This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date, and theoretically grounded approach to gangs and youth violence. It introduces readers to the foundations of gang studies through the origins of gangs, definitions and categories of youth/street gangs (and the distinctions between these arguably different types), national and international trends, distinguishing features of serious street gangs, and myths and realities. The author's extensive experience in this area allows access to the most authoritative national survey data on gang trends, providing insight into topics such as female gangs, migration of gang members, small-town gangs versus gangs in large cities, gang homicides, and drug trafficking.