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
Robert Brenneman is Assistant Professor of Sociology at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. He is the author of Faith and the Foreigner.
"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
"Brenneman draws on interviews with former gang members from El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who left gang life for
evangelical Christianity."--The Chronicle Review
"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
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