The areas along the U.S.-Mexico border are commonly portrayed as a hot
spot for gang activity, drug trafficking, and violence. Yet when Robert
J. Durán conducted almost a decade's worth of ethnographic research in
border towns between El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico--a region
notorious for gang activity, according to federal officials--he found
significantly less gang membership and activity than common
fearmongering claims would have us believe. Instead, he witnessed how
the gang label was used to criminalize youth of Mexican descent--to
justify the overrepresentation of Latinos in the justice system, the
implementation of punitive practices in the school system, and the
request for additional resources by law enforcement.
In The Gang Paradox, Durán analyzes the impact of deportation,
incarceration, and racialized perceptions of criminality on Latino
families and youth along the border. He draws on ethnography, archival
research, official data sources, and interviews with practitioners and
community members to present a compelling portrait of Latino residents'
struggles amid deep structural disadvantages. Durán, himself a former
gang member, offers keen insights into youth experience with schools,
juvenile probation, and law enforcement. The Gang Paradox is a
powerful community study that sheds new light on intertwined
criminalization and racialization, with policy relevance toward issues
of gangs, juvenile delinquency, and the lack of resources in border
regions.
