The Codes of the Street in Risky Neighborhoods: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Youth Violence in Germany, Pakistan, and South Africa

Description

This book presents a comparative look at the norms and attitudes related to youth violence. It aims to present a perspective outside of the typical Western context, through case studies comparing a developed / Western democracy (Germany), a country with a history of institutionalized violence (South Africa), and an emerging democracy that has experienced heavy terrorism (Pakistan). Building on earlier works, the research presented in this innovative volume provides new insights into the sociocultural context for shaping both young people's tolerance of and involvement in violence, depending on their environment. This volume covers: Research on interpersonal violence. Thorough review of the contribution of research on gangs, violence, neighborhoods and community. Analyses on violence-related norms of male juveniles (ages 16-21 years old) living in high-risk urban neighborhoods. Intense discussion of the concept of street code and its use. Application of street code concept to contexts outside the US. An integrating chapter focused on where the street code exists, and how it is modified or interpreted by young men. With a foreword by Jeffrey Ian Ross, this book aims to provide a broader context for research. It does so via a rigorous comparative methodology, presenting a framework that may be applied to future studies. This open access book will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, as well as related fields such as sociology, demography, psychology, and public health. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Introduction (Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Sebastian Kurtenbach)....Pages 1-5 Risky Neighborhoods as Specific Type of Social Space (Sebastian Kurtenbach)....Pages 7-19 Violence-Related Norms and the “Code of the Street” (Sebastian Kurtenbach, Abdul Rauf)....Pages 21-38 Comparing Violence-Related Norms (Simon Howell, Steffen Zdun)....Pages 39-59 Research Design (Sebastian Kurtenbach, Muhammad Zaman)....Pages 61-69 Description of the German Context (Sebastian Kurtenbach)....Pages 71-79 Description of the Pakistani Context (Muhammad Zaman)....Pages 81-91 Description of the South African Context (Simon Howell)....Pages 93-106 Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Code of the Street (Simon Howell, Sebastian Kurtenbach, Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Zaman, Steffen Zdun)....Pages 107-158 Spotlight on Street Violence in a Cross-Cultural Comparison (Simon Howell, Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Zaman, Steffen Zdun)....Pages 159-178 Conclusion: The Need to Develop the Code of the Street into a General Approach (Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Sebastian Kurtenbach, Steffen Zdun)....Pages 179-189 Back Matter ....Pages 191-192