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The volume Bande e gruppi giovanili di strada. Prospettive teoriche, approcci interdisciplinari e ricerca empirica [Street youth gangs and groups: theoretical perspectives, interdisciplinary approaches, and empirical research], published in 2025, explores the issue of so-called “youth gangs,” a topic that has become increasingly prominent in Italian public discourse and is now considered a priority both in political agendas and policing strategies.  

In response to the growing alarmism surrounding the phenomenon of “baby gangs,” the authors critically examine whether a form of organized collective youth violence truly exists in the Italian context. At the same time, they investigate various forms of adolescent sociality, which are often reductively labeled as deviant. To support their analysis, Crocitti and Selmini engage with the extensive criminological and sociological literature developed in the United States and Europe. Drawing on empirical research conducted in the Emilia-Romagna region between 2019 and 2023 on street youth groups, they challenge the use of simplistic interpretative categories, arguing that such frameworks fail to capture the complexity of youth social dynamics. In particular, they demonstrate that, within the Italian context, the term “gang” is inappropriate, proposing instead a more accurate reading in terms of diverse and context-specific forms of youth sociality. 

For more information about the book click here.