Street Wars: Gangs and the Future of Violence

Very liberal writting on the topic of Street Gangs. However, there are many valid points indicated in the failure of the government to corral the problem early.

As a resident, educator, and community activist in Watts I have come to know the problems this book addresses intimately. Tom Hayden is an outsider to all of this, as is most of the book's audience, but you would never know it from the positions he takes. He has done us the enormous service of having listened deeply to people who many are afraid to even look in the eye. And he adds to this his own insights as a policymaker and insider to the political world that is intimately, if often destructively, connected to the social fabric from which gangs arise. A better, more insightful analysis of gangs could come only from putting down your books, turning off your computer, and working face to face with gang members yourself.