Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know [Hardcover]

Mark S. Fleisher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1998

Dead End Kids exposes both the depravity and the humanity in gang life through the eyes of a teenaged girl named Cara, a member of a Kansas City gang. In this shocking yet compassionate account, Mark Fleisher shows how gang girls’ lives are shaped by poverty, family disorganization, and parental neglect.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As this strong but flawed study of gang girls in Kansas City shows, gangs are as pervasive and dangerous in the heartland as on the coasts. Fleisher's street ethnography follows the life of a girl called Cara over several years, but 38 other "major players" move in and out of Cara's life, and the sheer number clouds the narrative. Gang girls are usually from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; were often abused as children, then by male gang members as young adults; and live lives shattered by drugs, assaults, unplanned pregnancies and sporadic police contact. The author hung around with gang members, listening, recording and trying to tiptoe the line between objective observer and sympathetic participant. His accomplishment as a researcher is impressive. The best street ethnographies, however, like Elliott Liebow's Tally's Corner, have been more selective in presentation of material. Tragedies are emotionally diluted for readers after the same victimization occurs to a girl seven times. Also, conversations transcribed in dialect seem forced and phonetic word spellings become intrusive at times. Fortunately, the author's skill as a researcher consistently prevails. A final chapter advances the methodology of street ethnography and places the study in a broader perspective. Fleisher, a cultural anthropologist, criminal ethnographer and former administrator in the Federal Bureau of Prisons who now teaches criminal justice sciences at Illinois State, clearly cares about his subjects. When he writes, "What truly matters to me is the actual resolution of these problems and the material improvement of kids' lives," it is believable.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ethnographer Fleisher spent a year hanging out with the Fremont Hustlers, a youth gang in Kansas City, Missouri, recording their comings and goings for this interesting look at gang culture. Fleisher focuses on the girls who form the social center of the gang. Openly carrying a tape recorder and notebook, Fleisher slowly won acceptance that led members to reveal troubled family backgrounds, the organization of the gang's drug trade, the topography of their turf and battles, and their painful personal struggles. With an entree provided by Cara and Wendy, teenage girls involved with gang members, Fleisher was able to make himself a part of the "chill house," home base of drug dealing and gang activity. Fleisher's firsthand account is right there when the Fremont Hustlers prepare to face down a rival gang, a threat that never materializes but brings Fleisher closer to gang members. He aptly describes the economic and social pressures that contribute to gang formation, youth violence, teen pregnancy, and other social ills plaguing U.S. cities. Vanessa Bush

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (September 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299158802
• ISBN-13: 978-0299158804
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,653,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #99 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals  > Offenders

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, yet highly disturbing, December 3, 2004

By 

skipper (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know (Hardcover)

I write this review merely to respond to allegations that Fleisher is irresponsible. First of all, before you make that claim, enroll in one sociology course. Research like this is vital to understanding how humans operate, and without such research (not just about gangs, but about many aspects of life) policy recommendations would not be accurate, and problems would not be addressed appropriately. Had Fleisher reported all of the crimes that occurred during his time there, his research would have ended. As it is, there is very little research done on girls in gangs. Second, if you had completed the book, you would have seen that Fleisher did have a friend report what he saw with Amy and RoniRo (p 247 -- second full paragraph.) Third, he didn't approve of the gang girls choices to sell drugs -- he said he understood it. Granted that is a choice that most people cannot understand, but after witnessing all that he did, how can you blame him for being disenfranchised?

Clearly, much more research needs to be done on girls in gangs, as this was a study confined to one city. But Fleisher has done a fabulous job explaining the motivations and lifestyles of girls in Kansas City, and purported to do nothing more. Before you so harshly criticize a writer, please make sure that you fully understand what you are discussing.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a sucker for Oprah-esque sociology books, January 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know (Hardcover)

I rarely ever come across "page turners" when it comes to reading sociology works -- but I was not able to put Dead End Kids down. This book is a real gem because it does two great things -- 1) puts one rawly in touch with other's lives, and 2) sets forth social policy suggestions based on the research. Having stumbled across this book in the library by random, I now plan to reading more of Fleisher's work.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shocked and Appalled, March 20, 2008

By 

Aurora Alice Lee (Leawood, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know (Hardcover)

This book is how research should not be done! I am from Kansas City and know idividuals involved. Fleisher is not only biased but is completly unethical. He made promises that he did not keep and abandoned these kids when it suited him. I feel sorry that these kids trusted someone and were only taken advantage of once again. Very sad that this his "study" has been given any credit as being either scientific or even useful when it comes to gang intervention. If it would not boost his sales, I would recommend this book to any teacher who is trying to teach students what not to do. However, I would hate to see him profit off his exploitation of these kids.