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Zusatztext Homies and Hermanos provides a valuable account of how religious institutions in Central America respond to local gang violence, and more importantly, carefully analyzes the process gang members use to transition from gang life to church life. Informationen zum Autor Robert Brenneman is Assistant Professor of Sociology at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. He is the author of Faith and the Foreigner. Klappentext Why would a gun-wielding, tattoo-bearing "homie" trade in la vida loca for a Bible and the buttoned-down lifestyle of an evangelical hermano (brother in Christ)? To answer this question, Robert Brenneman interviewed sixty-three former gang members from the "Northern Triangle" of Central America--Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras--most of whom left their gang for evangelicalism. Unlike in the United States, membership in a Central American gang is hasta la morgue. But the most common exception to the "morgue rule" is that of conversion or regular participation in an evangelical church. Do gang members who weary of their dangerous lifestyle simply make a rational choice to opt for evangelical religion? Brenneman finds this is only partly the case, for many others report emotional conversions that came unexpectedly, when they found themselves overwhelmed by a sermon, a conversation, or a prayer service. An extensively researched and gritty account, Homies and Hermanos sheds light on the nature of youth violence, of religious conversion, and of evangelical churches in Central America. Zusammenfassung Using the tools of sociological theory, Robert Brenneman seeks to discover why a pot-smoking, gun-wielding "homie" gang member would want to trade in la vida loca for a Bible and the buttoned-down lifestyle of an evangelical hermano (brother in Christ) - and to what extent this strategy works for the many youth who have tried it. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction: JJ's Second Marriage Chapter One: From Pandilla to Mara Chapter Two: Christian, Not Catholic Chapter Three: When Shame becomes Violence Chapter Four: Dodging the Morgue Rule Chapter Five: Don't Mess with Curly! Chapter Six: Samaritans and Crusaders Conclusion Appendix A: Methods Appendix B: Selected Characteristics of Interviewed Ex-gang Members Appendix C: A Primer of Gang Vocabulary References Notes ...
