Literacy and Advocacy in Adolescent Family, Gang, School, and Juvenile Court Communities: Crip 4 Life

230 Pages·2005·4.11 MB·English

by  Debra Smith

Literacy and Advocacy
in Adolescent Family,
Gang, School, and Juvenile
Court Communities
“CRIP 4 LIFE”
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Literacy and Advocacy
in Adolescent Family,
Gang, School, and Juvenile
Court Communities
“CRIP 4 LIFE”
Debbie Smith
Northeastern State University
Kathryn F. Whitmore
The University of Iowa
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2006 Mahwah, New Jersey London
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Copyright©2006byLawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinany
form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other
means,withoutpriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.,Publishers
10IndustrialAvenue
Mahwah,NewJersey 07430
www.erlbaum.com
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Smith,Debra,1955Jan.24–Literacyandadvocacyi nadolescent
family, gang, school, and juvenile court communities : “Crip 4
life”/DebraSmith,KathrynF.Whitmore.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-8058-5598-X(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN0-8058-5599-8(paper.:alk.paper)
1.Gangmembers—UnitedStates—Casestudies. 2.Juveniledelin-
quents—United States—Case Studies. 3. Mexican American
youth—Case studies. 4. Teacher-student relationships—United
States—Casestudies. 5.Gangs—UnitedStates. 6.Gangmembers
—Education—UnitedStates. 7.Literacy—UnitedStates. 8.Mar-
ginality,Social—UnitedStates. I.Whitmore,KathrynF.,1959–
II.Title.
HV6439.U5S615 2005
362.74—dc222005050709
CIP
ISBN 1-4106-1743-2 Master e-book ISBN
Tomycurrentandpaststudents,andonesIhaveyettomeet,
whoareforcedtoliveonthemarginsofschoolandsociety
andwhosevoicesareunheard.
ToNathanHaleSmith.Grandpa,youbelievedinmeandmy
dreams.Youlovedandrespectedmeforme.WithyouIalwaysfelt
Icoulddoanything.Thanksforbeinginmycorner.
—debbie
Asalways,toMartin,Monica,andKaeliNieves,withoutwhom
myworkwouldhavenomeaning.Andtomyparents,BillandKay
Whitmore,withoutwhommyworkwouldnotbepossible.
Ialwayswanttomakeyouproud.
—kathy
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CONTENTS CONTENTS
Contents
List of Figures xi
Foreword xiii
Denny Taylor
Preface xix
Organization of the Book xxi
Helpful Tools xxiii
A Note to Readers xxiv
Acknowledgments xxv
1 Introducing the Characters: Lil Boy Blue, Smurf, 1
Juice, Lil Garfield, and Debbie
Lil Boy Blue: “My teenage life is quiet, average. I’m a Crip” 2
Smurf: “I’m … from dat insanewiccedass westside Manzanita Lynch
Mob Crip” 3
Juice: “If you’re a gangster they really don’t want you for school.” 4
Lil Garfield: “I would love to be a rapper” 5
The Family Community 6
The Gang Community 7
The School Community 8
The Juvenile Court Community 11
We Became Co-Researchers: “We’ve got your back, Miss.” 12
The Characters 16
vii
viii CONTENTS
2 Family Community: Mi Familia 17
Generations of the Family Community 17
Lil Boy Blue and Smurf’s Parents and Grandparents 18
Juice and Lil Garfield’s Mom and Grandparents 26
The Boys’Own Families 34
The Family Community 37
3 Gang Community: “West Up Cuzz” 39
A Glimpse into the Gang Community 39
Heartaches 43
Brothers to Brothers 48
The Gang Community Collides with the Family Community 52
Literacy in the Gang Community 53
The Gang Community 68
4 School Community, Part One (I): “They don’t want 70
us here.”
The Early School Years 71
High School Experience: The Trouble Begins 76
Literacy in the School Community (I) 87
The School Community (I) 89
5 School Community, Part Two (II): “This is our school.” 94
JoiningNuestraCasa 95
The Boys’Views of School 102
Literacy in the School Community (II) 112
The School Community (II) 113
6 Juvenile Court Community: “In and out of juvie” 117
Entering the Juvenile Court Community 118
Literacy in The Juvenile Court Community 126
The Juvenile Court Community 130
7 Images of Gangs in the Media and Research 133
Literature
Deficit Images in the Research Literature 135
CONTENTS ix
Complex Images in the Research Literature 137
Images From Research on Gang Literacy 144
Images From Gang Members 147
Images of Gangs 149
8 Living on the Boundaries of School: Advocacy 151
and Research
What Is Advocacy? 151
Advocacy and Research 153
Advocating in the School Community (I): The Impossible
Dream 155
Graduation Promises in the School Community 158
Advocating in the Juvenile Court Community 160
Living on the Boundaries of School 161
Advocacy as a Form of Critical Ethnography 163
9 Literacy in Communities of Success and Failure 165
Clubs, Communities, and Identities 166
School Failure: Constructed Identity 170
Literacy: Identities Built, Destroyed, Fabricated 174
Gang Members’Perceptions of Their OwnLiteracies 175
Literacy: Membership Denied 178
The “Caring” Teacher Versus Teacher as Advocate 181
Appendix A:Timeline 187
Appendix B: Family Trees 188
Appendix C: Glossary of Gang Terminology as Used by Lil 189
Boy Blue, Smurf, Juice, and Lil Garfield
Appendix D: Smurf and Sad Boy’s Story 191
References 195
Author Index 199
Subject Index 201