THE "GANGSTA" PERSONA: A CASE STUDY FROM AN ECOSYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE.

The ‘gangsta’ persona adopted by some young Black males is generally viewed with apprehension and distaste by society. However,from an ecosystems perspective the gangsta presentation of self can be understood as serving adaptive functions in the macro, meso, and micro areas of experience. A case is presented to illustrate an ecosystems analysis of this phenomon, with implications for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]