Customer Reviews

Street Gang Patterns and Policies (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)

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this book presents a relatively up to date analysis of street gangs, develops some of the reporting issues along with the limited scope of police data gathering. The analysis and arguments are helpful to understand the difference between "conventional wisdom" and the data available. I appreciate the presentation in so far as it provides a more realistic foundation on which to measure observations about local gangs.

This is a must read for scholars, police, and community leaders who are attempting to address youth street gang problems.

"This is an important book. Malcolm Klein and Cheryl Maxson here draw upon their own rich and pioneering research experience and that of others to provide the most comprehensive review of what is known and what needs to be known about gangs and their control in community contexts. I stand in awe of their accomplishment." -- James F. Short, Jr., Past President of the American Sociological Association

"The need to intervene successfully with street gangs is self-evident; unfortunately the way to do so is not. Klein and Maxson, based on a masterful review of the empirical literature on gangs and on gang intervention efforts, lay out a balanced and comprehensive strategy for confronting this problem head-on. Neither falsely optimistic nor unnecessarily gloomy, they provide a road map that, if followed, will yield substantial progress in our fight against gangs." -- Terence P. Thornberry, Director, Research Program on Problem Behavior, University of Colorado

"This book, by two of the world's leading experts on street gangs, can be confidently recommended to anyone who desires state-of-the-art reviews of knowledge on this topic. The reviews and recommendations about how to prevent and control street gangs are especially important and should be required reading for criminologists and criminal justice policy-makers and practitioners." -- David P. Farrington, Past President of the British Society of Criminology

"Klein and Maxson present a bold analysis and interpretation of the available data on street gangs. They have crafted the most coherent and refreshing analysis of the gang problem to date. Their analysis dispels a number of prominent myths about gangs and challenges much of the conventional wisdom about gang structure and dynamics. This book will have a major influence on street gang research for years to come." -- Delbert S. Elliott, Past President of the American Society of Criminology