James Diego Vigil

James Diego Vigil, Ph.D is an anthropologist and professor in the Department Of Criminology, Law, and Society at the University of California, Irvine. He specializes in urban psychology and socialization and in educational anthropology. Vigil has published numerous books and papers.

Prior to his current position, Vigil taught at UCLA for six years, at USC for fourteen years, and served at the director of Ethnic Studies at the University of Southern California. He has also been Director at the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty and Chairman at the National Center for Gang Policy. Vigil also acts as a consultant, expert witness, in cultural defense in gang related homicides.

Vigil recently completed a year as a visiting professor at Harvard in the Graduate School of Education.

Published books

• From Indians to Chicanos: The Dynamics of Mexican American Culture
• Personas Mexicanas: Chicano High Schoolers in a Changing Los Angeles
• Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California
• A Rainbow of Gangs: A Cross-Cultural Study Street Youth in Los Angeles
• The Projects: Gang and Non-Gang Families in East Los Angeles
• An emerging barrio underclass: Irregular lifestyles among former Chicano gang members (New directions for Latino public policy research)
• Learning from gangs : the Mexican American experience