One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender [Paperback]

Jody Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0195130782 | ISBN-13: 978-0195130782

One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender examines the causes, nature, and meaning of female gang involvement. Miller situates the study of female gang membership in the context of current directions in feminist scholarship and research on both gangs and female criminal offenders. Unique in its approach, this book is a comparative study that examines both gang members and nongang members to provide an accurate picture of the nature of gang life. The author draws on interviews from two contrasting cities, St. Louis, Missouri and Columbus, Ohio. While both cities have relatively new gang histories, their socioeconomic conditions are notably different. The book opens with a foreword written by Malcolm W. Klein, a leading authority on youth gangs. Miller examines how and why girls join gangs; the nature of girls' involvement in gangs; how gang involvement shapes girls' participation in delinquency and their risk of victimization; and the ways in which gender affects their gang experience. Miller concludes by drawing out implications for gender and crime and the study of female lawbreaking. Written in a lively and personal style, One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender includes rich, extensive interviews offering fascinating excerpts from the girls themselves. Miller examines these dialogues in order to explore gender identities within gangs. One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender is an ideal text for courses which focus on juvenile delinquency, women and crime, gang activity, and female lawbreaking.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The topic of young women's participation in street gangs and violence has generated much heat and little light-until now. Dr. Miller's use of multiple theoretical and methodological lenses produces a comparative perspective that is rare in social research. Her sophisticated analyses of the impact of gender on gang girls' lives contributes to our understanding of how gang involvement shapes these girls' experience. One of the Guys is surely one of the best scholarly works about gangs."--Cheryl L. Maxson, University of Southern California

"We have long known that girls are in gangs, but very little first-hand research on their lives, their choices, and their differences has been available. For this reason, Miller's detailed work on girls in gangs not only fills an enormous scholarly void in gang research, it also provides those that are working with this problem with solid, careful information on the painful bargains that girls in economically marginalized and violent neighborhoods are forced to make every day."--Meda Chesney-Lind, University of Hawaii at Manoa

About the Author

Jody Miller is at University of Missouri, St.Louis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195130782
• ISBN-13: 978-0195130782
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals  > Gangs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gang girls in the midwest, January 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender (Paperback)

Miller's book is an excellent study of an issue that has not received much attention in criminology - girls' involvement in gangs. Based on her interviews of gang girls in St. Louis and Columbus, she challenges the common belief that girls do not join gangs or participate in gang-related crime. She explores the differences between male and female gang involvement, offering an explanation for these differences based on predominant gender norms which even "deviant" youth do not escape.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant effort, June 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender (Paperback)

Miller, generally considered the best young female criminologist in North America, has won several awards for this book. While there is some information from her dissertation in this, it is far from a published dissertation. Rather it is a breakthrough study in gender studies, and is absolutely essential reading for those in the field working with both girls and boys on the streets.

2 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not applicable to most girls in gangs, May 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs, and Gender (Paperback)

This book is, in large part, a result of the author's dissertation. In an attempt to try to get something published and/or tenure, she compiled descriptive information about gangs in St. Louis and Columbus. While it may be interesting to a few in academia, this book offers no practical value to the gang problems we face everyday. Nor can it be applied to prevention/intervention programs in other locales.