Uses examples of the University of Illinois at Chicago Neighborhoods Initiative (UICNI) and Policy Research Action Group (PRAG) to show how strong, viable university/community collaborations can occur. Points to a new research model and key lessons learned on how to use collaborative partnerships to enhance social action on urban problems. (DSK)

Studied the impact of victimization and fear of crime on 56 Latina teenagers in urban and suburban areas. Fear of crime was associated not only with the variables traditionally correlated with fear of crime, but also with feelings of identity. Also examined were coping mechanisms Latina teenagers used to deal with those fears. (SLD)

Challenges recent portrayals of the demonic character of female gang members by examining the life histories and social organizations of several different female gangs. Interviews with 65 female gang members from seven groups show that these young women experience potential and actual violence in different violence prone situations. (SLD)

The sexually charged "Kids" was one of the most controversial films about teenage sexuality and youth of 1995. The pessimism and one-dimensionality of the film foster a conservative pedagogy and politics that fail to break dominant discourse about subordinate youth in this country. (SLD)

Recent studies have produced conflicting findings about the impacts of local nonresidential land uses on perceived incivilities. This study advances work in this area by developing a land-use perspective theoretically grounded in Brantingham and Brantingham's geometry of crime model in environmental criminology. That focus directs attention to…

The first of several hearings on the Gun Violence Prevention Act of 1994 introduced and discussed the Act as comprehensive legislation to address gun violence through six discrete initiatives: (1) handgun licensing; (2) prohibition of firearms possession by persons convicted of violent misdemeanors; (3) regulation of gun dealers; (4) limitation of…

The essays in this collection are an analysis of the past and present conditions of Latinos in metropolitan New York. The focus is on Puerto Ricans, but there are explorations of the status of other Latino groups in the city. The book contains sections on historical and sociological perspectives and policy issues. Contributions are: (1) "The…

Social capital is the glue that holds a community together. It is the network of relationships among persons that can be used to get things done. Social capital is a necessary, but not sufficient, ingredient of community building. A community must mobilize its social capital and the mechanisms of its infrastructure to face and resolve collective…

This collection explores the struggles of the varied Latino peoples for identity, recognition, and legitimacy in the United States. Issues such as what it means to be Latino/a, what a just immigration policy should be, relations between Latinos and other cultural groups, and whether being Latino is a race or an ethnicity are explored. The 94…

A series of meetings with leaders from six communities explored how efforts to reduce substance abuse may be affecting race relations. Leaders from these communities, located in Los Angeles (California), Mobile (Alabama), Gallup (New Mexico), Kansas City (Missouri), San Francisco (California), and Vallejo (California), spoke about discord between…

More than 4,000 people responded to a survey about community efforts to reduce substance abuse and gun violence. Six major findings were identified from the responses of 1,608 people who identified themselves as leaders of community efforts in these areas. Community leaders want significant changes in long-standing public policies and a change in…

Three models are elaborated that predict an association between urbanism and nontraditional behavior. Secondary analysis of American survey data on religiosity, church attendance, and attitudes toward alcohol and birth control confirm the general urbanism-deviance association and suggest the accuracy of the model which regards such behavior as due…

The gains of economic recovery have been unevenly distributed to benefit the rich much more than the poor. According to Census Bureau data, poverty, especially among children, is significantly higher than five years ago. Poverty has worsened despite decreased unemployment because of widening gaps between rich and poor. Even modest changes in…

Depictions of evil in the modern American vigilante film of the 1970s and 1980s fall into several categories. Modern vigilante film may be defined as film concerning the efforts of a private citizen in the late twentieth century urban environments of New York City or Los Angeles to operate outside the law in ridding the streets of evil and crime.…

A reply to "Intergroup Relations in the U.S.: Never Better," an article by the Director of the New England Region of the American Jewish Committee which appeared in Summer, 1973; the author is Director of the Human Rights Information Service, Michigan State University. (JM)