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  • © 2020

Gangs in the Era of Internet and Social Media

  • Presents insights from recent academic gang studies analyzing the use of internet and social media

  • First volume of its kind focused on the role of internet and social media in the study of gangs

  • Appeals to students and researchers interested in gangs and juvenile delinquency, as well as professionals, practitioners, and policy-makers

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Softcover Book USD 169.99
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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xx
  2. Ethical and Methodological Issues in Gang Ethnography in the Digital Age: Lessons from Four Studies in an Emerging Field

    • Marta-Marika Urbanik, Robby Roks, Michelle Lyttle Storrod, James Densley
    Pages 21-41
  3. Researching Transnational Gangs as Agents of Mediation in the Digital Era

    • Ariadna Fernández-Planells, José Sánchez-García, María Oliver, Carles Feixa
    Pages 43-59
  4. Women and Gangs in the Digital Media: A Distorted Image?

    • Ellen Van Damme, Willian Carballo
    Pages 61-79
  5. The Role of Online Communication Among Gang and Non-gang Youth

    • Timothy McCuddy, Finn-Aage Esbensen
    Pages 81-104
  6. Examining the Physical Manifestation of Alt-Right Gangs: From Online Trolling to Street Fighting

    • Shannon E. Reid, Matthew Valasik, Arunkumar Bagavathi
    Pages 105-134
  7. Youth Perspectives on Gangs, Violence, and Social Media in a High Crime City

    • Matthew Galasso, Daniel Abad, Matthew Almanza, Chris Melde, Jennifer Cobbina, Justin Heinze
    Pages 135-153
  8. Leaving Gangs – Failed Brotherhood and Reconstructed Masculinities

    • Torbjörn Forkby, Jari Kuosmanen, Henrik Örnlind
    Pages 155-173
  9. New Meanings, New Communities, and New Identities?

    • Line Lerche Mørck, Katja Hartvig, Cecilie Bildstedfelt
    Pages 199-223
  10. The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Disengagement from Gangs

    • Scott H. Decker, David C. Pyrooz
    Pages 225-249
  11. Understanding Adverse Effects in Gang-Focused Interventions: A Critical Review

    • Miriam Rubenson, Katharine Galbraith, Stanley J. Huey Jr.
    Pages 271-290
  12. Moral Disengagement and Gangs

    • Miriam Dyberg-Tengroth, Vincent Egan
    Pages 291-311
  13. Back Matter

    Pages 313-325

About this book

The ubiquity of the internet and social media has influenced the lives of people across the globe, including young people involved in street gangs and troublesome youth groups. This development raises important questions about the causes, features, and consequences of online gang behavior, as well as the consequences of this new phenomenon for gang prevention and intervention.

In this edited volume, members of an international network of gang researchers, the Eurogang Program of Research, present findings and insights from recent academic gang studies focused on the use of internet and social media. It focuses on online features of gangs and the consequences of social media for the study of these groups. The second section of the book focuses on the meaning of online media for the prevention, monitoring and intervention of gangs, and for gang disengagement processes.

This is the first volume focused on the role of internet and social media in the study of gangs. Providing much needed insights into online gang processes, it will appeal to students and researchers interested in gangs and juvenile delinquency, and to professionals, practitioners, and policy-makers working on preventing or reducing gang involvement and delinquent behavior.  

Editors and Affiliations

  • Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

    Chris Melde

  • NSCR/Erasmus University, Amsterdam/Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Frank Weerman

About the editors

Chris Melde is Associate Director, Director of Graduate Studies, and professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. He is an affiliated faculty member in Global Urban Studies and the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, and a research associate at the Michigan Justice Statistics Center. His primary research interests include street gangs, youth violence, adolescent development, individual and community reactions to crime and victimization risk, and program evaluation. He is currently the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on several funded projects, including two National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded projects on school safety in the Flint, MI area. These projects focus on the role of school safety in the successful transition to high school, the identification of mental health issues among students in elementary schools, and best practices for developing a positive and safe school climate. Dr. Melde was awarded the 2015 Tory J. Caeti Memorial Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Juvenile Justice section, given in recognition of the contribution of emerging scholars to the field of juvenile justice, for his work on gangs and youth violence prevention.

Frank Weerman is senior researcher at the NSCR, the Netherlands Institute for the study of Crime and Law Enforcement, and endowed professor Youth Criminology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His primary research interest focus on juvenile delinquency, the role of peers and gangs, schools and crime, radicalisation and terrorism. He coordinated the NSCR School Project, a longitudinal study in which the social networks and problem behaviors of youths were followed over time. He also co-coordinated SPAN, the Study of Peers, Activities, and Neighborhoods, that focused on time use and contextual influences on delinquency.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Gangs in the Era of Internet and Social Media

  • Editors: Chris Melde, Frank Weerman

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47214-6

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-47213-9Published: 15 August 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-47216-0Published: 16 August 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-47214-6Published: 13 August 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XX, 325

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations, 16 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Youth Offending and Juvenile Justice, Social Media

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access