Gangs and Youth Subcultures International Explorations

Gangs are growing in many different social, economic, and political environments coupled with an alarming breakdown of public order. Failures to contain or reduce gang crime in European, Asian, South American, African, and North American cities may be symptoms of fundamental problems threatening the fabric of many societies. The spread of gangs to suburbia and remote locations is a palpable, worldwide threat. But despite nearly a century of scholarly inquiry into street gangs and youth subcultures, no single work systematically reflects on comparative international experiences with gangs.

Gangs and Youth Subcultures takes up this challenge. Kayleen Hazlehurst and Cameron Hazlehurst argue that theories of gang behavior in immigrant communities and the influence of transnational crime syndicates are better tested in more than one host society. Similar phenomena would be better understood if placed in a comparative context. To this purpose, the editors assembled expert scholars and policy advisers from North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australasia. Gangs and Youth Subculture lays the groundwork for an explanation of why gangs continue to grow in strength and influence, and why they have spread to remote locations.Kayleen Hazlehurst and Cameron Hazlehurst present new findings and innovative preventive strategies in a clear, concise fashion. No other work brings together experts on gangs and youth subcultures from so many countries. As such, this trailblazing book will interest scholars and teachers of criminology and sociology, justice system administrators, as well as law enforcement officers and youth workers internationally.

Illustrations. Acknowledgements. 1 Gangs in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Europe. 2 Post-Modernism and Youth Subcultures in Britain in the 1990s. 3 German Youth Subcultures: History, Typology
and Gender-Orientations. 4 Criminal Heirs—Organised Crime and Russia’s Youth. North America. 5 Vietnamese Youth Gangs in the Context of Multiple Marginality and the Los Angeles Youth Gang Phenomenon. 6 Navajo Nation Gang Formation and Intervention Initiatives. 7 Street Gangs and Criminal Business Organisations:
A Canadian Perspective.Australia. 8 Masculinity and Violence: An Ethnographic Exploration
of the Bodgies, 1948-1958. 9 Media Depictions and Public Discourses on Juvenile ‘Gangs’ in Melbourne, 1989-1991. Oceania. 10 ‘Pulling the Teams out of the Dark Room’: The Politicisation of the Mongrel Mob. 11 Urban Raskolism and Criminal Groups in Papua New Guinea. South Africa. 12 Rituals, Rights, and Tradition: Rethinking Youth Programs in South Africa. Index. Editors and Contributors.

Cameron Hazlehurst is Honorary Professor in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts at The Australian National University. He was previously a Senior Fellow in the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University and a research fellow at The Queen’s College and Nuffield College, Oxford. He has held senior Commonwealth government appointments with the Departments of Urban and Regional Development, Communications, and Community Services and Health. He is author or editor of eight books on twentieth century British and Australian politics and history.

Kayleen M. Hazlehurst is Senior Lecturer in Cross-Cultural Studies in the School of Humanities, Queensland University of Technology. Trained in social anthropology at McGill and Toronto Universities (MA PhD), she has studied and worked with indigenous organisations and government agencies in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Her recent publications include Political Expression and Ethnicity (Praeger 1993), A Healing Place (CQUP1994), and edited volumes on Popular Justice and Community Regeneration (Praeger 1995), Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy (Avebury 1995), and Perceptions of Justice (Avebury 1995). She is the editor of Crime and Justice: An Australian Textbook in Criminology (LBC1996).