NCJ Number
172276
Date Published
1997
Length
30 pages
Annotation
The role of the street code and its relationship to juvenile delinquency and violence among poor, inner-city black individuals and families were examined by means of ethnographic research, in which data were collected by means of visits and interviews with inner-city families, adolescent males, young adults, teenage parents, and grandmothers.
Abstract
Results revealed that nearly everyone in poor urban neighborhoods are struggling financially and therefore feel a distance from mainstream society. Many residents of inner cities also feel betrayed by and therefore distrustful of the criminal justice system. As a result, they create their own order, defend their own loved ones, and establish their own codes. The code of the streets entails a willingness to use violence; this willingness preserves an ordering in which respect supplies rewards. In addition, parents who want their children to avoid the street culture must still instill in them the willingness to be violent. Findings indicated that the structure of the inner-city family, the socialization of its children, the community's social structure, and extreme poverty interact in a way that facilitates the involvement of many youth in the culture of the streets, in which violence and the way it is regulated are crucial elements. The cycle of endemic joblessness and persistent racism need to be broken to prevent attitudes from becoming entrenched and violence from escalating. Lists of additional sources and 6 references