The use of "participatory research" and "participation" to promote the empowerment of the poor and marginalised began in the 1970s and gained momentum in the early 1980s. The approach builds on the "learning for change" paradigm in which everyday experience is the basis for developing agency, and committing to and…

Safety is one of the primary reasons why parents report seeking out a school of choice in depressed cities with a high proportion of charter schools. However, little empirical research has examined how parents assess school safety in these settings. This study explores factors that parents associate with school safety in Detroit, Michigan by…

This article examines how martial arts students retell their stories about being left behind and how they have experienced, viewed, and struggled with the invisible violence. Popularly known as the "hometown of Chinese martial arts," Dengfeng is home to 48 registered martial arts schools and more than 70,000 full-time students. Drawing…

This brief essay outlines the progression over the last 20 years of ecological theories of interpersonal violence. The period between the present and the early 1980s began with a revival of cultural explanations of violence that paralleled the introduction of the neo-conservative social science and then witnessed a rediscovery of deficits-based…

Contends that potential for violence in increasing in urban areas as American society becomes more segregated by race, class, and economic status. Notes widening racial polarization in urban American and suggests that many African Americans find themselves left out of American dream of better life. Sees racial tensions increasing as economy…

This book focuses on gun violence and gun control, presenting both sides of arguments about firearms ownership and gun control. Each of five chapters poses a question about gun control and provides answers for both sides of the question. The following essays are included: (1) "Gun Violence Is Becoming an Epidemic" (Bob Herbert); (2) "Gun Violence…

Attempts to place the study of anti-Asian violence into a context that recognizes the patterns of antagonism and violence ingrained within the process of class formation and the construction of systematic forms of racism. Suggests that patterned forms of anti-Asian violence have been the product of reactionary social movements supported or…

Uses an interview format with Michael Zinzun to discuss the work of the Coalition against Police Abuse, organized in Los Angeles (California), to come up with solutions to police abuse. The Coalition was instrumental in forging a truce between two large gangs in southern California, and this effort, and efforts to broaden the truce into a movement…

Contributions in this collection present opposing viewpoints about factors that put teens at risk; illustrate how society can deal with teenage crime and violence; show how to prevent teen pregnancy; and present the roles of the media and government in teen substance abuse. The following essays are presented: (1) "A Variety of Factors Put Teens at…

This report reviews and describes issues relating to the police response to the Dade County, Florida, disorders of May 1980. Recent changes in the social environment and several incidents leading up to the disorders are described. The preparation, planning, mobilization, and tactical response of the Dade County Department of Public Safety and the…

A range of hypotheses of varying specificity is examined in this paper in an attempt to account for the location of racial disorders. The initial sections consider what general assumptions must be met by any satisfactory explanation of the distribution of disorders. Mathematical models are constructed which embody the most prevalent assumptions as…

These papers share perspectives on crime and justice. The following lectures are included: (1) "Crime Control, the Police, and Culture Wars: Broken Windows and Cultural Pluralism" (George L. Kelling); (2) "Race, the Police, and 'Reasonable Suspicion'" (Randall Kennedy); (3) "The American Experience with Stimulants and Opiates" (David F. Musto);…

This brief discusses the use of traffic barriers to block automobile access to streets as a way to reduce gang violence. The tactic was used in a crime-plagued area of Los Angeles, California, that had experienced a high level of drive-by shootings, gang homicides, and street assaults. The program, Operation Cul de Sac (OCDS), was evaluated as a…

To analyze the role of the counterrioter, the Disaster Research Center at Ohio State University set up field studies in six cities: in three of the cities--Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Youngstown, Ohio--disturbances occurred which lasted for several days and necessitated considerable police mobilization. (Author/JM)

Explores the psychological and physical environments that surrounded the riots and civil disorders of the 1960's. Urban blacks experienced a widening gap between sharply rising expectations and limited capabilities. Relative deprivation" seems to help account for rioting. (Author/JW)