This review is long overdue as I read Gang Leader for a Day this summer. I try to read as much as I can, it keeps my thinking about social services fresh and exposes me to new realities and ideas. Gang Leader for a Day, written by sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh, highlights the living conditions and [...]
Gangs are something I find really interesting from an academic standpoint, and incredibly destructive from a social service provider view. My work at Idealistics allows me to work with organizations that address a multitude of problems like poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, etc. We’ve done a bit of work on gang issues, such as connecting people [...]
I live in the poorest census tract in a poor city. The downtown area where I live is pretty nice, but just outside downtown the poverty is inescapable. As is often the case in poor neighborhoods, there is a noticeable abundance of churches. I find the intersection of poverty and faith interesting, and on Sunday [...]
While at Barnes and Nobel this evening, I picked up a book by sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh called Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets. The book chronicles Venaketsh’s experience researching a gang operated in a housing project in Chicago. Venkatesh has received a lot of attention for his work in [...]
