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Based on in‐depth interviews with 33 youth gang members and 20 adult neighborhood leaders and youth service providers, we explore the complicated relationships among gang members, their families, and other residents of poor Chicano/a and Mexicano/a barrios in Phoenix. Listening to the multiple voices of community members allows for a multifaceted understanding of the complexities and contradictions of gang life, both for the youths and for the larger community. We draw on a community ecology approach to help explain the tensions that develop, especially when community members vary in their desires and abilities to control gang‐related activities. In this exploratory study, we point to some of the ways in which gender, age, education, traditionalism, and level of acculturation may help explain variation in the type and strength of private, parochial, and public social control within a community.

A large body of literature utilizes a qualitative methodology to study the police in communities of color. Within this literature are discussions of ethical and access issues involved in researching the police, as well as how gender shapes access and interactions with officers. However, there is a scarcity of literature exploring how the race/ethnicity of the researcher influences research with law enforcement. This article involves an exploration of how Latino academics studied what is often described as a secretive population, using ride-alongs and semistructured interviews with police officers in Chicago, IL, and Phoenix, AZ. Our goal was not to become insiders but rather to explain the multiple ways in which being both insiders (e.g., males) and outsiders (e.g., nonpolice) shaped our experiences as Latino researchers. Further, we also describe the strategies we implemented to gain access and to ensure continued access even when observing activities by officers that were ethically and racially questionable. Moreover, we discuss how our Latino background introduced both advantages and disadvantages in the field, and the techniques we devised that ultimately helped us develop rapport with officers. As a result, our research approach allowed us to gather data that reflected multiple perspectives of how officers viewed the communities they policed.

Research has consistently shown that African American youth report less favorable evaluations of the police than their white counterparts. The literature on police-citizen relations in Latino/a communities is scant and narrowly focused on Mexicana/os and Chicana/os in southern and midwestern U.S. cities. Therefore, we know little about the experiences of Latino/a populations in other parts of the country. This article uses a Latina/o critical theory (LatCrit) perspective to examine thirty Afro-Caribbean youths' experiences with and perceptions of New York City police. Study findings highlight respondents' views that aggressive policing tactics are intended to restrict and criminalize Latino/a youths' use of public space. The authors conclude with recommendations for improving police—community relations with this population.

Research has consistently shown that African American youth report less favorable evaluations of the police than their white counterparts. The literature on police-citizen relations in Latino/a communities is scant and narrowly focused on Mexicana/os and Chicana/os in southern and midwestern U.S. cities. Therefore, we know little about the experiences of Latino/a populations in other parts of the country. This article uses a Latina/o critical theory (LatCrit) perspective to examine thirty Afro-Caribbean youths' experiences with and perceptions of New York City police. Study findings highlight respondents' views that aggressive policing tactics are intended to restrict and criminalize Latino/a youths' use of public space. The authors conclude with recommendations for improving police -community relations with this population. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]

The United States is undergoing a historical racial and ethnic demographic shift. There is limited criminological research exploring if and how these changes influence variation in the relationship between routine activity theory and adolescent violence. Although the link between routine activities and victimization has been tested and well established, criminologists have questioned if routine activities can explain adolescent violence across different social contexts. Prior research demonstrates that there are potential nuances in the theoretical connections between routine activities and victimization, particularly when considering race and ethnicity. This study builds on previous research by questioning if the elements of routine activities predict victimization across predominately urban, rural, and suburban schools. The implications of the relevance of school context in the relationships between routine activities and adolescent victimization will also be discussed more generally.