American Street Gangs analysis

John Doe Chapter 3 Summary CRJU 4601 Gangs Professor Brooks
June 6, 2019
 

 
Doe 1 What I’ve Learned
Chapter 7 presents the research finding s of Franklin Frazier who examined rebellious
Negro youth in relation to their family organization. Frazier concluded that “The disorganization
of negro family life in the urban environment, together with the absence of communal controls,
results in a high delinquency rate among negro boys and girls (Frazier, 1939, p 23). Frazier
reached this conclusion by studying the arrest rates and patterns of the Negro youth in the United
States as well as several written statements from said youth and arresting officers. He also found
that Negro boys were more likely to be brought before the courts than girls. He found that in
1933 there were 9, 864 Negro boys compared with 1,803 Negro girls that were dealt with among
sixty-seven United States courts.
As consistent with the adult Negro population, Negro youth delinquency was at higher
rates than white youth delinquency. In New York City, the rate was three times as high for the
Negro youth, and in Baltimore it was more than four times. Frazier pointed out that Negro youth
delinquency rates varied among the United States and that the only true way to gain insight or an
understanding as to why the youth was delinquent was to evaluate the boy or girl in relation to
his or her family and community setting. Frazier studied Negro youth delinquency in Nashville,
Tennessee. From 1925-1929, the number of Negro boys brought into to the courts in Nashville
fluctuated while the number of Negro girls declined. In 1929, the majority of the Negro youth
brought before the courts were from twelve to fifteen years of age. Of those boys, the most
common offense was stealing and of the girls was incorrigibility and disorderly conduct. Frazier
notes that the Negro delinquents were apprehended and brought before the courts much more
frequently than the white delinquents. What Frazier alluded to is the fact that there are several
factors that should be examined when addressing the issue of Negro youth delinquency.
 

 
Doe 2
Key Chapter Points
1. Negro boys were brought before the courts more often than Negro girls.
2. Negro boys and girls were younger in comparison to white boys and girls.
3. Delinquency rates were higher for Negro boys and girls than white boys and girls.
4. Negro boys were more prone to commit larceny and burglary.
5. Negro girls were apprehended for incorrigibility and disorderly conduct.
6. Negro delinquency fluctuated throughout the country.
7. Negro youth delinquency was associated with the breakdown of Negro families.
8. Only 67 of 176 Negro delinquents came from dual parent homes in 1929.
9. Boys as young as eleven and twelve were apprehended for gang involvement.
10. Delinquency is closely tied with the organization of the community.
11. The vicious environment could be offset by family.
12. Negro families that achieve economic security escape to more stable areas.
13. Negro families that lived farthest away from the city had more stable lives.
14. The physical decay of surroundings caused Negro families to be torn apart.
15. Children from broken families easily drifted into delinquency.
16. The lack of recreational facilities contributed to the lesser crimes.
17. Boys charged with selling on the streets indicated poverty of their families.
18. The delinquent behavior of girls represented their expected role in life.
19. Mothers forced to bear the full load of the family caused delinquency in youth.
20. Authorities often had no choice but to deliver Negro youth to the courts.
21. Negro families’ success or failure depended on their economic success.