Suchergebnisse

The back cover of Clarissa Rile Hayward and Todd Swanstrom'sJustice and the American Metropolisconcisely lays out a central challenge of contemporary politics: "Today's American cities and suburbs are the sites of 'thick injustice'—unjust power relations that are deeply and densely concentrated as well as opaque and seemingly intractable. Thick injustice is hard to see, to assign responsibility for, and to change." The fact that the topic of "urban politics" is not a major theme of political science scholarship both reflects and exacerbates this challenge. And so we have decided to invite a diverse group of social scientists to discuss the book in light of the very big question that it poses: How do American cities look when assessed in terms of their "justice" (or "injustice"), and how might they look if they were assessed in these terms more seriously? In considering this question, discussants have also been asked to consider a related question: How does Americanpolitical sciencelook when assessed in terms of the extent to which it takes the question of urban justice and injustice seriously?—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor

Attempts to understand women's participation in violence have been plagued by a tendency either to overemphasize gender differences or to downplay the significance of gender. The goal of this research is to reconcile these approaches through an examination of the experiences of female and male street robbers in an urban setting. Based on in‐depth interviews with active offenders, the study compares women's and men's accounts of why they commit robbery, as well as how gender organizes the commission of the crime. The research suggests that while women and men articulate similar motives for robbery, their enactment of the crime is strikingly different—a reflection, in part, of practical choices women make in the context of a gender‐stratified street setting.

Postsecondary correctional education (PSCE) is witnessing a revitalization, offering the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated an important source of human and social capital. Yet, opportunities for higher education among this population are patterned by larger structural exclusions based on race, class, and place. In this article, we investigate the impact of race and class inequalities among students in a program for formerly incarcerated individuals at a large state university. Specifically, we draw from 34 in-depth interviews with past and present program participants to examine how pre- and postcarceral financial, familial, community, and social network contexts shape postsecondary experiences after incarceration. Research participants came from community contexts with vastly different resources, with consequences for social identities, educational preparedness, and embeddedness in crime preincarceration. These circumstances differentially prepared students for university studies postrelease. In addition, during the postcarceral period, study participants had disparate access to familial supports, were unequally burdened by financial difficulties and familial responsibilities, and differentially exposed to risks for reoffending. These patterns were closely tied to race, social class, and neighborhood characteristics. Our work highlights the import of attention to such disparities for PSCE, to facilitate its equitable access among incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations.

A growing body of research examines the problem of adolescent dating violence. In these studies, fairly high rates of female‐to‐male violence have been documented, leading to considerable debate about the role of gender in dating and other partner violence. Drawing from a broader qualitative study of violence in the lives of African‐American youths from a distressed urban community, we weigh in on this debate by providing a contextual examination of the nature, circumstances, and meanings of adolescent dating violence. Our research shows that the meanings and consequences of girls 'violence are strikingly different than those of boys', and that both are grounded in gender inequalities. We conclude by discussing the significance of these findings for both feminist and general research on dating violence.

2010 Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award from the American Sociological Association; Race, Gender, and Class Section2008 Finalist, The Society for the Study of Social Problems C. Wright Mills Award Much has been written about the challenges that face urban African American young men, but less is said about the harsh realities for African American young women in disadvantaged communities. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and even gang rape are not uncommon experiences. In Getting Played, sociologist Jody Miller presents a compelling picture of this dire social problem and explores how inextricably, and tragically, linked violence is to their daily lives in poor urban neighborhoods.Drawing from richly textured interviews with adolescent girls and boys, Miller brings a keen eye to the troubling realities of a world infused with danger and gender-based violence. These girls are isolated, ignored, and often victimized by those considered family and friends. Community institutions such as the police and schools that are meant to protect them often turn a blind eye, leaving girls to fend for themselves. Miller draws a vivid picture of the race and gender inequalities that harm these communities-and how these result in deeply and dangerously engrained beliefs about gender that teach youths to see such violence-rather than the result of broader social inequalities-as deserved due to individual girls' flawed characters, i.e., she deserved it. Through Miller's careful analysis of these engaging, often unsettling stories, Getting Played shows us not only how these young women are victimized, but how, despite vastly inadequate social support and opportunities, they struggle to navigate this dangerous terrain

Precocious adoption of adult roles and responsibilities at an early age often has been linked to substance abuse and criminal behavior. Yet, much of the existing research suggests that early offending behaviors induce precocious movement into adulthood; less attention has focused on the way in which early adoption of adult roles and responsibilities might itself contribute to the onset of offending. In the following article, we examine the cumulative impact of early transitions into adult roles and responsibilities on the onset of methamphetamine (MA) use. Through inductive analyses of interviews with women methamphetamine users, we identified a range of adult roles and responsibilities that women described as facilitating their initiation into MA use, including family caretaking, motherhood, independent living, and peer and romantic associations with adults. Such findings have theoretical implications for both life‐course perspectives and feminist pathways research. They highlight the importance of attending to the timing and sequencing of experiences as well as highlight the gendered nature of these processes.