ABSTRACT
A Google Scholar search for “street culture” in January 2019 produced nearly 4,090,000 results. Some criminologists, social scientists writing street culture use it undefined, implying a reader simply could look up its meaning in a dictionary. Criminologists commonly use a synonym, “code of the street,” to explain what they mean by street culture. Deciphered through vaguely articulated research methods conducted during an even more difficult to pin-down time period in Philadelphia, Anderson argued that street culture was a property of the “poor inner-city,” “disorganized,” violent Black community. The term “street culture” poses problems because there is precise definition of “street” and the term “culture” refers to a broad theory of thought influencing behavior. When caught short on rational, evidence-based explanations, many criminology researchers reach for ones based on street culture, street crime, code of the street, as if the concepts offer clear explanations.
