Homies: Peer Mentoring Among African-American Males

HOMIES is a study of a group of African-American men from the west side of Chicago known as "homies." This study explains the communication & bonding between these men. It exposes the social contribution of their alternative reality & explores its rationality. Information gathered from about 20 homies describes two differing homie cultures: "book smart" & "street smart." Additionally, four themes emerge in this study: 1) "I am who you're not--the culture that gets defined becomes the one that is controlled; 2) "The 'hood' is my real home"--"homies" rarely travel physically or mentally from the confines of their neighborhood; 3) "We are alone together"--they have maintained & supported their roles as social outcasts; & 4) "We can't & if we could, we don't know how"--they have created a culture that isolates them from society as well as denies them the tools to adequately fight the system. To order write to LEPS Press, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, call 800-348-7543, or FAX 815-753-0369.