Book explores hardships of African-American girls

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The African-American teenagers described sexual assaults and gang rape, as well as general harassment and violence. In general, they painted a bleak picture for young black women growing up in St. Louis. Their daily lives seemed to lack little reprieve from victimization, according to anecdotes culled from interviews with 75 local city-dwelling adolescents (40 boys and 35 girls).

The interviews were conducted for the new book "Getting Played: African American Girls, Urban Inequality and Gendered Violence" by Jody Miller, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Throughout the book, Miller examines how the coalescence of urban neglect and gender inequality structure the young women's risks for gendered violence. Her in-depth analysis reveals the struggles the girls endure as they attempt to navigate such dangerous terrain despite vastly inadequate social and institutional support.

"I've made a specific link to how urban inequality affects girls, specifically in relationship to gender violence," Miller said. "It goes back to structural inequalities, racial segregation and incredibly impoverished neighborhoods that have problems with a lack of resources, police, achieving collective efficacy and a whole range of issues."

In his positive St. Louis Post-Dispatch review of "Getting Played," Steve Weinberg wrote that Miller's previous book, "One of the Guys: Girls, Gangs and Gender," gained little attention outside of academic circles.

"It would be a shame if Miller's new book suffers from the same narrow attention," he wrote.

She made sure with "Getting Played" to include many anecdotes along with her analysis, to ensure an engaging and lively read. Miller did so not just to reach a wider audience, but to attract readers who could create change.

"It's a university press book, so a lot of the audience is likely to be academics and students," Miller said. "But I tried to write it in a way that's readable and accessible to a wider audience. I would really like to get this information out to individuals who are actually in a position to make a difference."

Robert Crutchfield, professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle, praised Miller for her analysis of inner city African-American girls whose victimization is based on multiple dimensions -- they are black, female and residing in extremely disadvantaged neighborhoods. He said the book conveyed the reality of these young women's lives, which set the context for the struggles they routinely contend with.

"The voices of these young people have been ignored for too long," Crutchfield said. "'Getting Played' has given them an opportunity to be heard, which is long overdue."

New York University Press released "Getting Played: African American Girls, Urban Inequality and Gendered Violence" on March 1. The 292-page book is available in paperback for $22.00 at http://www.nyupress.org.

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