The Rise of Drug Dealing in the Life of the North American Street Gang

McLean, Robert; Robinson, Grace; Densley, James A.

doi:10.3390/soc8030090

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Such a perspective has arguably become the mainstream view of drug dealing, and has been put forward by scholars all over the world (eg Arias 2017;McLean et al 2018;Lessing and Willis 2019;Padilla 1992;Pyrooz and Decker 2019;Sánchez-Jankowski 1991;Skarbek 2014;Snyder and Durán-Martínez 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The intimacies of drug dealing: narcotics, kinship and embeddedness in Nicaragua and South Africa

Jensen¹,

Rodgers

2021

Third World Quarterly

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In this article, we explore how and to what extent it is useful to think about drug dealing through the conceptual lens of intimacy. Such an approach both complements and challenges mainstream views on drug dealing, which see the phenomenon as based on 'formal-rational' organisation and practices. We explore the intimacies of drug dealing along three axes: the involvement of kin and family, 'governing intimacy' and as embedded in culturally intimate models and ideas. Drawing on our collaborative ethnographic research in Nicaragua and South Africa, we illustrate first how family and kin are implicated in drug dealing, both voluntarily and against their will. Secondly, we explore how drug dealing institutes or produces particular forms of order, often entangled with state and policing governance, folding itself into communal and family relations. Finally, we consider the extent to which drug dealing enters into local notions and rationalities, from models of how to be a 'good' drug dealer to how one's daughter should conduct her love life. These analyses allow us to suggest new avenues for research on drug dealing that foreground social embeddedness and gender relations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The intimacies of drug dealing: narcotics, kinship and embeddedness in Nicaragua and South Africa

Jensen¹,

Rodgers

2021

Third World Quarterly

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“…It is likely that this existential condition also has an impact on structures and self-images of people involved in this business, e.g. North American research on street dealers mostly centres on (often violent) gangs (for a historical overview see McLean et al , 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marginalised identities between fatalism and desperation – experiences of low-level cannabis street dealers in Frankfurt

Werse

2021

DAT

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Purpose This paper aims to research people who sell cannabis in public spaces known as “drug places” in Frankfurt, Germany. A particular focus is set to the relations of identity formation, relations to other dealers and law enforcement, taking into account the concept of “street capital” as social and cultural capital accumulated in the practice of drug dealing in public. Design/methodology/approach Nine biographically oriented qualitative interviews were conducted directly within the respective “drug places” in the inner city and the margins of the local open drug scene with exclusively male subjects. Interviews were conducted in German, audio-recorded and transcribed. Data was analysed with structured qualitative content analysis. Findings All respondents had some degree of migration background, ranging from German citizens up to refugees with illegal residence permit status. Social deprivation, socio-cultural conflicts with parents, combined with often early own drug use (mainly cannabis and cocaine) and stigma had contributed to a precarious existence. Experiences of criminalisation did not discourage the respondents from the continuation of their selling activity. Violence in these settings was likely but assessed in highly different ways depending on attitudes and experiences. The same is true for diverging experiences with police, however, the threat of being criminalised is always present. Originality/value As mostly independent and solitary dealers, this study researched a rarely investigated group. While these respondents have developed skills or street capital to survive in the respective setting, they are caught between unfavourable social conditions, social exclusion, violence, law enforcement and own drug use, leading to a desperate and fatalistic mindset. Somewhat paradoxically, this fatalism may be regarded as a result of keeping control over their own actions.

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From Family to Franchise? Friendship, Individualism, and the Marketization of the Colombian Youth Gang

Butti

2022

Youth Glob.

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The surge of transnational illicit economies has led to important transformations in gang structures and cultures. From locally-bound, solidarity-driven institutions, gangs have morphed into globally-connected, market-driven ones. But how has this change affected the way young gang members relate to each other? This paper explores this question in the particular case of Medellín (Colombia), based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork with adolescents working at the low ends of narco-gangs. It traces the evolution of gangs from the 1970s galladas – peer groups of kids who sought to support each other – to today’s pandillas – ruthless and profit-driven groups that operate as the local franchises of larger criminal organizations. The paper argues that the co-optation of youth gangs by transnational organized crime has drastically reduced the sense of protection, inclusion, and belonging that gangs provide to their youngest members. It has also hampered the role of gangs as institutions of cultural resistance and critique.

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The Rise of Drug Dealing in the Life of the North American Street Gang

Cited by 3 publications

References 45 publications

The intimacies of drug dealing: narcotics, kinship and embeddedness in Nicaragua and South Africa

The intimacies of drug dealing: narcotics, kinship and embeddedness in Nicaragua and South Africa

Marginalised identities between fatalism and desperation – experiences of low-level cannabis street dealers in Frankfurt

From Family to Franchise? Friendship, Individualism, and the Marketization of the Colombian Youth Gang

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