Collected Papers

Suggestions for a More Systematic Method of Comparing Political Units- 1955 Miller

Anthropological treatment of the area of “government” has traditionally been concerned with the question of historical process: “How does a ‘government’ of the Bushman or Andamanese type develop into the elaborate, centralized type of government found in modern national states?”

The Impact of a Community Group Work Program on Delinquent Corner Groups – Miller 1957

What happens when a group of professionally trained young social workers goes into an urban working-class community with the express intention of changing the customary behavior patterns of adolescent corner gangs?

Inter-institutional Conflict as a Major Impediment to Delinquency Prevention – Miller 1958

Juvenile delinquency is a major area of concern in the United States today. Although there is evidence of some increase in the actual incidence of juvenile crime, it is equally evident that the intensity of public concern over this issue has increased far more rapidly than the demonstrated statistical increase. This paper will focus, not on juvenile crime as such, but on the larger adult community, and, in particular, on that segment of the community which maintains explicit responsibility in this area.

Lower Class Culture as a Generating Milieu of Gang Delinquency – Miller 1958

The article attempts to show that the dominant component of motivation underlying the law-violating acts committed by members of adolescent street corner groups in lower class communities, is a directed attempt by the actor to adhere to forms of behavior, and to achieve standards of value as they are defined within the community. It takes as a premise that the motivation of behavior in such situations can be approached most productively by attempting to understand the nature of cultural forces impinging on the acting individual as they are perceived by the actor himself, rather than as they are perceived and evaluated from the reference position of another cultural system. The article also enumerated the factors that serve as direct influence on gang behavior.

Implications of Urban Lower- Class Culture for Social Work - Miller 1959

In recent years social workers have become increasingly interested in the role of cultural factors and in their influence on behavior. However, there has been considerable uncertainty about exactly how the "cultural"frame of reference relates to more familiar ways of explaining behavior and how one goes about applying knowledge of cultural factors to the actual problems of everyday practice.

Preventive Work with Street-CornerGroups: Boston Delinquency Project- Miller 1959

The corner-group method of attempting to prevent "gang" delinquency is in fairly wide use, but little substantial evidence as to its effectiveness is available. Research on the impact of the Boston Delinquency Project on law- violating behavior of adolescent corner groups utilized four major indexes to behavior change to"test"effectiveness.

Aggression in a Boys' Street-Corner Group- Miller-1961

This study focused on a street corner group known as the Junior Outlaws and assessed the extent of aggressive behavior exhibited by group members. The core group of the Junior Outlaws consisted of 18 white Catholic boys between 14 and 16 years of age. During the study period, seven boys became involved with official agencies as a result of delinquent acts. In addition, group members committed numerous criminal acts for which no official action was taken.

Aggression in a Boy's Street Corner Group: An Analysis and Reinterpretation -Douglas- 1962

By: Jack D. Douglas The Recent Interpretation by Miller, Geertz, and Cutter of the data from the Roxbury Project on aggression in a boys’ street-corner group 1 is, in many an exemplary model of the close interrelation between theory and quantitative so necessary for unraveling the problem of juvenile delinquency. There seem, however, to be certain fundamental errors in their interpretation that deserve the 1, closest consideration by those concerned with such research.

The Impact of a “Total-Community” Delinquency Control Project – Miller 1962

The Midcity Project conducted a delinquency control program in a lower class district of Boston between the years 1954 and 1957. A major objective of the Project was to inhibit or reduce the amount of illegal activity engaged in by resident adolescents.

The Corner Gang Boys get Married – Miller 1963

As in the case of many other forms of corner-boy behavior, the motives and circumstances attending marriage are closely related to the conditions and concerns of corner group life. During the "steady-dating" phase from about fourteen to nineteen, marriages are rare.

Violent Crimes in City Gangs- Miller -1966

The urban street gang plays a central role in the imagery of violence currently being disseminated by the mass media. Testing the reality of this image requires careful empirical studies of actual gangs. A study involving 150 gangs in "Mid-city," a slum district of an eastern metropolis, and focusing on seven gangs subject to intensive field observation, reveals marked differences between the public imagery and research-derived findings.

Delinquency prevention and organizational relations-Miller 1966

A widespread pattern of involvement in criminal behavior by adolescents is an established and endemic characteristic of contemporary American Society. The volume of youth crime may wax and wane from year to year in response to a variety of social and economic conditions, but delinquency itself remains a persisting feature of our times, particularly in the large cities of the United States.

White Gangs – Miller 1969

If one thinks about street gangs at all these days, it is probably in the roseate glow of West Side Story, itself the last flowering of a literary and journalistic concern that goes back at least to the late 40’s.

The Molls – Miller 1973

Corner gang girls talk tough, show off, look menacing. Young teenagers, they are also women, wise before their time.