Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America

by Robert Brenneman

Overview

Using the tools of sociological theory, Robert Brenneman seeks to discover why a pot-smoking, gun-wielding "homie" gang member would want to trade in la vida loca for a Bible and the buttoned-down lifestyle of an evangelical hermano (brother in Christ) - and to what extent this strategy works for the many youth who have tried it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199912490
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/28/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

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

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

"A courageous scholar, Brenneman has undertaken extensive interviews with former members of some of Central America's most lethal street gangs who have converted to evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity...This well-written book reveals much about the appeal of contemporary evangelical churches. It also provides a terrifying picture of an impoverished and exceptionally violent setting." -The Christian Century

"The the book is a remarkable study, rigorous in its methodology, thorough in its scope, and penetrating in its insights. As a bonus, it's accessible without dumbing-down and learned without getting wonky." -Rudy Nelson, Books & Culture

"A fascinating window into how street-tough gangbangers abandon the vida loca for evangelical Christianity, trading one set of identity markers, community, and mores for another. Homies and Hermanos describes how religious conversion provides Central American pandilleros with one of the only ways to leave gang life that does not end in the morgue. Beautifully written and compellingly told!"
—Virginia Garrard-Burnett, author of Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit: Guatemala under General Efraín Ríos Montt, 1982-1983

"Brenneman provides a new twist in the gang literature: the surprising parallels between emotional rituals and public display of symbols in both the violent gangs and evangelical churches of Central America. These are the poles of attraction in a market for emotional energy, allowing ex-gang members an escape from membership-to-the-death if they show genuine conversion that the gang respects. In this ritual economy, only one powerful ritual can substitute for another. Brenneman's time-oriented, processual approach advances both theory and practice."— Randall Collins, author of Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory

"This is an outstanding book that is well researched and provides a serious and dignified treatment to the religious lives of Central Americans living on the fringes of their societies."—Sociology of Religion

"An outstanding book that is well researched and provides a serious and dignified treatment to the religious lives of Central Americans living on the fringes of their societies."—Sociology of Religion

"Shines a light on a side of evangelical Christianity in Latin America that is rarely seen in scholarly literature: gang ministry, gang exit, and gang member conversions to evangelical, and especially Pentecostal, faith...Brenneman's book ought to be the first stop for serious researchers interested in this intersection of topics."—Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher