Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City
Sep 2000 · W. W. Norton & Company
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10 reviews
Ebook
352
Pages
About this ebook
"Unsparing and important.… An informative, clearheaded and sobering book."—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
Urban violence is often stereotyped as senseless, but in fact, it is highly regulated through an unwritten code of the street. This set of rules is a powerful and pervasive form of etiquette that governs the way people negotiate safety in public spaces. In this seminal urban ethnography, Elijah Anderson illuminates the informal code that develops when formal institutions of law and order prove untrustworthy or unjust.
"Unsparing and important.… An informative, clearheaded and sobering book."—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
Urban violence is often stereotyped as senseless, but in fact, it is highly regulated through an unwritten code of the street. This set of rules is a powerful and pervasive form of etique...
Ratings and reviews
10 reviews
Hannah Wilcox
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January 2, 2013
Had to review this book for my university assignment. Overall a very interesting book, slightly repetitive to begin but the chapters towards the end help us thoroughly understand the code of the street for both decent and street families and the difficulties they face e.g. widespread labelling from the police and mainstream society, poverty, joblessness and the ongoing influence of the underground economy as a means of survival.
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About the author
Elijah Anderson is the Sterling Professor of Sociology and of Black Studies at Yale University. In recognition of his pioneering research, he was awarded the prestigious Stockholm Prize in the field of Criminology in 2021 and the American Society of Criminology’s Edwin H. Sutherland Award in 2025.
Elijah Anderson is the Sterling Professor of Sociology and of Black Studies at Yale University. In recognition of his pioneering research, he was awarded the prestigious Stockholm Prize in the field of Criminology in 2021 and the American Society of Criminology’s Edwin H. Sutherland Award in 2025.
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