Gangs and Gang Behavior

This collected volume of the best contemporary writings on gangs and gang behavior addresses such questions as why gangs form, why certain youths join gangs when others do not, and what can be done about the web of gang problems. Mays and the contributing authors examine everything from gang status and drugs and violence to Mexican-American girl gangs and women in outlaw motorcycle gangs. The compilation strikes a key balance between contributions from established scholars and currently emerging academics from a variety of social science fields and methodologies. Many of the selections were suggested for inclusion by students themselves for their timeliness, interest, and readability.

This collected volume of the best contemporary writings on gangs and gang behavior addresses such questions as why gangs form, why certain youths join gangs when others do not, and what can be done about the web of gang problems. Mays and the contributing authors examine everything from gang status and drugs and violence to Mexican-American girl gangs and women in outlaw motorcycle gangs. The compilation strikes a key balance between contributions from established scholars and currently emerging academics from a variety of social science fields and methodologies. Many of the selections were suggested for inclusion by students themselves for their timeliness, interest, and readability.

Dr. G. Larry Mays was a Knoxville, Tennessee, police officer for five years prior to completing his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Tennessee in 1979. He has previously taught at Appalachian State and East Tennessee State universities. Dr. Mays has served as a consultant to the Department of Corrections, State Police, Youth Authority, and Association of Counties in New Mexico and to the El Paso, Texas, Police Department. From 1981 to 1990, Dr. Mays was head of the New Mexico State University Department of Criminal Justice. His primary areas of research interest are jails, court organization and administration, and juvenile justice.