Book Review: Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture

Abstract

The features of this slim volume include ten chapters that are arranged topically; in addition, there is a glossary, references section, and index. In the front matter, there is a very useful timeline that highlights some of the key events associated with the formation and history of the Crips and Bloods from the 1960s to 2005. In the introductory chapter, the author explains that “there is very little systematic research on the Bloods and Crips” (12), with limited and biased information being reported and published either by gang members in autobiographies or by law enforcement and government agencies. The author does a good job of offering a balanced viewpoint about these gangs (sets) by neither demonizing nor glorifying them. The author provides information about Crips’ and Bloods’ role in crime and drug dealing but rejects the notion that they are an organized criminal syndicate, due to their lack of hierarchical features.