Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner CityUnsparing and important. . . . An informative, clearheaded and sobering book.—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post (1999 Critic's Choice) Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence, but in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. This unwritten set of rules—based largely on an individual's ability to command respect—is a powerful and pervasive form of etiquette, governing the way in which people learn to negotiate public spaces. Elijah Anderson's incisive book delineates the code and examines it as a response to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, to the stigma of race, to rampant drug use, to alienation and lack of hope. |
From inside the book
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Page 22
... fight , with or with- out gunplay , down a side street . People " profile " here , " represent- ing " the image of themselves by which they would like to be known : who they are and how they stand in relation to whom . The streets ...
... fight , with or with- out gunplay , down a side street . People " profile " here , " represent- ing " the image of themselves by which they would like to be known : who they are and how they stand in relation to whom . The streets ...
Page 23
... , guns in sheaths . They can't physically fight no more , so they carry a gun . " People here feel they must watch their backs , because anything can happen here , and if the police are called DOWN GERMANTOWN AVENUE / 23.
... , guns in sheaths . They can't physically fight no more , so they carry a gun . " People here feel they must watch their backs , because anything can happen here , and if the police are called DOWN GERMANTOWN AVENUE / 23.
Page 25
... fighting , playing at the code , is commonplace . As we continue down the street , collision - repair shops appear- former gas stations surrounded by many abandoned cars in various states of disrepair and degradation - and then music ...
... fighting , playing at the code , is commonplace . As we continue down the street , collision - repair shops appear- former gas stations surrounded by many abandoned cars in various states of disrepair and degradation - and then music ...
Page 27
... fights materialize seemingly out of nowhere , and the emergency room becomes a hub of activity . Sometimes the victims bypass the hospital : by the time they are found , there is no place to take them but the morgue . Nearby is a liquor ...
... fights materialize seemingly out of nowhere , and the emergency room becomes a hub of activity . Sometimes the victims bypass the hospital : by the time they are found , there is no place to take them but the morgue . Nearby is a liquor ...
Page 37
... fight and " take up for ” my friend , then you know what I will do for my own brother , cousin , nephew , aunt , sister , or mother - and vice versa . Blood is thicker than mud . DECENT FAMILIES In decent families there is almost always ...
... fight and " take up for ” my friend , then you know what I will do for my own brother , cousin , nephew , aunt , sister , or mother - and vice versa . Blood is thicker than mud . DECENT FAMILIES In decent families there is almost always ...
Contents
9 | |
15 | |
Decent and Street Families ཙརྱེདྡནྣཱ ུ Chapter 2 Campaigning for Respect | 66 |
Drugs Violence and Street Crime | 107 |
The Mating Game | 142 |
The Decent Daddy | 179 |
The Black InnerCity Grandmother in Transition | 206 |
John Turners Story | 237 |
Looking for Mr Johnson | 290 |
Notes | 326 |
Bibliography | 333 |
Index | 343 |
Other editions - View all
Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City Elijah Anderson No preview available - 1999 |
Code of the Street: Decency Violence And The Moral Life Of The Inner City Elijah Anderson No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
ain't alienation baby become behavior bols boys child code-switch corner crack crack cocaine crime daughter deal decent daddy doin drug dealers drug trade Elijah Anderson father feel fight friends gang ghetto girl give goin gonna grandmother guys Herman inner city inner-city inner-city community jail John John Turner John's kids knew lives look mess middle-class Mike mother neighborhood neighbors nothin old heads parents peer group person Philadelphia play police poverty pregnancy probation officer problems residents respect Robert simply situation social sometimes stickup street street-oriented streetwise talk teenage teenage pregnancy tell things told Tyree Underclass underground economy University of Chicago urban victim violence walk wanta welfare West Oak Lane wider society William Julius Wilson women York young black young woman youths