Code of the Street

Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City

Elijah Anderson | 4.17 | 1,542 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Gavin Knight, and 1 others. See all reviews

Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence, but in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. This unwritten set of rules—based largely on an individual's ability to command respect—is a powerful and pervasive form of etiquette, governing the way in which people learn to negotiate public spaces. Elijah Anderson's incisive book delineates the code and examines it as a response to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, to the stigma of race, to rampant drug use, to alienation and lack of hope. less

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Gavin Knight The code of the street has to do with the difference between “decent families” and “street families”, as Anderson calls them. The decent families believe in family values, provide their children with a supportive network and an accepted code of behaviour. In street families, in poor urban areas, it’s all about respect and aggression. To be respected in this environment you have to give the impression that you are capable of extreme violence quickly. In Britain, for example, people have pit bulls, prison muscle and tattoos. Giving the impression that you are capable of extreme violence is very... (Source)

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