Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California (Mexican American Monograph Series) [Paperback]

James Diego Vigil (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0292711190 | ISBN-13: 978-0292711198 | Publication Date: 1988

Within the Mexican American barrios of Los Angeles, gang activity, including crime and violent acts, has grown and flourished. In the past, community leaders and law enforcement officials have approached the problem, not as something that needs to be understood, but only as something to be gotten rid of. Rejecting that approach, James D. Vigil asserts that only by understanding the complex factors that give birth and persistence to gangs can gang violence be ended. Drawing on many years of experience in the barrios as a youth worker, high school teacher, and researcher, Vigil identifies the elements from which gangs spring: isolation from the dominant culture, poverty, family stress and crowded households, peer pressure, and the adolescent struggle for self-identity. Using interviews with actual gang members, he reveals how the gang often functions as parent, school, and law enforcement in the absence of other role models in the gang members' lives. And he accounts for the longevity of gangs, sometimes over decades, by showing how they offer barrio youth a sense of identity and belonging nowhere else available.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is a major contribution to understanding Chicano gangs, and the multiple marginality framework will prove helpful in understanding other Chicano subcultures in very different contexts. (American Anthropologist )

About the Author

James Diego Vigil is Professor of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292711190
• ISBN-13: 978-0292711198
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars compassionate and astute insights into "la vida loca", March 27, 2000

By 

Margaret C. Farrell (RESEDA, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California (Mexican American Monograph Series) (Paperback)

Barrio Gangs is an excellent exploration of the reasons young people gravitate toward street gangs, as well as an accurate, empathic view of the day-to-day reality these young people face. It has enhanced my understanding of the "at risk" children with whom I work, and I recommend it frequently to others in the field of counseling. It is scholarly, yet reflects the author's clear committment to the need to understand these youngsters. A fine source for all those interested in the culture of streetgangs. (I believe that many of the insights the author shares with regard to Latino streetgangs are also applicable to streetgangs of different ethnicities.)