A very insightful book on inner city culture

books:


	• Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City Elijah Anderson W. W. Norton & Company, 2000 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A very insightful book on inner city culture

This book is a study of inner city life in some of the really bad areas of Philadelphia. Its basic thesis is that the inner city culture is split between the majority who are decent and the large minority who are "street." He explains the origins and meaning of all of this very well.

A great strength of this book is how it takes you inside the head of the people it studies. He talks, for example, of the cruel contradiction that inner city boys are caught in. On the one side, if they do not wear gang clothing, and project "attitude" and "badness," they will be viewed as weak on the street, and may be physically attacked by others. On the other hand, if they do conform to street dress code, then both teachers and potential employers see them as gangters and refuse to help them get ahead. It is a double bind, in which children are forced to live in two cultures with contradictory values. As a result, as Anderson discusses, many kids learn to "code-switch" or act street on the street and white on the job. It is not easy to do, and it is not surprising that most can not do it well.

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An Interesting and Realistic Book

I'm not normally a fan of nonfiction but I really couldn't put this book down! Every section was authentic and interesting. It is another world.

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A New Lens to See Through

I am so impressed with this book I can't believe it. Every page provided a new insight. As a white person I gained a whole new perspective on...well, everything, it seems like. Mr. Anderson does such a great job of giving an "inside look" into the inner city world, you really come away understanding a whole lot more.

I appreciated that Anderson laid the facts out without playing the blame game. His writing is objective but also compassionate; you can really see *individuals,* not just "black people." I closed the book thinking, "Well, I can't change everything, but with this knowledge I can sure make changes in myself, and at least that's a start." It takes a great book to provide that kind of power and inspiration. Just for that alone, I think every white person should read this book.

So, Bravo, Mr. Anderson! Please continue to write on the subject!

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A winner

Excellent book; I highly recommend. Extremely informative and insightful. A scholarly study written in plain language. It reveals the complexities of the subculture of street life and its terrorist rule in the neighborhoods it infiltrates. A must read for someone working in any aspect of criminal justice. - Corrections librarian.

Good stuff

I bought this book for an assignment and found that it was highly informative. I would suggest this book for anyone thinking about going into law enforcement or criminology.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence; in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, talk, and behave can have life-or-death consequences, with young people particularly at risk. This incisive book examines the code 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. An individual's safety and sense of worth are determined by the respect he commands in public--a deference frequently based on an implied threat of violence. Unfortunately, even those with higher aspirations can often become entangled in the code's self-destructive behaviors. Winner of the Komarovsky Book Award.

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