Information from interviews and direct observations form the basis of the discussion of the lives of young males growing up in three different low-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn, N.Y. One neighborhood is black, one is white, and one is Latino. Pointing out neighborhood differences in physical ecology, economic opportunity, and social organization as well as ethnicity, the text draws connections between particular aspects of local community environments and the ways in which adolescent careers develop. It describes their entry into criminal activities, their development into systematic thieves and drug dealers, and, for many, their eventual transition out of street crime into legitimate work as they become older. The analysis also focuses on crime in the wider context of the family situations and the youths' school and work experiences. It also discusses the broader issue of the social isolation of the inner cities and its relationship to both street crime and other social problems. The analysis concludes that both crime control policy and efforts to improve the educational and economic attainments of inner-city youths must deal with the inner cities as communities rather than continuing merely to dispense punishment and treatment to individuals. Tables, index, and 171 references. (Publisher summary modified)