Book Description
James Daniel Nelson first hit the streets as a teenager in 1992. He joined a clutch of runaways and misfits who camped out together in a squat under a Portland bridge. Within a few months the group-they called themselves a "family"-was arrested for a string of violent murders.
While Nelson sat in prison, the society he had helped form grew into a national phenomenon. Street families spread to every city from New York to San Francisco, and to many small towns in between, bringing violence with them. In 2003, almost eleven years after his original murder, Nelson, now called "Thantos", got out of prison, returned to Portland, created a new street family, and killed once more. Twelve family members were arrested along with him.
Rene Denfeld spent over a decade following the evolution of street family culture. She discovered that, contrary to popular belief, the majority of these teenagers hail from loving middle-class homes. Yet they have left those homes to form insular communities with cultish hierarchies, codes of behavior, languages, quasi-religions, and harsh rules. She reveals the extremes to which desperate teenagers will go in their search for a sense of community, and builds a persuasive and troubling case that street families have grown among us into a dark reversal of the American ideal.
Customer Reviews:
Dangerously inacurate .......2007-10-06
Having many years experience working with youth on the streets I have yet to come across ONE who has chosen a life of homelessness. While Denfeld writes of one horrifying situation she unfortunately connects this violence to all street youth. However, this is dangerously wrong, and paints a demonizing picture of youth who are surviving on the streets against all odds. There is already a stigma regarding homeless youth, and I fear Denfeld is perpetuating a damaging myth that these youth are from loving homes and choosing a life of homelessness...All she is doing is harming an already vulnerable population, and swaying the public from supporting their own children. Most of the youth I work with on the streets are there because their life at home was shockingly abusive, and the streets were safer. They are survivors in every sense of the word, they are nonviolent, often working, intelligent and engaging individuals who daily fight against a society who finds it easier to judge them than to realize the alarming rate of family trauma that is forcing children to leave their homes to search for safety on the streets. As a society we need to come together to allow these children to reach their amazing potential, not blame them for having been born to unsafe families. Yes, the story Denfeld wrote of is tragic, but it is so far from what happens on the street she was wrong to imply this violence as the norm. The streets are not fun, simply surviving day to day is no life, it is not a glamorous existence, it is often frightening, frustrating and painful. Anyone who asserts that youth chose a life on the streets is sadly misinformed, and I believe choosing to remain ignorant because they are simply not strong enough to realize how many thousands of children have been thrown in this country.
Lost teenagers, living under the bridge........2007-05-28
Portland, Oregon and street kids.....gone wrong. The sadness of what can occur when parents do not accept the reasonability of parenthood and think more of themselves..... and our youth end up under the bridge,gone astray. Following the "parents" of the street, all the while longing for a home life. Reality at its best. A great in site to today's street kids.
Brave and Honest.......2007-04-02
Denfeld is brave and honest in bringing to light a sad truth that none of us want to believe, nor except, about any of the kid's on the streets of Portland , or anywhere in America. She is clear that it is not all that go down this dark road,that many are truly homeless, with no other choice, and makes the point that the organizations that are there to help, need to have more knowlege of the culture. Chilling, brutal, yet hopeful, because it gave information about how to be aware and get on the road to solve this problem.
An excellent, disturbing and profound look at violent street families.......2007-03-28
As a Portland native, I highly recommend this book. It is written from an investigative reporter view with info from all sides involved: homeless youth in Portland, the kids and adults inside the street family that the book deals with, the historical and present day violence within street families, the loving family of Jessica the murder victim as well as Jessica herself, the police officers and detectives involved in the grisly investigation and how some of the social service agencies in downtown Portland turned a blind eye to some serious issues. It also provides a great overview and history of street youth and street family culture and how wide spread and connected it really is. This book challenges us to really look at what is going with some of the young teens and adults that live on the streets in violent street families and why we as a society have chosen to ignore the violence and murder. It is grim and disturbing but honest and thought provoking, something many journalists and authors have forgotten how to do, but Denfeld has not.
All God's Children.......2007-03-28
She really hit the nail on the head. Very informative without being overly sensational.
Book Description
In this conversational, jargon-free text with its clear and thorough presentation of theories of delinquency, Regoli and Hewitt make delinquency interesting to read about. It is no encyclopedic compendium, but a critical look at a very serious problem.
This edition is thoroughly updated to reflect the most current trends and developments. In clear and accessible language the authors prepare their readers to understand all facets of delinquency, including discussions of the history, institutional context, and societal reactions to delinquent behavior, the major biological, psychological, and sociological theories of behavior, and the variety of policy implications derived from those theories.
Book Description
Created as an alternative to the punishment-oriented criminal justice system, the juvenile court is a unique American invention that has been replicated around the world. But to say that this system is without significant flaws would be misleading. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the juvenile justice system is a vital step towards improving counseling and rehabilitation programs.
Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework presents the latest research and most effective programs for understanding, preventing, and controlling juvenile delinquency. Renowned specialist in the field James C. Howell examines key myths about juvenile violence and the ability of the juvenile justice system to handle modern-day juvenile delinquents. Reviewing the history of current juvenile justice system policies and practices, Howell provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing and responding to juvenile crime.
Geared toward preparing students for a career in juvenile justice or social services, this accessible volume includes
- Chapter introductions and summaries that link research studies to intervention programs
- Boxed studies, data sources, key definitions, and concepts
- Extensive real-world case studies and illustrations
- Comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art research and programs
- Developmental theories of juvenile delinquency
- Advanced juvenile justice system management tools
- Effective prevention and rehabilitation programs
Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency explores the world of chronic, violent juvenile offenders and gang involvement. Evaluating the current "moral panic" over juvenile delinquency, the author offers an effective program delivery system that empowers individual practitioners and communities.
Intended as a supplementary text for undergraduate and graduate courses in juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice, and violent offender intervention courses,
Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency is also essential reading for juvenile justice and social services research and development specialists.
Customer Reviews:
A good review of the juvenile justice field.......2006-09-07
I used this book in a Juvenile Deliquency course. It is packed with important information, theoretical orientations, and Howell spends much time addressing the history of the field and JD in general. I found the book to work very welll for the more professional orientated students in the class. For example, I had a couple of police officers who really liked the book because it addressed some very practical issues they were facing every day. Other, less experienced, students were a little put off by the small print and the textbook format. The book is also a little repetitive, and the same topics are are addressed in different places in the book. Although it was published in 2003, many of the statistics are outdated which is a shame. I would love to see a revised and/ or a condensed edition.
Most comprehensive coverage of juvenile justice available.......2003-03-18
Dr. James Howell's book is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source currently available on the American juvenile justice system. Chapters cover the causes and correlates of delinquency, various parts of the juvenile justice system, what works and what doesn't to prevent and reduce delinquency, and presents compelling arguments about why a separate juvenile justice system (distinct from the adult justice system) should be retained. A must-read/must-have one-stop source.
Amazon.com
Jonathan Kellerman is best known as the author of a series of bestselling suspense novels starring psychologist sleuth Dr. Alex Delaware, but his nonliterary background is as a children's clinical psychologist. In Savage Spawn, inspired by the schoolyard shootings that took place in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Springfield, Oregon, in 1998, he brings his training to bear on the question of how children can become cold-blooded killers. Kellerman has as much--perhaps more--to say about the broader issue of the nature of psychopathy, however, than he does about youth violence, though he does occasionally bring the two themes together. But Savage Spawn is essentially a hundred-page-plus op-ed piece rooted in Kellerman's belief that there are fundamentally bad people in the world and that the response to the perpetrators of violent acts such as the shooting at Jonesboro should be to "lock them up till they die." (Although published shortly after the multiple-death shooting in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, the book was clearly written before this incident took place.) Readers may ultimately prefer more detailed considerations such as William Pollack's Real Boys or Lost Boys, by James Garbarino.
Book Description
"Ethically and morally, kids are works in progress. Throw in psychopathy and you've got a soul that will never be complete."
In this powerful, disturbing book, bestselling author and noted child psychologist Jonathan Kellerman shines a penetrating light on antisocial youth--kids who kill without remorse--asserting that "psychopathic tendencies begin very early in life, as young as three, and they endure." Criticizing our quick impulse to blame violent movies or a "morally bankrupt" society, Kellerman convinces us that it is the kids themselves who need to be examined. Carefully.
How do children become cold-blooded killers? Kellerman warns that today's aggressive bully is tomorrow's Mafia don, cult leader, or genocidal dictator. Violently psychopathic youths possess an overriding need for power, control, and stimulation, and all display a complete lack of regard for the humanity of others. He examines the origins of psychopathy and the ever-shifting debate between nurture and nature, offering some controversial solutions to dealing with homicidal tendencies in children.
As timely as today's headlines, more gripping than fiction, Savage Spawn is a provocative look at the links between society and biology, children and violence. Kellerman's sobering message will remain with you long after the last page is turned.
Customer Reviews:
If You're Interested..........2006-11-13
I haven't read Kellerman's book -- just all the reviews, in an attempt to decide whether to take the time to do so. Thus the forced, relatively neutral score -- no room for deviation from the norm here!
I would add to the comments on psychopathy, sociopathy, and mental illness as mediating factors by recommending some enlightening and very accessible reading. Re: sorting out the psychopaths from others, Robert Hare, an internationally-renowned psychological researcher, has also written a book that anyone can read and understand: Without Conscience, the Psychopaths Among Us. It's his form of public service, I think. Over the years, Bob has described the vital distinctions between garden-variety sociopaths, people who wind up in jail or prison for various reasons, and the true psychopath -- who may not always live a 'marginal' life, engage in egregious violence, or end up in prison. His book makes clear how the psychopath is different from most people, although s/he sometimes tries to mimic the appearance of being like others, as camouflage. From murderers to white-collar criminals -- unless recognized, these people have the power to affect the lives of many others quite painfully.
...A quite different type from Andrew Vachss's Robin Hood-esque Burke, an ex-con whose deepest humane motivation springs from the drive to prevent or rescue child or adult victims from abuse. Saving himself, over and over again, in a way -- although he was never 'saved' like this himself.
In any event -- pick up Bob Hare's book. It will 'wise you up' quickly re: a whole different level of existence. And explore the world of Burke, as well -- Vachss's man who knows very clearly (via the 'street research' of his experiences) the difference between a 'criminal' and a psychopath. You'll get a sense of what J.K. may be exercised about --
Interesting Read........2006-06-14
I was living in Jonesboro, Arkansas when Andrew Golden & Mitchell Johnson opened fire at their middle school. It was like, this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen in MY town. And they were only 11 and 13 years old! This little book was written shortly after the shooting as a sort of venting mechanism and I was curious to read Dr. Kellerman's take on it all.
He's very blunt about the fact that some people are just evil (or psychopathic) and this evil (or psychopathy) can manifest itself as early as two years old. There's no way to cure this, but if it is caught early enough, it can be controlled and that's where the system is failing. It's very straight forward, but like I said, very ventful too. He explains why the system doesn't work and has lots of ideal ideas of how to fix it, but he admits the world is not an ideal place and over all, we do the best we can.
I'm a fan of Dr. Kellerman's novels and I did notice the germ of some characters in the case examples he cites here. Pretty scary stuff.
So, no, this little volume doesn't provide any earth shattering cure-alls, but it is refreshing to hear a professional admit that there are no simple answers. I found it very interesting.
Did some of you actually READ the book?.......2005-08-16
From the flavor of some of the past reviews, I wonder if the reviewers bothered to read the whole book...and read it carefully. It appears that a couple might have just skimmed through and this is no way to give any piece of literature a worthwhile critique.
Yes, Kellerman is a bit sensationalistic in his wording but do you think Average Joe would read the book if it read like a research paper?
No, certain of Kellerman's Utopian suggestions are not feasible. He says so. I guess certain readers missed this.
No, Kellerman's book does not offer a wealth of solutions towards treating violent youth. Read the back cover. This publication was not intended to offer treatments. It is clear that the purpose of the book was to present both sides of the "nature vs. nurture" argument and then to show how both play a role in creating the "savage spawn". Kellerman's point is that the issue is not cut and dried and the solutions are not simple because the resources to help these kids, simply isn't available.
He does toss in some supposed remedies at the end but these are the type of commentary one often hears from laypeople who think that we can just apply "quick fixes" and voila no more violent children. He wants readers to know that these options are not viable. He clearly states, "This comprehensive approach remains, sadly, an ideal". He does state, rather emphatically, however, that behavior modification is the key and closes with this reminder.
I disagree that it was sensationalistic to comment on the "young guns" of the West and show how we as a society tend to glorify violence. We do. Pointing out that many of these famous gunslingers of the past were children when they began their killing spree was not to sensationalize. Kellerman clearly points out that we are mistaken in assuming that it is a "new thing" for youngsters to go on murderous rampages, and that we need only to look into our history to see this.
As an educator and counselor of young offenders, I found the this book interesting and enlightening. If one goes beyond the basic scope of the book and checks Kellerman's references, one will find that much research exists to support what he says.
I agree with his statement, "Boys will be boys but violent boys will be dangerous." It's a wake up call to America that as he states, "..if we catch antisocial kids early enough..they will be amenable to treatment". We need to stop ignoring the behavior and making excuses for it.
So...all in all, is the book worth a 5? Yes...if one realizes that Kellerman accomplished his objective of showing both sides of a nature/nurture argument. I do believe, however, that he leaves the readers a bit cold by not offering us at least some parting references to publications or institutions that offer more information as to treatment options.
Seen it in my family.......2004-07-26
Do you have to shootup a school to ruin lives??
My greatgrandma's family around 1910, had a very large farm in our state, the kids grew up with a ton of money. The kids were idle, spoiled and spent all their inheritances on booze, and lavish partying hunting trips--ending in squalor later in life. When an older family member died, or passed his farm onto his caretakers, since family didn't want to get dirty with helping, the other family members would spy from the nearby hilltops with binoculars, seething with hatred. Funerals were nice times for family thieving trips where family antiques were stolen. My greataunt was buried in her mother's wedding dress, ending decades of fighting over it.
My grandparents were overly lax with their children, and allowed them to be very violent with each other. Grandma would sleep a lot and socialize, letting the children roam unsupervised. My mom was the oldest, and assumed a lot of responsibility. Her sibs were super-spoiled, and never grew up, always trying to extort their parents even in extreme old age.
My aunt's oldest boy, she spouted everywhere that he was a GENIUS, and never controlled him. He was spoiled, bullying & violent towards his sibs and us cousins. Occasionally, he would go too far, and his dad would beat him, but other than that, ignored or indulged. My aunt indulged all the kids and herself so much with goodies and junk-buying that the family was always in financial and health crisis. Dad ran off.
The violent cousin dominated the family, they lived in fear of him, he bullied the mom and sibs. We even think he sexually bullied his brother and sister, as there is a lot of rage and dysfunction. Still the mom spouts that he is a genius----even though he is now 43, chronically jobless, porn-addict, drugger, married to a pretty-coke-hound, has 4 female children, showered with the youngest girls until atleast age 7 (as reported by his sister), has custody of grandma and is cleaning her out while keeping her on happy pills. He did the exact same with his paternal grandma as well, charmed his family's way in with her, and liquidated the household and finances. We have reported it, but grandma's on so many happy pills, the authorities think she's fine.
While grandpa was alive, the protector of the $$, even though he was in his 90's, he was hit up repeatedly by his children and grifter grandkids. He would say no, but these same relatives would always be too busy to bring food or help out, but kept us from hiring extra help. The Drs said his cancer & diabetes was accelerated by malnutrition. The minute he was dead in his bed, they jumped in the car and tried to empty the bank accounts. Grandma was easy pickings.
I also live in an area where many Billy-Bobs are spoiled by their indulgent parents, and they are going through the exact same things, with the children becoming sociopathic and predatory, ranging from 20's-60's and still grifting, beating up wives, drugs, extorting parents.....
I do think predators are made by loving too much, not enough responsility, etc....and families have to be responsible enough to know when they can't handle a predator...for his own Lifelong sake as well as the family and sibs.....If you could save somebody's life by getting a Remedial alternative living arrangement, or remedial boarding school.....This stuff lasts FOREVER...
Not about "troubled kids".......2002-09-15
This is not a book about troubled children in the usual sense of that phrase, meaning children who are who are angry, lonely and unhappy and who act on those feelings in destructive ways, such as getting into fights or taking drugs. This is about a much smaller group: children who are so psychologically damaged that they simply don't experience the normal range of human feelings. Troubled teens might hide their anxieties behind a facade of cool contempt for others; but for child psychopaths, Kellerman suggests, there's nothing behind the facade. They see other people not as fellow human beings, but as objects to be manipulated or dominated for their own ends.
Kellerman's most interesting hypothesis here is that such children have not been produced by a general decline in moral or social values; instead, he postulates that this psychological abnormality has probably occurred in a small percentage of the population of every human society that has existed. (This certainly would explain why the vast majority of children who are teased or bullied at school, or who watch violent movies and play violent computer games, etc., are nevertheless nice kids who grow into kind, decent adults.) The main difference now is that adolescent psychopaths on a killing spree have access to more sophisticated, efficient weapons than existed in the past.
As other reviewers have suggested, some of the interventions and remedies Kellerman suggests don't seem feasible. That doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong; it's possible that our only other option is to endure periodic school shootings (though that's certainly an upsetting thought). I do think Kellerman might have dwelt more on the question of diagnosis; he's good at describing his own (rare) encounters with child psychopaths and how they differed from his (much more numerous) encounters with troubled boys, but it's unclear whether someone with less experience, training and sensitivity would be able to see and articulate the distinction. Still, the distinction itself, as Kellerman delineates it, is persuasive; and it might at least keep educators and school psychologists from lumping every unpopular, unhappy kid who likes to play shooter games or set off bottle rockets (which is a whole lot of kids) in with mass murderers (which, despite the seeming frequency of school shootings, is a very small number of kids). In any case, this is interesting reading for anyone curious to know how evil arises in individual human beings.
Customer Reviews:
The best book explaining the causes of crime, period........2006-08-25
As all of us over a certain age know, crime was once perhaps the most important political issue in America. There was a huge increase in crime, during the 1960s and thereafter. For a time there, everyone was afraid of crime, and this made it a huge issue. This was then followed by a huge decrease in crime, during the 1990s and after. As a result, crime has faded as a political concern.
The increase in crime is not at all well understood. The most popular explanation is that crime is caused by poverty and other "root causes." This explanation, however, does not explain why crime went up dramatically during the 1960s, during a time when poverty was decliing.
Professor LaFree carefully studies all of the different explanations of the crime increase, and considers the evidence for and against them. He argues that the increase in crime was due to the general decrease in the legitimacy of the social order during the 1960s. I think he makes a compelling case.
He does not address the causes of the decrease in crime, since the mid 1990s, probably because this book was published in 1998. If you want an explanation of the decrease, this is not your book. However, if you want an explanation of the prior run up in crime, this is by far the best book on the subject, and I have read quite a few books on the subject.
One aspect of this book which I should mention is its relative lack of trendy academic posturing. As a counter example, a far better known book on a very similar subject is Bernard Harcourt's Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing. That is a deeply dishonest book intellectually, because it is based upon fashionable post-modern thought. LaFree is not a post-modern. He is deeply read in 20th century social science, and he takes very seriously such earlier thinkers as Durkheim. Among the other pleasures of reading his book, he gives a very good overview of prior thinkers on this and related subjects.
Book Description
Street Gang Patterns and Policies provides a crucial update and critical examination of knowledge about gangs and major gang control programs across the nation. Malcolm Klein and Cheryl Maxson here focus on gang proliferation, migration, and crime patterns, and highlight known risk factors that lead to youths joining gangs and to gang formation within communities. Dispelling long-standing assumptions that the public--and the media and law enforcement--have about street gangs, they present a comprehensive overview of how gangs are organized and structured. The authors assess the major gang programs across the nation, and argue that existing prevention, intervention and suppression methods, targeting individuals, groups, and communities, have been largely ineffective, when evaluated. Klein and Maxson close by offering policy guidelines for practitioners on how to intervene and control gangs more successfully. Filling an important gap in the literature on street gangs and social control, this book will be a must read for criminologists, social workers, policy makers, and criminal justice practitioners.
Customer Reviews:
Advance Praise for Street Gang Patterns and Policies.......2006-07-28
"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
Book Description
In this path-breaking book, David Garland argues that punishment is a complex social institution that affects both social relations and cultural meanings. Drawing on theorists from Durkheim to Foucault, he insightfully critiques the entire spectrum of social thought concerning punishment, and reworks it into a new interpretive synthesis.
"Punishment and Modern Society is an outstanding delineation of the sociology of punishment. At last the process that is surely the heart and soul of criminology, and perhaps of sociology as well—punishment—has been rescued from the fringes of these 'disciplines'. . . . This book is a first-class piece of scholarship."—Graeme Newman, Contemporary Sociology
"Garland's treatment of the theorists he draws upon is erudite, faithful and constructive. . . . Punishment and Modern Society is a magnificent example of working social theory."—John R. Sutton, American Journal of Sociology
"Punishment and Modern Society lifts contemporary penal issues from the mundane and narrow contours within which they are so often discussed and relocates them at the forefront of public policy. . . . This book will become a landmark study."—Andrew Rutherford, Legal Studies
"This is a superbly intelligent study. Its comprehensive coverage makes it a genuine review of the field. Its scholarship and incisiveness of judgment will make it a constant reference work for the initiated, and its concluding theoretical synthesis will make it a challenge and inspiration for those undertaking research and writing on the subject. As a state-of-the-art account it is unlikely to be bettered for many a year."—Rod Morgan, British Journal of Criminology
Winner of both the Outstanding Scholarship Award of the Crime and Delinquency Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association's Crime, Law, and Deviance Section
Book Description
"This book...provides both an introduction to and the latest knowledge on the subject in a way that is accessible to students and other nonexperts.... After reading the book, I found myself better informed even about issues that I already knew well and had studied in depth. Simons et al. are enthusiastic, engaged, and knowledgeable about the subject of family relationships and antisocial behavior. The content of the book is richly informed, not only by the most recent research and theory in the field but also by the findings from collaborative efforts in the authors' own high-quality research. All of this is presented in a concise and remarkably well-written manner." —Ronald L. Akers, University of Florida
This book explores the link between family life and antisocial behavior. In recent years, researchers from a variety of disciplines have investigated the relationship between society's most fundamental social institution--the family--and various forms of criminal behavior. Simons et al. fill a fundamental void in the literature by demonstrating how these seemingly disparate lines of research can be woven together using classic and contemporary theories of delinquency and crime. The book is designed to serve as a supplement for courses on juvenile delinquency, criminology, deviance, and child development.
FAMILIES, DELINQUENCY, AND CRIME evaluates and explores popular explanations using the results of studies by sociologists, criminologists, and psychologists. Each chapter succinctly defines terminology, establishes a review of empirical literature, and provides an effective argument that families are a dynamic aspect of our social lives that are intricately related to delinquency and other problem behaviors. Clear examples of each situation are provided.
Part I explains child and adolescent antisocial behavior. The chapters review theory and research regarding the effect of family structure, marital conflict, parental antisocial behavior, and parents' childrearing practices on a child's risk for conduct problems and delinquency. Part II focuses on adult antisocial behavior and shows how the various family socialization processes and childhood behavior problems discussed in Part I influence the probability of later adult crime. Explanations are provided for both the continuity and discontinuity of antisocial behavior across the life course. Consideration is given to the manner in which romantic partners often modify deviant life course trajectories. The book also explores the link between family experiences during childhood and adult risk for either perpetrating or becoming the victim of marital violence.
Book Description
From one of America's leading authorities on juvenile violence and aggression, a groundbreaking investigation of the explosion in violent behavior by girls: its causes, consequences, and possible solutions
"Teen Hazing Turns Vicious," "Gang Beats Man Senseless," "Teenagers Indicted for Murder," "School Shooter Sought Revenge for Put-downs," "Youth Arrested in Murder Plot Aimed at Parents." The headlines don't seem remarkable: juvenile violence has always been with us. What is new is that these stories aren't about boys, they're about girls. Just ten years ago, almost ten boys were arrested for assault for every girl. Now the ratio is four to one, and it's dropping rapidly. What's going on with American girls? See Jane Hit is the first big-picture answer to this crucial question, a groundbreaking examination of this hidden epidemic by one of America's most respected authorities on juvenile violent aggression.
In See Jane Hit, Dr. James Garbarino shows that the rise in girls' violence is the product of many interrelated cultural developments, several of which are largely positive. Girls have learned to express themselves physically in organized sports-thirty years ago, the number of boys playing organized sports was more than ten times greater than the number of girls; now we're almost at 1:1. In a number of other ways, too, the cultural foot binding that has kept girls from embracing their own physical power has been removed, which is largely to be celebrated. But nothing happens in isolation, and there's rarely such a momentous societal shift with absolutely no downside. One problem is that girls aren't being trained to handle their own physical aggression the way boys are: our methods of child-rearing culture include all sorts of mechanisms for socializing boys to express their violence in socially acceptable ways, but with girls we lag very far behind. At the same time, the culture has become more toxic for boys and girls alike, and girls' sexuality is linked with violence in new and disturbing ways.
Ultimately, this brilliant, far-reaching examination of physical aggression and the "new" American girl shows us there is much we can do differently. See Jane Hit is not just a powerful wake-up call; it's a clear-eyed, compassionate prescription for real-world solutions.
Customer Reviews:
Finally.......2007-09-07
Ask any high school principal and they will tell you that 9 times out of 10, girl fights are WAY more violent and dangerous than boy fights. They are much harder to break up, and it is much harder to keep the same girls from fighting again because girls are more apt to fight in retaliation for past 'offenses' and slights. QUite simply, girls just DO NOT give up.
Liberal and feminist academics, most of whom do not live in ghettos or lower class neighborhoods (and who are henceforth not very concerned with violence among female minorities), will do absolutely anything they can to convince the public that violence among girls is not a problem, and that, of course, boys are the real culprits. If these people do happen to admit their is a problem, their solution is rationalization, "Yeah buts," and more social coddling.
Of course, the real liberal and femminazi goal is to continue to vilify boys and maleness in general and ignore that anything bad is happening in the world of girldom.
Think back to grade school and high school. Remember the evil cliques, the back-stabbing, the rumor-spreading, all the nasty, covert aggression that girls partook in? Have you ever wondered why women have a hard time bonding with one another in adulthood? It's not because they were so nice to one another in girlhood.
Think about it: How many boys wind up in the hospital for bulemia? How many boys pick on other boys and socially isolate them because they're not wearing the latest Tiffany's charm bracelet? Physical violence is only the surface with what's wrong with girls today.
I don't have my PHD. I've just worked with teens for 20 years........2007-06-08
I think this book offers solid discussion about girls and growing violence. As someone who works with teens, as an author and ministry worker and speaker to teens, I'm not worried about the statistics near as much as what I see happening in the lives of some of our girls. There is more violence among girls. Our younger girls are losing their innocence, many are accepting less than any other generation in terms of relationships, and many are angry.
I love working with teens. This is an amazing generation. They are intelligent. They are able to do more than their mothers and grandmothers, but the reality is that a growing segment of young girls are reacting with violence, and this book offers some insight. Does it have all the answers? Absolutely not, but neither do I, but it asks some great questions and offers some interesting information that should trigger conversations among those who care about our girls.
They need a ZERO star rating.......2006-03-15
Now, I think talking about any child, regardless of sex, being violent is ian important subject. But when you focus the discussion on girls then you're completely missing the point and putting the undeserved and unfair attention on girls NOT BOYS. For example:
Let's say you're a parent and you have 6 kids (5 boys, 1 girl) and every week, your 5 boys fight with each other and they get into fights at school. Every week they get sent home for fighting, cursing, bad behavior, etc. Then one day, your one daughter, who has no history of such behavior, gets sent home from school for fighting. Suddenly its "OMG Peggy Sue got into a fight. What's wrong with my daughter!? This is all the WNBA's fault!!!"
Boys fighting should not be "boys being boys." teaching young men and boys that this is normal, and not calling them out while lambasting girls is such a male-dominated view to take.
ZERO stars folks! stay away!
IMPORTANT BOOK FOR PARENTS.......2006-03-04
I completely disagree with the previous reviewer who slams this book (and others with similar concerns about today's youth) in such a tunnel vision manner. This book is an important social commentary for any parent to read, and for any adult to ponder.
Any parent who has had the challenge of raising a girl in today's violence-filled society, knows the real story. The complete real story may be too big to fit into one book, but THIS book is about an issue that is very close to parents' hearts. And it should be.
Is it alarmist to be concerned about today's girls when it comes to the impact of violence in their lives? I suspect readers will be intelligent enough to read this book for what it is: A concerned and informed point of view about girls and young women.
Another misleading "teen panic" book.......2006-02-28
Dr. Garbarino's book is indeed "shocking" and "scary"--not about girls, but about the continuing decline in scholarship regarding young people. The entire factual basis for this book is open to serious question.
Dr. Garbarino rests his case on the claim that girls' violence has increased steadily and sharply in recent years, especially the last decade. Yet, virtually all of his sources for this alarming claim consist of secondhand citations; Garbarino shows no evidence of having looked at original data.
A "footnote mill" has developed on youth issues, in which alarmist authors such as Garbarino cite other alarmist authors as their sources, who in turn cite him and each other, creating a round-robin of panicky myths with no basis in the factual references they pretend to be based on. At best, these misleading statistics cover only decade-old time periods (selected to make a few upward trends of the past appear to still be going on, while failing to note recent, sustained declines); in other cases, they're simply phony.
As a result, this book is a compendium of outdated, recycled myths about girls, some concocted by unreliable interests and all of them seriously outdated. Examples:
Garbarino: 25 years ago, the ratio of boys' to girls' aggravated assault arrest rates was 10-1, now it is 4-1, according to "official arrest data" (p. 4).
Someone apparently made this up. In 1975, FBI Uniform Crime Reports (Table 35) shows 5 boys arrested for aggravated assault for every girl, not 10.
Garbarino: From 1990-99, girls' rates of aggravated assault rose by 57%, while boys' rates fell 5%.
Very misleading. Why are 1999 figures being cited in a book published in 2006? The FBI UCR (Table 40) shows girls assault arrests rose from 1990 to 1995 and have since FALLEN FOR NINE STRAIGHT YEARS. By 2004, girls' assault rates were 30% LOWER than a decade ago.
Garbarino: There has been a "seven-fold increase in per-capita aggravated assault rates among youths in the United States from 1956 to 1996" (p. 184).
Garbarino cites an unreliable website for this silly claim. The FBI's 1956 crime report covered just ONE-FIFTH of the country and relied on fingerprint records (most juveniles weren't fingerprinted then). The best source, the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS, which includes crimes not reported to police), shows aggravated assault has plummeted among all age groups and both sexes, reaching its lowest level in 2004 than at any time since the survey first began in 1973.
Garbarino: 7% of girls get into fights at school (p. 9).
Nothing new about that. The same source (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance) shows 9% of girls got into a fight at school in its first survey in 1993. Monitoring the Future shows the percentage of girls getting into fights hasn't changed much in at least 25 years.
Garbarino: The 1990s brought a "growing mental health crisis in middle-class boys, coupled with the onslaught of violent images present in popular culture (TV, video games, movies, and music)" (p 14).
Another absolutely baffling claim, contradicting Garbarino's own earlier statement that boys' violence is falling. During the 1990s, as all forms of violent popular culture proliferated, boys' violence rates PLUMMETED as never before--especially among middle-class youth.
From the early 1990s to 2004, both the FBI and NCVS show boys (and girls) suffering and perpetrating dramatically less violence. Boys' rates of assault dropped 45%; girls' fell 32%. Murder, rape, and robbery among both boys and girls plunged by 60% to 70%, falling to their lowest levels in three to four decades. The NCVS shows assaults and other violence against teenaged boys and girls fell by an astonishing 60% over the last decade. Monitoring the Future, the leading survey of high school behaviors, shows violence by and against youth of both sexes, from fights to homicide, declined sharply.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) figures show murders and hospital emergency treatments for violence fell sharply among youth. Instead of examining what the best references actually show, Garbarino cites emotional anecdotes (which could be found in any era or applied to any group in society) and outdated, secondhand sources.
Garbarino: "Now, girls are getting more physical when they are assaulting themselves, cutting and stabbing, poisoning and shooting themselves, in record numbers" (p. 9).
How does he know? Records of self-inflicted (suicidal) injuries are not available for past decades. Girls' deaths from drug overdoses, other poisonings, gunshots, cutting instruments, and suicides and possible suicides are much lower today than in the 1970s, `80s, or `90s. California posts hospital ER cases on self-inflicted injuries, whose rates among girls have dropped 10% to 15% since 1991, while Center for Health Statistics figures show girls' suicide rates have fallen by more than 50% (yes, you read that right) and are now at historical low levels.
Garbarino: "fewer than 3,000 kids kill themselves each year," and more kill themselves than others (p 180).
The first half is true, sort of. NCHS reports 918 youths (under age 18) committed suicide in 2003, 203 of them girls. Quite a bit "fewer than 3,000." The second half is not true. More than 1,100 were arrested for homicide. Garbarino is recycling made-up rumors. Why didn't he check primary vital statistics data?
Garbarino: Note the "near absence of girls in accounts of killers in the past."
He must mean other than Caril Anne Fugate (14 year-old serial killer, 1959), Mary Bell (child killer, 1968), Brenda Jean Spencer (shot up elementary school, 1979), the Manson Family girls (1969-70), the murderous girls cited in a raft of official documentaries and books in the 1940s and `50s, on and on. In EVERY era, adults say that youth, especially girls, are getting more violent and hypersexual. In fact, FBI and health statistics show the murder rate by girls nationally is now at its lowest ebb since 1975; in California, the lowest level ever reliably recorded.
There are so many misstatements of basic fact in this book (and in most alarmist books on youth) that a book could be written to refute them. Compounding Garbarino's mistaken reliance on outdated data from the mid-1990s, and his failure to note that violence and other problems among girls plunged sharply since then, is his prediction, in the last chapter, that girls' violence will increase even more in the future.
Ironically, while teenage girls and young women show declines in violence over the last 10 to 15 years, older women show large increases. The FBI reports violent crime rates by women ages 30 to 59--the parents of teen girls--leaped by 50% since the early 1990s and have nearly tripled over the last quarter century (all figures here are rates that account for population changes). In fact, teen girls show the LOWEST rates of violence increase (or an actual decline) over the last 10 to 30 years of any female age group, no matter what time period is chosen. The best evidence indicates that much of the rise in arrests of females of all ages for assault results from new laws mandating tougher policing of domestic violence, not real increases in violent behavior.
Dr. Garbarino's book perpetuates a deeply troubling academic ethics crisis in depicting American youth. Garbarino and his colleagues who have made equally inflammatory statements about "girls' violence" surely must be familiar with the easily available facts from standard references that I'm stating here, yet they fail even to mention them. Predictably, without even rudimentary fact-checking, "experts" and media reporters quickly praise every book (note the reviews here) that claims youth are getting worse.
Finally, I agree with Dr. Garbarino that there are many consumerist, exploitative, even "toxic," elements in American popular culture. However, this does not license scholars and culture critics to buttress their criticisms by exploiting young people as handy metaphors for social decline. Branding girls, even "sympathetically," as more violent and unhealthy exposes them to harsh stigmas, misdirected treatments, and more punitive policies. In reality, girls are doing remarkably well in their welcome transition to more active roles in society. They don't deserve the unwarranted fear campaigns this book and many others create.
Mike Males, Sociology Department, University of California,
Santa Cruz mmales@earthlink.net
Book Description
Every day there are new stories of gang-related crime: from the proliferation of illegal weapons in the streets and children dealing drugs in their schools, to innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of never-ending gang wars. Once considered an urban phenomenon, gang violence is permeating American life, spreading to the suburbs and bringing the problem closer to home for much of America. The government, schools, social agencies, and the justice system are conspicuous by their sporadic interest in the subject and have failed to develop effective policies and programs. Existing social support mechanisms and strategies for suppressing violence have often been unsuccessful. And, state and federal policy is largely nonexistent. In The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach, Irving Spergel provides a systematic analysis of youth gangs in the United States. Based on research, historical and comparative analysis, and agency documents and the author's extensive first-hand experience, the work explores the gang problem from the perspective of community disorganization, especially population movement, and the plight of the underclass. It examines the factors of gang member personality, gang dynamics, criminal organization, and the influence of family, school, prisons, and politics, as well as the response of criminal justice agencies and community groups. Spergel describes techniques used by social agencies, schools, employment programs, criminal justice agencies, and grass-roots organizations for dealing with gangs, and recommends strategies that emphasize the use of local resources, planning, and collaborative procedures. There is no single strategy and no easy solution to the youth gang problem in the United States. There are, however, substantial steps we can take, and they must be honestly and systematically tested. Offering a practical and alternative approach to a serious social problem, The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach is a major and long-awaited contribution to this dilemma. It is required reading for criminal justice personnel, school staff, social workers, policy makers, students and scholars of urban and organizational sociology, and the general reader concerned with the youth gang problem and how to control, intervene, and prevent it.
Customer Reviews:
old results old plan.......2005-08-16
I saw this in action in the 80's when CYGS developed the original and best model. This looks like a copy of the more realistic efforts made then.
Gang problem is complex.......2001-04-17
The author talks about real ways in which communities can take practical steps to overcome a complex and deadly problem.
Books:
- American Corrections (with InfoTrac )
- An Introduction to Legal Reasoning (Phoenix Books)
- Bargaining With Uncertainty: Decision-Making in Public Health, Technologial Safety, and Environmental Quality
- Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought)
- Business and Its Environment (5th Edition)
- Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management (with InfoTrac®)
- Case Analysis and Fundamentals of Legal Writing
- Castle: Medieval Days and Knights (A Sabuda & Reinhart Pop-up Book)
- Civil Procedure: Examples and Explanations (The Examples & Explanations Series)
- Constitutional Law: Principles And Policies (Introduction to Law Series)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Take Me Tonight
- Position Sex: 50 Wild Sex Positions You Probably Haven't Tried
- Epigenetics
- JavaTech, an Introduction to Scientific and Technical Computing with Java
- History: Fiction or Science
- Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America's Founding Ideas
- Pet Owner's Guide to the Old English Sheepdog
- Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
- Historic Building Façades: The Manual for Maintenance and Rehabilitation
- Golgi Atlas Of The Postnatal Mouse Brain
Criminals
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love and Healing
The Lost Executioner: A Story of the Khmer Rouge
Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America
No Place to Be: Voices of Homeless Children
Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir
