Gangs
Will be published approx. on 21. April 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-0-88899-978-8 (ISBN)
Description
A Booklist Editors' Choice and a Society of School Librarians International (SSLI) Honor Book
Street gangs have exploded worldwide. Tattoos, baggy pants, tagging, gangsta style, the unspoken threat -- it's all just around the corner in most of the world's major cities. From the streets of Los Angeles to the shantytowns of Cape Town, hundreds of thousands of "at risk" youth are deciding whether they should join their local gang.
Violence, guns, the drug trade, racism, poverty, families under pressure and ever-widening slums all provide a witch's brew in which the youth gang tempts young males and females with a sense of identity and belonging that their world has denied them.
Gangs exposes the roots of the problem as it moves from the banlieues of France to the favelas of Brazil. It offers a startling analysis of the complicity of the official adult world and some controversial ideas for reforms that might just undermine the appeal of gang life.
For many of the world's young -- especially those who are poor -- joining a gang is a real career choice. It is a choice that can be as deadly for young gangsters as for their victims. Richard Swift shows us that we fail to understand gangs at our peril.
Street gangs have exploded worldwide. Tattoos, baggy pants, tagging, gangsta style, the unspoken threat -- it's all just around the corner in most of the world's major cities. From the streets of Los Angeles to the shantytowns of Cape Town, hundreds of thousands of "at risk" youth are deciding whether they should join their local gang.
Violence, guns, the drug trade, racism, poverty, families under pressure and ever-widening slums all provide a witch's brew in which the youth gang tempts young males and females with a sense of identity and belonging that their world has denied them.
Gangs exposes the roots of the problem as it moves from the banlieues of France to the favelas of Brazil. It offers a startling analysis of the complicity of the official adult world and some controversial ideas for reforms that might just undermine the appeal of gang life.
For many of the world's young -- especially those who are poor -- joining a gang is a real career choice. It is a choice that can be as deadly for young gangsters as for their victims. Richard Swift shows us that we fail to understand gangs at our peril.
Reviews / Votes
...informative and fast-paced... * Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children * ...an accessible, readable, and fascinating book. -- Joanne Peters * CM Magazine * With well-documented references, a sharp wit, and a passionate commitment....this will grab teens, and adults, too, with its compelling arguments about why kids join gangs and what happens when greed, poverty, and injustice intersect. -- Hazel Rochman * Booklist, STARRED REVIEW * ...riveting... -- Rita Meade * School Library Journal *More details
Series
Edition
First Trade Paper Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Ontario
Canada
Target group
Young adult
Interest Age: From 14 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Charts, Tables
Dimensions
Height: 177 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
134 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-88899-978-8 (9780888999788)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Richard Swift is an internationally regarded journalist and a former editor of New Internationalist magazine. He has done stories from many parts of the world on issues as varied as famine and the plight of farmers, slums, the prison system and struggles for national liberation. Swift is author of S.O.S. Alternatives to Capitalism, now in its second edition; The No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy and Trigger Issues: Mosquito, and editor of Ties That Bind: Canada and the Third World. He is on the editorial board of Canadian Dimension magazine. He has also worked as a radio journalist.
JANE SPRINGER is an author, editor and translator who has worked in international development. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
JANE SPRINGER is an author, editor and translator who has worked in international development. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.