Book
Street corner society: the social structure of an Italian slum
University of Chicago Press • Chicago • Published In 1993 • Pages:
By: Whyte, William Foote.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
"Street Corner Society" is considered by many social scientists as a classic in the sociological literature. The original monograph, based on field work in 1936-1940, and published in 1943, has been updated with new material in subsequent new editions of the book in 1955, 1981, and the fourth, or fiftieth anniversary, edition in 1993. This is a study of the social structure of what Whyte refers to as "street corner society" (young male gangs, cliques and clubs) living in the inner city area of Boston's north end; an area inhabited almost exclusively by Italian immigrants and their children -- the area referred to in the text as "Cornerville". Whyte describes his acceptance into one of the street corner gangs (the Norton Street gang), through his friendship with its leader "Doc" (Ernest Pecci). Whyte then describes the internal structure of this gang, its function in the overall society, and its relationship to another youth oriented club known as the Italian Community Club composed in large part of college students under the leadership of Chick Morelli (Christopher Iannella). Whyte also provides additional information on the racket and political organization of the north end and their relationship to the clubs and cliques constituting Cornerville society.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Reviews and critiques
- Observation in research
- Life history materials
- Illegal entertainment
- Social relationships and groups
- Cliques
- Sodalities
- Local officials
- Elections
- Private welfare agencies
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Italian Americans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2018
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Sociologist
- Economist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1936-1940
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1860s - 1940
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- "Cornerville", north end of Boston, Mass., United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- William Foote Whyte
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 390-392) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 92042262
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Italian Americans