Book Review: Umemoto, K. (2006). The Truce: Lessons From an L.A. Gang War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. xi, 232 pp

• Author: Cliff Akiyama
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016809331674
• Published date: 01 June 2009
• Date: 01 June 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

296 Criminal Justice Review

Some of the other chapters are more problematic, however. For example, the chapter on

African Americans concludes by arguing for the need to “seek the empirical data to support

the ‘being Black’ argument,” in terms of understanding the actions of juvenile justice offi-

cials toward African American youth (Penn et. al, p. 60). Rather than appearing to suggest

that researchers seek data to support a predetermined conclusion, a recommendation that

researchers continue to develop and test hypotheses to explain the overrepresentation of

African American youths would have been more appropriate. In addition, this discussion

could have benefited from considering a perspective such as status characteristics theory to

help shed light on how stereotypes about race and ethnicity influence decision making.

The choice of theories used in some of the chapters in the first part can be questioned.

For example, the use of social disorganization and subcultural theories in the chapter on

African Americans is not entirely convincing. The author could have, for example, employed

a minority threat perspective as a viable alternative to these older theories. Finally, although

the chapter on the impact of exposure to domestic violence on delinquency among African

American youth is provocative and asks us to consider a significant issue, its argument

would have been strengthened by a more detailed exploration and development of possible

alternatives to Bandura’s social learning theory. For example, a symbolic interactionist

perspective may offer insights into how children come to interpret the experience of domes-

tic violence and how this experience may influence future delinquency or criminality.

Well organized, with a clear and consistent writing style, this book is accessible to a

variety of audiences, ranging from advanced undergraduates to juvenile justice researchers.

Including a mixture of both original and previously published research, the editors draw

together basic facts on the involvement of various racial and ethnic groups with the juvenile

justice system along with the timely research on a number of important issues in the study

of minorities and juvenile justice. The book will be useful to graduate students in criminal

justice, juvenile justice, and sociology, as well as juvenile justice scholars in a variety of

disciplines.

James L. Williams

Texas Woman’s University, Denton

Umemoto, K. (2006). The Truce: Lessons From an L.A. Gang War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell

University Press. xi, 232 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016809331674

Youth gang violence continues to rise dramatically with more and more of our youth

deciding to join gangs each and every day. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,

Operation Safe Streets Bureau, reported there were 1,385 documented gangs in Los

Angeles County, California in 2006. Total gang membership in Los Angeles County,

California exceeds 150,000. Throughout the United States, gang violence has risen more

than 15% over the past year according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention. Where did these gangs originate from? Los Angeles and Chicago are credited

to have set the standard of what we know of today as a youth gang. Los Angeles–based