Crime and the Life Course in Another America: Collective Trajectory in Mexican Drug Cartel Dominated Communities

Chomczyński, Piotr; Clark, Timothy W.

doi:10.1080/07418825.2022.2029543

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…In Western terms, trust is derived from transparency, but in other countries it stems from personal relations of those in which you confide regarding illicit activities. Trust is not only connected with familial criminal organizations like the Italian mafia (Gambetta 1990) but also associated with street gangs (Densley 2012) and drug dealers (Chomczynski and Guy 2021; Chomczynski and Clark 2022). The more illegal and riskier the group activity is the more its members must trust each other to protect themselves from outside danger, deals gone bad, or simply being ripped off during transactions requiring extralegal redress (Coomber and Moyle 2018).…”

Section: Trust Social Bonds and Cannabis Dealingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The process of normalizing trafficking is based on shared biographies, trading, and smoking marijuana together as part of a daily routine (Becker 1953, 1955, 1963; Chomczyński and Clark 2022; Chomczyński and Guy 2021; Sandberg 2012a, 2012b, 2013). Parker, Williams, and Aldridge (2002; see also Sandberg 2012a) proposed a normalization thesis that explains how marijuana (mainly) became a recreational substance, widely accepted, and part of reality that is taken for granted especially among youths.…”

Section: The Normalization Of Drug Dealing In Tepitomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there is work on the cannabis markets in the United Kingdom and Norway (Coomber and Turnbull 2007; Sandberg 2012b) little is known about those in Mexico. Further, except for works generally centered on Latin American drug markets and trafficking (Chomczyński and Clark 2022; Durán-Martínez 2015; Gundur 2019; Zamudio 2013) local dealers in Mexico remain an unpenetrated terra incognita .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Weed Central: Cannabis Specialists and Polydrug Vendors in Mexico City

Chomczyński

Guy

Cortés

2022

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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Findings discussed in this article addressed a gap in the literature on cannabis markets in Mexico. This article primarily draws on interviews with ( N = 64) street drug dealers including 24 incarcerated ones, and ethnographic work in 3 impoverished neighborhoods in Mexico City. We find that cannabis sellers enter the profession through early biographical experiences that are reinforced throughout adolescence. Dealing in the context of this cannabis culture is not only acceptable in the present but also viewed as inherently part of their future. Further analysis reveals a typology of dealers that tends to be marked by the transition from cannabis specialists to polydrug vendors. As dealers progress to more profitable sales of hard drugs, they tend to lose the trust and support of neighborhood residents who view their suppliers, clients, and associates as dangerous. We conclude with policy interventions uniquely derived from ethnographic research that are intended to minimize the risk of escalating to more serious drug distribution while preserving community stability and cohesion.

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Section: Trust Social Bonds and Cannabis Dealingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Normalization Of Drug Dealing In Tepitomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Weed Central: Cannabis Specialists and Polydrug Vendors in Mexico City

Chomczyński

Guy

Cortés

2022

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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“…Since the early 2000s, Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) 1 have had a continual need for personnel driven by an escalation of inter-cartel violence, and competition over drug distribution points commonly known as plazas (Astorga and Shirk, 2010; Moreno and Urteaga, 2019; Pereyra, 2012; Ríos, 2013; Chomczyński and Guy, 2021; Chomczyński and Clark, 2022). This conflict with rival DTOs created an insatiable demand for new members through overt methods (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond money, power, and masculinity: Toward an analytical perspective on recruitment to Mexican drug trafficking organizations

Chomczyński

Guy

Azaola

2023

International Sociology

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Mexican drug trafficking organizations have experienced rapid attrition resulting in a continual need for personnel since 2006. However, the process by which these criminal organizations absorb new members remains obscure. In this article, we report on the social context of recruitment and motivational pathways into Mexican drug trafficking organizations through in-depth interviews with current and former cartel members ( N = 79). We find that recruits are motivated by aspirations of financial success and notions of masculinity, but also influenced by attachment to social groups and jointly shared experiences that we term a collective trajectory. We argue that individual decisions to join criminal organizations are viewed in collective terms, or being connected with members of their immediate social group. We conclude with the applications of challenges of collective trajectory for sociological criminology.

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“…Few researchers maintain that distinction, including Fraser and Hagedorn (2018:22), who caution that the term gang "does not easily map onto these groups." Gundur also does it by trying to differentiate between the two types of organized crime (Chomczyński and Clark 2022). "Most drug trafficking organizations appear to have structured the ways in which gangs provide protection and assume trafficking tasks in order to constrain them.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%