“Cooks are Like Gods”: Hierarchies in Methamphetamine-Producing Groups

Jenkot, Robert B.

doi:10.1080/01639620701876486

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…These are, however, caricatures—they sap the complexity out of human experience and social agency. Scholars have captured such complexity, for example, in interviews with women meth users on stigma management, negotiation, and resistance (Copes et al, 2014; McKenna, 2013) or on status hierarchies and conflict resolution in meth production processes (Jenkot, 2007). Furthermore, as meth is often associated with poor whites, this narrow framing does not consider the experiences of rural people of color.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Once again, a meth lab exploded and somebody died”: Narratives of volatility and risk in the rural drug war

Revier

2017

Crime, Media, Culture

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Methamphetamine (“meth”) has received a massive amount of media attention in the United States over the last decade. In reporting, journalists, politicians, and police commonly link meth to widespread risk, violence, criminality, and rural decay. Although the rise in meth use, addiction, and crime has been largely overstated, such imagery legitimizes an expansion of surveillance and policing to rural landscapes. In this research, I examine the way meth and meth makers are represented in case coverage of a meth lab fire sited in upstate New York. I find that reporters narrate a more general meth lab “social problem formula story” with caricature villains (meth makers), victims (community members), and heroes (law enforcement and legislators). Significantly, this model of storytelling conveys a distorted and exaggerated understanding of meth as a social problem, turning the atypical meth lab case into the “typical,” while legitimizing law and order solutions. In contributing to the contemporary “methamphetamine imaginary,” this formula story forgoes a structural analysis that considers the prevailing global drug war, rural poverty, or broader capital inequality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Once again, a meth lab exploded and somebody died”: Narratives of volatility and risk in the rural drug war

Revier

2017

Crime, Media, Culture

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“…I mean everyone does whatever they can to keep the cook happy. Food, stereos, supplies, sex, whatever they want they got” (Jenkot, 2008, p. 674). Given that nearly all cooks are users (Weisheit & White, 2009), being a cook is also rewarding in that it provides relatively affordable access to a dependable supply of the drug.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime and Place

Wells

Weisheit

2012

Journal of Drug Issues

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Methamphetamine laboratories have been a widely variable problem across the United States, very problematic in some communities but not at all in others. This study analyzes the variation in methamphetamine labs using demographic and geographic information on 17,720 seized laboratories. The analysis found that traditional community-level factors representing economic disadvantage, social disorganization, and civic community theories demonstrated little power to predict the presence of methamphetamine laboratories, although they were useful in predicting other types of crime. A single spatial lag variable measuring a county's geographic proximity to other counties with drug laboratory seizures accounted for almost half of the variance in meth lab prevalence and contributed substantially to the explained variance in index crime arrests and drug arrests. The findings demonstrate the utility of spatial lag variables in assessing proximity effects in explaining crime patterns, while demonstrating that fully explaining different forms of crime may require different theoretical models.

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“…These women made clear connections among cooking meth and earning power, respect, and popularity (Erickson et al, 2019;Jenkot, 2008). The added sense of control over their lives and others was empowering (Grundetjern & Miller, 2019).…”

Section: Expressed Criminal Self-efficacymentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Further, meth cooking can be seductive (Erickson et al, 2019). It provides status in a group and is intrinsically exciting (Jenkot, 2008;Shukla, 2016). For women meth cooks, such strong rewards may warrant the need to manage the risks while continuing their meth use and cooking careers (Carbone-Lopez, 2015).…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The women mentioned various social rewards, including social praise and validation, which seemingly served as verbal persuasion experiences that reinforced selfefficacy (Bandura, 1994(Bandura, , 1997. Cooking meth-especially meth considered by others to be good quality-brought heightened social status (Erickson et al, 2019;Jenkot, 2008). This included popularity and control.…”

Section: Expressed Criminal Self-efficacymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Criminal Self-Efficacy and Perceptions of Risk and Reward among Women Methamphetamine Manufacturers

et al. 2021

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People consider potential risks and rewards while deciding whether to engage in crime. Such perceptions and their impact on behavior can vary according to individual differences like criminal self-efficacy, or one's perception of criminal competency. We examine perceptions of skill, risk, and reward using semi-structured interviews with 46 women "shake and bake" meth cooks currently residing in a halfway house in Alabama. Those who expressed cooking self-efficacy identified many tangible and intangible rewards in meth cooking, which motivated them to persist. They believed the risks were lower and surmountable, employing various risk management strategies. Those who did not express cooking self-efficacy saw cooking as anxiety-inducing, rather than rewarding. They saw the risks as inevitable and made little effort to prevent them but continued cooking to maintain access to meth. Findings indicate that individual levels of criminal self-efficacy should be considered in studies of decision-making and in intervention and treatment strategies.

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“Cooks are Like Gods”: Hierarchies in Methamphetamine-Producing Groups

Cited by 15 publications

References 8 publications

“Once again, a meth lab exploded and somebody died”: Narratives of volatility and risk in the rural drug war

“Once again, a meth lab exploded and somebody died”: Narratives of volatility and risk in the rural drug war

Crime and Place

Criminal Self-Efficacy and Perceptions of Risk and Reward among Women Methamphetamine Manufacturers

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