The handbook of gangs

Pulling together the most salient, current issues in the field today, The Handbook of Gangs provides a significant assessment by leading scholars of key topics related to gangs, gang members, and responses to gangs. Chapters cover a wide array of the most prominent issues in the field of gangs, written by scholars who have been leaders in developing new ways of thinking about the topics Delivers cutting-edge reviews of the current state of research and practice and addresses where the field has been, where it is today and where it should go in the future Includes extensive coverag

Intro -- Title Page -- Table of Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Logic of Defining Gangs Revisited -- The Evolution of Definition and Measurement of Gangs -- Official Records and Gangs, Gang Membership, and Gang Violence -- Learning from Law Enforcement Definitions: The Case of Gang Homicide -- Summary and Conclusion -- Appendix: Methods of Definitions -- References -- 3 Little Gang Research, Big Gang Research -- Introduction -- A Scientometric Approach to the History of Gang Research -- Methodology -- The History of Gang Research -- Little Gang Research, Big Gang Research … and Beyond -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Search Methods for Identification of Research -- Appendix B: Search Methods by Extensive and Abbreviated Criteria -- References -- 4 Documenting Gang Activity -- Intelligence Databases: What Is Included and How Common Are They? -- Legislation and Statutory Requirements -- Critiques of Gang Intelligence Databases -- Conclusions and Recommendations -- References -- List of Authorities -- 5 Gang Membership in a Developmental and Life-Course Perspective -- Introduction -- Life-Course Criminology: An Overview -- Gang Membership from a Developmental and Life-Course Perspective -- The Patterning of Gang Membership in the Life Course -- Mitigating Factors and Gang Desistance -- The Consequences of Gang Membership -- Conclusions and Setting a Research Agenda -- References -- 6 Neighborhoods and Street Gangs -- Introduction -- Gangs as Dependent Variables -- Gangs as Independent Variables -- Gangs in Geographic and Social Space -- Future Directions -- References -- 7 Gangs and Social Learning Theory -- Introduction -- The Fundamentals of Social Learning Theory -- Gangs and Other "Learning-Like" Explanations: A Reexamination (and Recasting) of a Classic Youth Gang Study.