Unsparing and important. . . . An informative, clearheaded and sobering book.—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post (1999 Critic's Choice) Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence, but in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. This unwritten set of rules—based largely on an individual's ability to command respect—is a powerful and pervasive form of etiquette, governing the way in which people learn to negotiate public spaces. Elijah Anderson's incisive book delineates the code and examines it as a response to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, to the stigma of race, to rampant drug use, to alienation and lack of hope.

Become a more effective social worker with this outstanding volume on inner-city urban youth! African-American Adolescents in the Urban Community: Social Services Policy and Practice Interventions examines contemporary issues confronting African-American youth. It highlights key areas such as health, education, the criminal justice system, and youth development strategies. An essential overview of the status of urban African-American youth for students, professionals working with this important population, and policymakers, this vital book proposes policy and programming considerations for today and for the future. African-American Adolescents in the Urban Community is a one-stop view of: ways to help African-American youth experience responsibility and community involvement health concerns of this population, including teen pregnancy, alcohol and drug addiction, and limited access to health care the challenges that lie ahead for African-American girls, including crime, poverty, poor self-esteem, and peer pressure ways to help teenage fathers meet their financial and emotional obligations to their families police and prosecutorial policies that need to be examined and challenged to end the perception of a racially unjust system and much more

The ¿code of the street¿ theory presents an explanation for high rates of violence among African-Amer. (AA) adolescents. Observing life in a Phila. AA neighborhood, Anderson saw that economic disadvantage, separation from mainstream society, and racial discrim. encountered by some AA adolescents may lead to anti-social attitudes and to violent behavior. This report explores this thesis; researchers conducted repeated interviews with more than 800 AA adolescents (ages 10 to 15) and their primary caregivers. The researchers looked for developmental relationships between neighborhood and family characteristics, reported experiences with racial discrim., expressed street code values and self-reported violent behavior in young people. Illus.

VIOLENCE IN SOCIETY. In low-income US cities, street fights between teenage girls are common. These fights take place at school, on street corners, or in parks, when one girl provokes another to the point that she must either 'step up' or be labelled a 'punk'. Typically, when girls engage in violence that is not strictly self-defence, they are labelled 'delinquent', their actions taken as a sign of emotional pathology. However, Cindy D. Ness demonstrates that in poor urban areas this kind of street fighting is seen as a normal part of girlhood and a necessary way to earn respect among peers, as well as a way for girls to attain a sense of mastery and self-esteem in a social setting where legal opportunities for achievement are not otherwise easily available. Ness sheds new light on the everyday street fighting of urban girls, arguing that different cultural standards associated with race and class influence the relationship that girls have to physical aggression.

Community violence is a pervasive problem in urban America. Those most vulnerable to violence are minority youth living in inner-city neighborhoods. Interpersonal violence has become the major cause of severe injury and death among this population. Poor, urban, African American youth have significantly higher rates of exposure to violence. This population also faces multiple social risks that are over-represented in their urban communities. Research shows that exposure to violence can have a negative impact on the physical and psychological well-being of youth. Outcomes include, but are not limited to, posttraumatic stress symptoms, aggression, and depression. Research has shown that a variety of risk factors can negatively impact youth development, however, some youth faced with adverse circumstances demonstrate positive adaptation. The mechanisms that protect youth from multiple risks are not fully understood. Research on depression and the factors that mediate adaptation in urban African American youth exposed to violence is sparse and contradictory. The goal of the current investigation was to assess levels of depressive symptoms in a sample of 318, 12 to 17 year old, inner-city African American youth exposed to community violence. In addition, risk and protective factors were analyzed to assess their contribution to levels of depression. Multiple regression analyses were performed to assess if severity of injury and/or history of traumatic life experiences further contributed to levels of depressive symptoms. Participants' history of traumatic life experiences was predictive of depression. Although rates of exposure to community violence compared with other studies, few symptoms of depression were endorsed. The majority of participants demonstrated positive adaptation in several areas of their life and endorsed fewer risk factors, however, a significant portion reported engaging in aggressive and criminal behavior and repeating a school year due to failure. Findings implicate the need for further research on distinguishing psychological sequelae in urban minority youth exposed to violence. Further investigation is necessary to clearly define the processes of risk and protection on outcomes. Support for continued prevention and intervention at multiple levels to further develop protective factors contributing to positive adjustment and to decrease accumulative risks was also demonstrated.