G-Dog and the Homeboys

About this book

Father Gregory J. Boyle, SJ, is a native of Los Angeles, a Jesuit priest, and founder of Homeboy Industries, an economic development and jobs program begun in 1988 for at-risk and gang-involved youth. "A great many kids in my neighborhood don't plan their futures; they plan their funerals." G-Dog and the Homeboys presents the story of Boyle's unconventional ministry and its extraordinary successes. In this expanded, updated edition, Celeste Fremon has returned to East L.A. to report on gang members she first profiled fifteen years ago. Using their individual stories as models, she examines what policy makers should know about gang intervention now, years later.About the previous edition: "[Celeste Fremon] offers [Father] Boyle as an example of how approaching gang violence with an eye towards prevention and intervention can be much more effective than simply aiming for 'lock-'em-up and-throw-away-the-key' suppression. Throughout she includes the words of the gang members themselves as they reflect on their lives and what would aid them in improving their circumstances. In this new edition, she adds an afterword that follows up on the fates of a number of the individuals discussed in the main body of the text."--streetgangs.com