American Street Gangs, 2nd edition

For undergraduate courses in gangs (especially in sociology, criminal justice and psychology), juvenile justice, deviance, corrections, and criminology.

The most comprehensive, up-to-date, and student-friendly text on street gangs.

Building on the successful first edition, American Street Gangs, Second Edition is a sharp, insightful analysis of gangs and gang-related crime in America. Delaney presents expert knowledge in a student-friendly format that is engaging and to-the-point. The text provides the necessary background material on gangs, grounding the reader with the cultural and structural context of gang activity. Criminal activity is also connected to socioeconomic influences, thus encouraging students to consider the many factors that affect and influence gang involvement. American Street Gangs provides a comprehensive review of all the critical elements relevant to gang life.

Hallmark Features

Provides a comprehensive introduction. Coverage includes more gangs, more cities, and more types of crime than similar texts in the market today.

• Small, regional, national, an international gangs are discussed 

Helps improve learning by providing proper context. Extensive coverage on the history of gangs helps students better understand today’s gang environment.

Promotes understanding through extensive current examples. Students are engaged by and can better remember discussions that include current examples that are relevant to them.

• Connecting Street Gangs and Popular Culture boxes examine how gangs are portrayed and connected with popular culture.

Encourages students to analyze how and why gangs exist. Chapter 4: Socioeconomic Explanations of Street Gangs, and Chapter 5: Gang Structure and Process the social and structural factors that contribute to and facilitate gang operations.

Introduces students to gang prevention, suppression, and treatment strategies. Chapter 9 presents law enforcement and community strategies used to combat gangs and diversion efforts designed to keep youths out of gangs.

The Second Edition has been extensively revised to incorporate current data and trends and to include broader coverage of more gangs and gang-related crime.

• Examples include films, television, music (primarily rap and hip hop), video games, sports, children’s books, and the internet 

• Many new tables and exhibits have also been added

Expanded! Discussions now cover more gangs—and more cities with gang problems.

Revised! Chapter 10: What's Trending With Street Gangs has been reworked.

• Discussion now focuses on gang-related trends that will likely influence the future of gangs

Revised! Chapter 6: Street Gangs: Rural, Suburban, Local, National, and Trans-national—has been significantly revised, including updated discussion of:

• rural and suburban gangs and data;
• gangs in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo (this is the only text that discusses these gang cities)
• updates and modifications on national gangs
• the creation of the transnational gangs category

Updated! Significant content updates have been made throughout the text—major revisions include:

• more emphasis on outlaw motorcycle gangs and prison gangs
• criminal activity committed by street gangs
• drug and alcohol use
• firearms
• the mass media
• the “rush”