
Peace In the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence
This book is designed to teach anyone how to be an interventionist, offering clear guidelines on the necessities of intervention work, including understanding the gang mindset, learning how to evaluate rumors for truth, and convincing young people to leave gangs. Each chapter deals with one key aspect of peacemaking, and the advice comes with anecdotes from Basheer's own life.
Peace In the Hood includes real-life accounts of Basheer's interactions with gang members offering unique insight into gang culture. Its descriptions of the fairly new field of peacekeeping and intervention with its mix of story and advice make it both a perfect tool for students and teachers who study social justice and anyone simply looking for a fascinating read. Being the first book to offer a detailed description of the process of making peace within gangs, it's a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of gangs and the efforts to make peace within them.
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Book details
- Author
- Aquil Basheer, Christina Hoag
- Imprint
- Hunter House, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Pages
- 192
- Formats
- Paperback, Hardcover
- Subjects
- Social Science › Violence in Society
Education › Violence & Harassment
Social Science › Sociology › Urban - Topics
- gangs · gang intervention · street violence · urban communities · peacemaking · criminology · inner city life
- ISBN-13
- 9780897937047 (Paperback)9781684422388 (Hardcover)
About the author
AQUIL BASHEER was a professional community gang interventionist with over 40 years of experience working in inner cities and the founder of the Brotherhood Unified for Independent Leadership Through Discipline (BUILD) Program and the Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (PCITI), the nation’s only 18-week gang interventionist training and personal development academy. He was the author of Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence.
Basheer received an honorary doctorate of humanities from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2015 and was the recipient of the 2010 California Wellness Foundation’s Peace Prize. He served as an adjunct professor at Alliant International University.
When not writing, Basheer consulted on anti-violence efforts in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and internationally for the United Nations and the World Health Organization. He was also the subject of the documentary License to Operate.
Basheer passed away in 2025.





