Falling Back: Incarceration and Transitions to Adulthood among Urban Youth

Acknowledgments

xiii Acknowledgments I owe special debts to several mentors who had a hand in crafting this book. I am grateful for the mentorship and guidance provided by Elijah Anderson, Kathryn Edin, Lawrence Sherman, David Bayley, Hans Toch, and Michael B. Katz.Without institutional support from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Otto and Gertrude K. Pollak Summer Research Fellowship, and the Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship, this work could never have been completed . My research would have been impossible without the permission of and encouragement from Joyce Burrell at Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services, Judge Myrna Field at Philadelphia’s Family Court, and the administrators and staff at the institution I call Mountain Ridge Academy. Several other scholars have provided me with ideas, support, and feedback along the way, including Patrick Carr, Randall Collins, Jeff Ferrell, Frank Furstenberg, David Grazian, Paul Hirschfield, John Laub, Robin Leidner, Shadd Maruna, Mary Poulin, Stephen Richards, Eric Schneider,andTukufu Zuberi.Thanks also to Peter Mickulaus at Rutgers University Press; Grey Osterud, who provided much-needed editorial guidance during the revision of this manuscript; Kate Babbitt and Joseph Dahm, who assisted with copyediting; and Jeaneé Miller, who developed maps for the section on racial segregation in Philadelphia. My colleagues in graduate school and beyond generously offered moral support at times of stress and doubt: Faye Allard, Rene Luis Alvarez , Bob Apel, Janel Benson, Keith Brown, Rachelle Brunn, Gniesha Dinwiddie, Marie Garcia, Alice Goffman, Jaime Henderson, Megan Kurlychek, Ke Liang, Catherine Mayer, Dana Peterson, Allison Redlich, Meredith Rossner, Janet Stamatel, Lindsay Taggart-Rutherford, and Wendy Thompson. xiv Acknowledgments I owe a great debt to my real and extended families, including my “Philadelphia dad,” Phil Harris, and his wife, Ellen. Thanks, too, to the Fountain, Kelly, and Park clans, who have offered constant encouragement and important diversions from writing. Paul Gordon, my former husband, supported both my research and my return to graduate school. Thank you to my lifelong friends, Rachael Bennett, Greg Diltz, Shannon Hurley, the late Michael “Kupe” Kuperman, and Susan Rochard, for being a constant presence in my life no matter how far away I move. My parents, James Fader and the late Nancy Allen Fader, pushed me to excel and refused to accept any limits on what I could become. I thank my dad for his support, even though I know he doesn’t understand why I want to hang out with people who break the law. I am grateful to my mother for passing on her spontaneity and fire. My husband, Chris “Kit” Kelly, came into my life unexpectedly and changed it forever. He is my spiritual and intellectual partner and my most supportive critic. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to the young men who allowed me to write about them, Akeem, Eddie, Gabe, Hassan, Isaiah, James, Keandre, Leo, Luis, Malik, Raymond, Sharif, Sincere, Tony, and Warren, as well as their family members and friends who shared their insights. You had little reason to trust a “newsy” (nosy) white lady who wanted to write a book about your lives, but you did anyway.You made me laugh hysterically, broke my heart, and inspired me with hope for the future, all at the same time. I hope I have done your stories justice and represented you with depth and humanity.A special thanks to Sincere for giving me some of my best ideas,for offering excellent chapter titles,and for serving as a superb guest speaker in my courses. Falling Back ...