As communities face ever-growing gang-related problems, Gangs in America III provides the most up-to-date information on the diverse perspectives and complex issues that arise in our efforts to understand, prevent, and control gang violence and crime.

PART I: THE GANG: CHANGING BOUNDARIES, JOINING, "BANGING," AND GETTING OUT 1. The Changing Boundaries of Youth Gangs - J.C. Howell, et al. 2. Joining the Gang: Gender Differences in Risk Factors for Gang Membership - C. Maxson and M. L. Whitlock 3. Initiation of Drug Use, Drug Sales, and Violent Offending Among a Sample of Gang and Non-Gang Youth - F.A. Esbensen, et al 4. Leaving the Gang - S.H. Decker and J.L. Lauritsen PART II: THE ARENAS: NEIGHBORHOODS, COMMUNITIES, AND SCHOOLS 5. Neighborhood Dynamics and Gang Behavior - R. J. Bursik, Jr. 6. Introducing Hoover: I′ll Ride for You, Gangsta′ - S.R. Cureton 7. Gangs and the Informal Economy - J.M. Hagedorn 8. Gangs, Violence, and Safe Schools - K.S. Trump 9. Gangs and Community-Oriented Policing - C.R. Huff and K.H. Shafer 10. Issues in Developing and Maintaining a Regional Gang Incident Tracking System - J.W. Meeker and B.Vila PART III: THE INCREASING DIVERSITY OF GANGS 11. A Cross-Cultural Framework to Understand Gangs: Multiple Marginality and Los Angeles - J. D. Vigil and S.C. Yun 12. The Girls in the Gang: What We′ve Learned from Two Decades of Research - J. Miller 13. Doing Field Research on Diverse Gangs: Interpreting Youth Gangs As Social Networks - M.S. Fleisher 14. Chinese Gangs: Familial and Cultural Dynamics - S.X. Zhang 15. Street Gangs: A Cross-National Perspective - M.W. Klein PART IV: GANG RESEARCH AND PUBLIC POLICY 16. Ganging Up On Gangs: Anti-Loitering and Public Nuisance Laws - G. Geis 17. New Approaches to the Strategic Prevention of Gang and Group-Involved Violence - A.A. Braga, et al. 18. Gangs and Public Policy: Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression - C.R. Huff