White W.F. Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian slum

4th Revised edition — Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. — 418 p. — ISBN10: 0226895459; ISBN13: 978-022689545Street Corner Society is one of a handful of works that can justifiably be called classics of sociological research. William Foote Whyte's account of the Italian American slum he called "Cornerville"—Boston's North End—has been the model for urban ethnography for fifty years. By mapping the intricate social worlds of street gangs and "corner boys," Whyte was among the first to demonstrate that a poor community need not be socially disorganized. His writing set a standard for vivid portrayals of real people in real situations. And his frank discussion of his methodology—participant observation—has served as an essential casebook in field research for generations of students and scholars. This fiftieth anniversary edition includes a new preface and revisions to the methodological appendix. In a new section on the book's legacy, Whyte responds to recent challenges to the validity, interpretation, and uses of his data. "The Whyte Impact on the Underdog," the moving statement by a gang leader who became the author's first research assistant, is preserved.List of Illustrations
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Introduction: Cornerville and Its PeopleCorner Boys and College BoysDOC and His BoysThe Members of the Gang
Bowling and Social Ranking
The Nortons and the Aphrodite Club
Doc's Political Campaign
DisintegrationChick and His ClubThe Story of Chick Morelli
Organizing the Club
Social Activities
Opposition to Chick
The Second Season
Disintegration
Republican Politics
Chick Morelli's CareerSocial Structure and Social MobilityThe Nature of the Groups
The Social Role of the Settlement House
Loyalty and Social MobilityRacketeers and PoliticiansThe Social Structure of RacketeeringHistory of the Rackets
Organization of the Policy Racket
Relations with the Police
The Racketeer in His Social SettingThe Racketeers in the Cornerville S. and A. ClubTony Cataldo and the Shelby Street Boys
Organizing the Club
Reorganizing the Club
The Political Issue
The Crisis and Tony Cataldo
Tony's Beano Party
The New Administration
Carlo and TonyPolitics and the Social StructureThe Changing Nature of Political Organization
The Political Career
Organizing the Campaign
Political Rallies
Election Day
The Nature of Political ObligationsThe Gang and the Individual
The Social Structure
The Problem of CornervilleAppendicesOn the Evolution of "Street Corner Society"Personal Background
Finding Cornerville
Planning the Study
First Efforts
Beginning with Doc
Training in Participant Observation
Venture into Politics
Back on Norton Street
Replanning the Research
Again in the Corner Gang
Studying Racketeering
Marching on City Hall
Farewell to Cornerville
Cornerville Revisited
Getting Street Corner Society Accepted as a Doctoral Thesis
Revisiting Street Corner Society Fifty Years LaterThe Whyte Impact on an Underdog by Angelo Ralph Orlandella
Selected References