TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2009//
TI  - Youth Violence— Crime or Self-Help? Marginalized Urban Males' Perspectives on the Limited Efficacy of the Criminal Justice System to Stop Youth Violence
JO  - Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
A1  - Lurry, R. M.
A1  - Beaty, C. C.
A1  - Wilkinson, Deanna L.
SP  - 25
EP  - 38
VL  - 623
IS  - 1
N2  - 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 />
LA  - 
SN  - 0002-7162
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002716208330484
ID  - ref1
ER  -