ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the historical role that gang researcher Joan Moore played in laying the foundation for critical gang studies as it has developed over the past 40 years. The career of this prolific scholar will be discussed in brief in order to provide context. Particular attention will be paid to the methodological innovations that distinguish her work from all other prior gang research and the example she set for subsequent critical gang researchers, ourselves included. The chapter will also examine the theoretical ramifications of the methodological innovations Moore established and how they have framed theoretical innovations in critical gang research since their original publications in the late 1970s and 1980s. Finally, this chapter will examine how the methodological and theoretical innovations presented in her work have informed and influenced generations of critical gang scholars through the present day.
