1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910480231303321

Autore

Garot Robert <1967->

Titolo

Who You Claim : Performing Gang Identity in School and on the Streets / / Robert Garot

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : New York University Press, , [2010]

©2010

ISBN

0-8147-3314-X

0-8147-3235-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (273 p.)

Collana

Alternative Criminology ; ; 3

Disciplina

364.10660973

Soggetti

Youth - United States - Attitudes

Gangs - United States

Gang members - United States

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface: Emily’s Tale -- 1. Gang Identity as Performance -- 2. Moral Dramas at School -- 3. The Contradictions of Controlling Student Dress -- 4. Claims -- 5. Affiliations -- 6. Violence and Nonviolence -- 7. Avoiding Retaliation -- 8. Street work -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Getting Schooled -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

The color of clothing, the width of shoe laces, a pierced ear, certain brands of sneakers, the braiding of hair and many other features have long been seen as indicators of gang involvement. But it’s not just what is worn, it’s how: a hat tilted to the left or right, creases in pants, an ironed shirt not tucked in, baggy pants. For those who live in inner cities with a heavy gang presence, such highly stylized rules are not simply about fashion, but markers of "who you claim," that is, who one affiliates with, and how one wishes to be seen. In this carefully researched ethnographic account, Robert Garot provides rich descriptions and compelling stories to demonstrate that gang identity is a carefully coordinated performance with many nuanced rules of style and presentation, and that gangs, like any other group or



institution, must be constantly performed into being. Garot spent four years in and around one inner city alternative school in Southern California, conducting interviews and hanging out with students, teachers, and administrators. He shows that these young people are not simply scary thugs who always have been and always will be violent criminals, but that they constantly modulate ways of talking, walking, dressing, writing graffiti, wearing make-up, and hiding or revealing tattoos as ways to play with markers of identity. They obscure, reveal, and provide contradictory signals on a continuum, moving into, through, and out of gang affiliations as they mature, drop out, or graduate. Who You Claim provides a rare look into young people’s understandings of the meanings and contexts in which the magic of such identity work is made manifest.