mentioned in other volumes. Every gang is viewed historically, structurally, culturally, territorially, and economically. Readers will develop a thorough understanding of--and comparative insight into--the inner workings of gangs, both local and worldwide. Discusses worldwide governments and their participation, if any, in gang activities. Gangs Throughout History. What Is a Gang? Gang Structure and Organization. Italian Organized Crime. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. Supremacists and Militias (Black Power; White Power). Street Gangs. Black Organized Crime (Jamaican; Nigerian). Chinese Organized Crime Groups. Asian Organized Crime (Japanese; Korean; Vietnamese). Hispanic Organized Crime (Colombian; Cuban; Dominican; Mexican). Russian/Israeli Organized Crime. Third World and Other Groups (Palestinian; Syrian; Turkish; Lebanese; Iraqi; United Arab Emirates; Iranian Groups; Pakistani Groups; India Groups; Burmese Groups). Eastern Europe Groups (Albanian Groups. Polish Groups. Gypsy Groups. Bulgarian Groups. Czech Republic Groups.) MARKET: For law enforcement and social work agencies and others seeking in-depth information on gangs.

This text is uniquely realistic with comprehensive coverage that presents the problem in practical terms, and not in theoretical and/or causal... explanations. All levels of students will be able to comprehend and relate to the material. Ethnic, prison, motorcycle, and skinhead gangs are covered in detail. The book concludes with a chapter on the future of prevention and intervention as a means to end the gang cycle of violence.

As communities face ever-growing gang-related problems, Gangs in America III provides the most up-to-date information on the diverse perspectives and... complex issues that arise in our efforts to understand, prevent, and control gang violence and crime.

This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date, and theoretically-grounded approach to gangs and youth violence. It covers significant topics of... interest to gang scholars and practitioners and, in doing so, serves to prepare students to work with gang members, develop and manage anti-gang programs, or engage in scholarly endeavors. The book introduces readers to the foundations of gang studies through the origins of gangs, definitions and categories of youth/street gangs (and the distinctions between these arguably different types), national and international trends, distinguishing features of serious street gangs, what works with gangs and what doesn’t, and myths and realities. James Howell’s extensive experience in this area allows access to the most authoritative national survey data on gang trends, providing insight into topics such as female gangs, migration of gang members, small-town gangs versus the major adult gangs in large cities, gang homicides and drug trafficking.

From its roots in 17th-century Britain to its modern incarnation in Enron and WorldCom, the modern corporation -- restless, autonomous, and... self-perpetuating -- has gained potency. Designed to seek profit and power, the corporation has pursued both objectives with endless tenacity, steadily bending the framework of the law and incurring destruction in its path. Where did the corporation come from? How did it get so much power? What is its ultimate trajectory? Considering the importance of such questions, it is surprisingly difficult to find answers. Using cutting-edge research from academic historians, sociologists, political scientists, and legal scholars, "Gangs of America attempts to answer these questions in a unique, riveting narrative. The book recounts the settlement of America by corporations, details the surprising impetus for the Revolutionary War, then traces the expansion of corporate rights onto the global stage -- culminating in an assessment of current struggles over such issues as media control and campaign finance reform. Part of the "BK Currents series, the book promotes positive social change.

A harrowing, edge-of-your-seat narrative of murder and secrets, revenge and heroism in the City of Angels, GANGSTER SQUAD chronicles the true story of... the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII—the real events behind the highly-anticipated Warner Bros. film starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. A full decade before J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI even acknowledged the existence of the Mafia, the Los Angeles Police Department launched the real-life Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds while combating what city fathers saw as an “invasion of undesirables.”  The squad planted bugs in mobsters’ bedrooms and took visiting hitmen into the Hollywood Hills for a chat … and a pistol in their ear. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing Mickey Cohen, the strutting little gangster who for 15 years made a mockery of law and order in Los Angeles. Sgt. Jack O’Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical womanizer. About all they had in common was their obsession with the pint-sized Brooklyn-born prizefighter who rose to the top of the L.A. rackets following the murder of his mentor Bugsy Siegel then flaunted his stature by holding court every night along the Sunset Strip. So O’Mara set a trap for Mickey – using his own guns -- to prove he was a killer. And Wooters formed an alliance with Mickey’s budding rival, Jack “The Enforcer” Whalen, an intimidating figure with movie star looks and dreams of making it in Hollywood. Two cops -- two hoodlums.  Their fates collided in the closing days of the 1950s, when “The Enforcer” stormed into Rondelli’s restaurant to have it out with Mickey and his crew. Then a bullet between the eyes signaled that the Gangster Squad’s time was up and so was a formative era in the city’s history.  Award-winning journalist Paul Lieberman’s seven-part 2008 Los Angeles Times’   series “Tales from the Gangster Squad” was optioned by Warner Bros. and became the basis for the feature film scheduled for release in the fall of 2012. One of the most highly anticipated movies of the year, it features Josh Brolin as Sgt. O’Mara, Ryan Gosling as Sgt. Wooters, Nick Nolte as Police Chief William Parker, Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen and Emma Stone as the love interest caught between the city’s foremost mobster and the dashing Sgt. Wooters.  An Executive Producer of the film, Lieberman spent well over a decade tracking down surviving members of the real police unit and conducted more than 300 interviews in all to write the book version of “Gangster Squad.” He met countless times with the hitherto anonymous foot soldiers in L.A.’s war against organized crime but also with the families and associates of the mobsters they pursued and assembled thousands of pages of documents, including grand jury transcripts, voluminous crime reports, old family letters and photos, and the LAPD’s own survey of every mob killing in the city from 1900 to 1951.  The result is an in-depth look at the real characters and chilling events that inspired the movie in a tour-de-force narrative that will remind readers of LA Confidential.      

Based on author T.W. Ward's eight and a half years in Los Angeles conducting participant observation with MS-13, Gangsters Without Borders: An... Ethnography of a Salvadoran Street Gang takes an inside look at gang life in the United States and in a global context. Taking us through their journey from their homeland in El Salvador to the mean streets of Los Angeles, Gangsters Without Borders offers a perspective from the point of view of the hard-core members who live this hard, fast, and dangerous life. A powerful and engaging overview of gang dynamics, Gangsters Without Borders contextualizes the sources and severity of the marginalization felt by Salvadoran immigrants and debunks myths about street gangs in the United States. This account of gangster's lives before, during, and after their involvement with the gang, delivers an intimate and analytical portrait unlike any other.