@article{ref1,
title="Youth Violence— Crime or Self-Help? Marginalized Urban Males' Perspectives on the Limited Efficacy of the Criminal Justice System to Stop Youth Violence",
journal="Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science",
year="2009",
author="Lurry, R. M. and Beaty, C. C. and Wilkinson, Deanna L.",
volume="623",
number="1",
pages="25-38",
abstract="In 1983, sociologist Donald Black proposed the theory of “Crime as Social Control,” in which he argued that for the socially disadvantaged, crime is commonly moralistic and can be characterized as self-help in the pursuit of justice when legal protection fails. This article uses Black's theory as a framework to assess the role of violence among African American male youth in disadvantaged urban communities in New York City. Using in-depth interview data for 416 young violent male offenders, the authors analyze youths' perspectives on their personal safety; access to legal, governmental, and communal protection from violence; the effectiveness of the criminal justice system and police in addressing crime and violence in their neighborhoods; and the need to rely on self- and group/gang-protection as a means of social control. The implications for self-help theory are discussed.<p />",
language="",
issn="0002-7162",
doi="10.1177/0002716208330484",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002716208330484"
}