NCJ Number
158703
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1995) Pages: 19-32
Date Published
1995
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines the ways in which two classic works from the Chicago school assemble a distinctive voice regarding delinquency in the 1920's.
Abstract
Frederick Thrasher's "The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago," published in 1927, is still considered the first comprehensive study of the gang phenomena. The study is based on data collected over a 7-year period from "census and court records, personal observations, and personal documents ... from gang boys and from persons who had observed gangs in many contexts." In exploring the "natural history" of this social phenomena, Thrasher traces the development of the gang to the initial efforts of "spontaneous play groups" to find a source to fill their adventurous and curious needs in a "disorganized and conflict oriented community." He then turns to the "activities and organization" of gangs and closes with a statement on how to "attack the gang problem." The second work, Clifford Shaw's "The Jack Roller" (1930), is among the first in-depth and detailed oral histories from the Chicago school. Shaw first provides the reader with an "appropriate sociological framework" for analyzing the "natural history of the delinquent career" of a young man and then proceeds to let Stanley tell his own story of how he entered the world of "Crookdom." The book concludes with a summary of Stanley's case and the appropriate social treatment. This review of the two works focuses on how the authors "set the scene" for the study of delinquency and then discusses their images of juvenile delinquency during the 1920's. 9 footnotes and 22 references