Homies and Hermanos

God and Gangs in Central America
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-19-975390-1
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 312 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 534 g

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.

Zielgruppe

Scholars of Latin American history or gang sociology; those readers interested in contemporary religion and society in Central America, global Pentecostalism, and the intersection of religion and violence.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brenneman, Robert E.

Brenneman, Robert

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Protestantismus, evangelische und protestantische Kirchen Pfingstkirchen

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

Über Autor(innen)

Robert Brenneman is Assistant Professor of Sociology at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. He is the author of Faith and the Foreigner.