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Theories of delinquency: An examination of explanations of delinquent behavior
396
CURRENT
The Girls in the Gang by Anne
PUBLICATION
Campbell.
Basil Blackwell, Inc. (432 Park Avenue South. Suite 1505. New York. New York 10016), 1984, 277 pp., hardcover-$16.95. This book is based on material gathered during a study of the role of women in New York street gangs. For two years. the author, a criminologist/social psychologist at Rutgers University, observed and interacted with female gang members. Here she attempts to convey their views of their situation and to describe their biographies, attitudes, and relationships to the gang and the community. The Girls in the Gang aims to lessen the gap in the literature on the role of women in street gangs. Previous studies have been inadequate. Campbell states, for various reasons. Many have been single-purpose studies relating a particular index of social or psychological pathology with gang involvement. Other data has been collected by social workers whose intention was to solve the gang problem rather than to account for its form and impact on female members. Finally, in most studies, women are mentioned only secondhand, through the reports of male speakers. For her study, Campbell selected three gangs that seemed to represent the diversity of gang life: a Brooklyn street gang (Hispanic). a Harlem biker gang (racially mixed), and a religio-cultural gang (black). The ages of gang members ranged from fifteen to thirty. Campbell spent six months with each gang, focusing on an individual woman in each case: a thirty-year-old mother of four, a fifteen-year-old, and a twenty-six-year-old mother of two. The book contains six chapters. In
ABSTRACTS
chapters 3.1. and 5. interviews and accounts of time spent with the women are recorded. Chapters 1. 2. and 6 present the author’s conclusions about the reasons for the position of female members within gangs and for the decision of these three women to join gangs. Notes and an index are provided.
Theories of Delinquency: An Examination Explanations of Delinquent Behavior Donald J. Shoemaker. Oxford University Press (700 Madison nue, New York, New York 10016). 281 pp., softcover-$8.95.
of by
Ave19X-l.
The purpose of this text is to provide a systematic discussion of the dominant explanations of delinquency. The author holds the premise that no single theory will ever explain all types of delinquency: each theory presented is assessed according to its empirical and logical adequacy. A chapter is devoted to each of the following theories and groups of theories: biological and bio-social explanations. psychological theories, social disorganization and anomie. lower-class-based theories of delinquency. interpersonal and situational explanations. control theories, labeling thetheory of delinquency. ory. the radical female delinquency, and middle-class delinquency. A final chapter analyzes and synthesizes these theories. Each chapter begins with a brief historical overview of the theory or set of theories being discussed. then examines the basic assumptions of the theory and concludes with a summary and a comparative overview. An author index and a subject index complete the book.
CURRENT
The Girls in the Gang by Anne
PUBLICATION
Campbell.
Basil Blackwell, Inc. (432 Park Avenue South. Suite 1505. New York. New York 10016), 1984, 277 pp., hardcover-$16.95. This book is based on material gathered during a study of the role of women in New York street gangs. For two years. the author, a criminologist/social psychologist at Rutgers University, observed and interacted with female gang members. Here she attempts to convey their views of their situation and to describe their biographies, attitudes, and relationships to the gang and the community. The Girls in the Gang aims to lessen the gap in the literature on the role of women in street gangs. Previous studies have been inadequate. Campbell states, for various reasons. Many have been single-purpose studies relating a particular index of social or psychological pathology with gang involvement. Other data has been collected by social workers whose intention was to solve the gang problem rather than to account for its form and impact on female members. Finally, in most studies, women are mentioned only secondhand, through the reports of male speakers. For her study, Campbell selected three gangs that seemed to represent the diversity of gang life: a Brooklyn street gang (Hispanic). a Harlem biker gang (racially mixed), and a religio-cultural gang (black). The ages of gang members ranged from fifteen to thirty. Campbell spent six months with each gang, focusing on an individual woman in each case: a thirty-year-old mother of four, a fifteen-year-old, and a twenty-six-year-old mother of two. The book contains six chapters. In
ABSTRACTS
chapters 3.1. and 5. interviews and accounts of time spent with the women are recorded. Chapters 1. 2. and 6 present the author’s conclusions about the reasons for the position of female members within gangs and for the decision of these three women to join gangs. Notes and an index are provided.
Theories of Delinquency: An Examination Explanations of Delinquent Behavior Donald J. Shoemaker. Oxford University Press (700 Madison nue, New York, New York 10016). 281 pp., softcover-$8.95.
of by
Ave19X-l.
The purpose of this text is to provide a systematic discussion of the dominant explanations of delinquency. The author holds the premise that no single theory will ever explain all types of delinquency: each theory presented is assessed according to its empirical and logical adequacy. A chapter is devoted to each of the following theories and groups of theories: biological and bio-social explanations. psychological theories, social disorganization and anomie. lower-class-based theories of delinquency. interpersonal and situational explanations. control theories, labeling thetheory of delinquency. ory. the radical female delinquency, and middle-class delinquency. A final chapter analyzes and synthesizes these theories. Each chapter begins with a brief historical overview of the theory or set of theories being discussed. then examines the basic assumptions of the theory and concludes with a summary and a comparative overview. An author index and a subject index complete the book.