Gang Transitions and Transformations in an International Context

??This unique volume explores why and how youth join and leave gangs, as a lens for exploring intervention and prevention through comparative, international research. The book explores three key questions: how do youth gangs form and how do they change over time? Why do youth join street gangs, and why do they leave? How can we use this knowledge to foster more effective interventions for gang problems? Drawing from research conducted in ten different countries and a variety of disciplines (Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Venezuela), sixteen original chapters provide unique insights into: 1) patterns of gang participation and how it impacts individual behavior; 2) individual transitions and their impact on gang transformations; and 3) fostering gang transition and transformation. This work will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in youth gangs, developmental and life-course criminology, criminal careers, and criminal networks, as well as related fields such as sociology, psychology, and comparative law, and public health.?

Cheryl Maxson (PhD, University of Southern California) is the Department Chair and Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at University of California, Irvine. She was one of the co-editors of the first Eurogang volume and has co-edited the well-received Modern Gang Reader (all four editions) and is co-author of two other books (both by Oxford University Press). Finn-Aage Esbensen (PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder) is the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Youth Crime and Violence at University of Missouri - St. Louis and Chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. He co-edited American Youth Gangs at the Millennium, is co-author of a criminology textbook (the 9th edition will be published in 2015) and is co-author of a research monograph by Temple University Press. Together, the editors have extensive publication records and have been affiliated with the Eurogang Network since its inception, have participated in each of the 15 workshops, and serve on the group’s Steering Committee. They collaborated on the editing of the fourth Eurogang volume, Youth Gangs in International Context, also published by Springer.