Pub. date: 2010 | Online Pub. Date: November 23, 2010 | DOI:
10.4135/9781412959193 | Print ISBN: 9781412959186 | Online ISBN:
9781412959193| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this
encyclopedia Jankowski, Martin Sanchez: Islands in the Street
Kirsten Hutzell & Kelly Welch American gangs have been long
identified as troublesome and socially undesirable elements of
society. Negative perceptions of gangs permeate the
consciousness of members of the public, government officials,
and media outlets. As such, Martin Sanchez Jankowski attempted
to improve public understanding of gangs by examining uncharted
territory with Islands in the Street , which offers a
contemporary ethnography of juvenile gangs and represents a
considerable departure from previous explorations of gang
behavior. Winning “best book” awards from the American
Sociological Association in 1992 and the Society for the Study
of Social Problems in 1993, Jankowski predicted that gangs were
groups with different social organizational patterns rather