The projects : gang and non-gang families in East Los Angeles / James Diego Vigil ; foreword by Thomas S. Weisner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vigil, James Diego, 1938-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gangs--California--Los Angeles.

Gangs.

Gang members--Family relationships--California--Los Angeles.

Gang members.

Poor families--California--Los Angeles.

Poor families.

Public housing--California--Los Angeles.

Public housing.

Pico Gardens (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Social conditions.

Pico Gardens (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Los Angeles (Calif.)--Social conditions.

Los Angeles (Calif.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Pico Gardens housing development in East Los Angeles has a high percentage of resident families with a history of persistent poverty, gang involvement, and crime. In some families, members of three generations have belonged to gangs. Many other Pico Gardens families, however, have managed to avoid the cycle of gang involvement. In this work, Vigil adds to the tradition of poverty research and elaborates on the association of family dynamics and gang membership. The main objective of his research was to discover what factors make some families more vulnerable to gang membership, and why gang resistance was evidenced in similarly situated non-gang-involved families. Providing rich, in-depth interviews and observations, Vigil examines the wide variations in income and social capital that exist among the ostensibly poor, mostly Mexican American residents. Vigil documents how families connect and interact with social agencies in greater East Los Angeles to help chart the routines and rhythms of the lives of public housing residents. He presents family life histories to augment and provide texture to the quantitative information. By studying life in Pico Gardens, Vigil feels we can better understand how human agency interacts with structural factors to produce the reality that families living in all public housing developments must contend with daily.

Contents:

Introduction

Rationale and methods

A history of the Cuatro Flats barrio gang

The gang subculture: change and continuity

The Pico Gardens clique

A gang life

Cholas in the world of gangs

Why children either avoid or affiliate with gangs

Families not involved with gangs

A closer look at gang-affiliated families

Gang prevention and intervention strategies over time

Conclusion and recommendations.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-225) and index.

ISBN:

0-292-79509-2

OCLC:

560688988