Compiled by three leading experts in the psychological, sociological, and criminal justice fields, this volume addresses timely questions from an eclectic range of positions. The product of a landmark conference on gangs, Gangs and Society brings together the work of academics, activists, and community leaders to examine the many functions and faces of gangs today. Analyzing the spread of gangs from New York to Texas to the West Coast, the book covers such topics as the spirituality of gangs, the place of women in gang culture, and the effect on gangs of a variety of educational programs and services for at-risk youth. The final chapter examines the "gang-photography phenomenon" by looking at the functions and politics of different approaches to gang photography and features a photographic essay by Donna DeCesare, an award-winning journalist.

IntroductionTheory and Methodology
A Note on Social Theory and the American Street Gang, by Sudhir Venkatesh
Gangs and Politics
Toward a Typology of Contemporary Mexican American Youth Gangs, by Avelardo Valdez
Gangs, Agency, and At-risk Youth
The Negligible Role of Gangs in Drug Distribution in New York City in the 1990s, by Ric Curtis
Women and Gangs
Marginal Youth, Personal Identity, and the Contemporary Gang: Reconstructing the Social World?, by Kevin McDonald
Gangs and Social Control
Gangs and the Contemporary Urban Struggle: An Unappreciated Aspect of Gangs, by Albert DiChiara and Russell Chabot
Gangs and Photography
Urban Street Activists: Gang and Community Efforts to Bring Justice to Los Angeles Neighborhoods, by Juan Francisco Esteva Martinez
7. The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation and the Spirituality of Resistance: Agency Social Cohesion and Liberating Rituals in the Making of a Street Organization., by Luis Barrios
8. Education in the Reform of Street Organizations in New York City, by David Brotherton
Liberating yet Limiting: The Paradox of Female Gang Membership, by Dana Nurge
Amor de Reina! The Pushes and Pulls of Group Membership among the Latin Queens, by David Brotherton and Camila Salazar-Atias
Gangs and the Law, by Loren Siegel
The Gang Crackdown in the Prisons of Massachusetts: Arbitrary and Harsh Treatment Can Only Make Matters Worse, by Phillip Kassel
On the Subject of Gang Photography, by Richard Rodriguez
From Civil War to Gang War: The Tragedy of Edgar Bolanos, by Donna DeCesare
Snapshots of a Movement: The New York Latin Kings and Queens 1996-99, by Steve Hart and David Brotherton