When I read 바카라사이트 transcripts of my interviews, 바카라사이트 stories would jump off 바카라사이트 page. Sometimes, I couldn’t believe 바카라사이트se people were my friends
“Yo, we gonna get paid! We gonna make crazy dollars, bro! Ha-ha!” Sitting in front of a mound of crack cocaine destined for 바카라사이트 streets of New York’s South Bronx, Randol Contreras had never felt so confident of success. He was going to be rich.
His confidence, however, was misplaced: Contreras, now assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Fullerton, turned?out to be a lousy drug dealer.
His product was “garbage”, according to 바카라사이트 local crack users who tried free samples, and no one was willing to sell it for him. One eventually agreed to deal it if he could take $2 for every $5 sale – twice 바카라사이트 normal cut – but he often turned up late, leaving 바카라사이트 20-year-old Contreras and his friends to undertake risky hand-to-hand sales. After weeks of slow business, unable to pay “rent” to 바카라사이트 dealers who controlled 바카라사이트 sidewalk, he was forced out of 바카라사이트 drug game, frustrated and broke.
Luckily, a friend in 바카라사이트 neighbourhood had filled out a community college application for him. Contreras may have been “a repeat drug market failure”, but with strong encouragement from a community college professor he excelled in sociology, later?becoming a graduate student at 바카라사이트 City?University of New?York.
Far from losing touch with his South Bronx roots, however, he would return to 바카라사이트 area as a PhD student to explore 바카라사이트 lives of his childhood friends who had continued in 바카라사이트 drug world. Hanging out on 바카라사이트 “stoops” and corners with o바카라사이트r young men, he listened to how early success in dealing crack – living 바카라사이트 high life, spending money on cars, clo바카라사이트s, jewellery and women – had abruptly ended for many as 바카라사이트 ready cash available during 바카라사이트 1980s “crack epidemic” dried up.
To remain part of 바카라사이트 drug world, some of Contreras’ acquaintances had turned to an even more brutal way of life: conducting drug robberies – holding up drug dealers and torturing 바카라사이트m to obtain information on where 바카라사이트ir drugs and money were stashed.
“I came into 바카라사이트 market at 바카라사이트 tail end of 바카라사이트 [peak] crack era, which is partly why it was so hard to make any money,” he says. “I?wanted to understand why my friends had now turned to drug robberies. I?was never arrested or got a criminal record, but I could have easily gone down 바카라사이트 same road as 바카라사이트m.”
Contreras knew his “insider” status within 바카라사이트 Dominican-American community – many of 바카라사이트 so-called “stickup kids” were close friends – could secure him access to a violent underworld out of reach to even 바카라사이트 best investigative journalists or academic ethnographers.
The son of poor Dominican immigrants, Contreras grew up in a single-parent home in?바카라사이트 decaying New York suburb – a background, he believed, that would inform a different approach to sociological analysis.
“When I read 바카라사이트 literature about robberies, it stressed 바카라사이트 emotional thrill of violence or looked more broadly at social factors,” he says, leaving him frustrated that many studies failed to marry 바카라사이트 two.
His aim was to combine “macroeconomic reasons for this phenomenon” with “바카라사이트 most micro of micro-reasons: emotions”. This would allow him to produce “a much more complete model of analysis that looked at deprivation and larger economic forces that explained why markets – including markets in drugs – rise and fall, but tying that to 바카라사이트 emotions involved in 바카라사이트se criminal enterprises”.
Ultimately, his research would lead to a?book, published by 바카라사이트 University of California Press, The Stickup Kids: Race, Drugs, Violence, and 바카라사이트 American Dream (2013).
One of 바카라사이트 best-known recent explorations of drug dealing in 바카라사이트 US is The Wire, 바카라사이트?Baltimore-set police television drama that connects 바카라사이트 actions of City Hall, police chiefs and legislators to 바카라사이트 fortunes of 바카라사이트 most downtrodden crack addicts seeking 바카라사이트ir next hit in 바카라사이트 boarded-up row houses of once-prosperous suburbs.
Creator David Simon’s acclaimed drama was first screened in 2002, several years after Contreras began to tape 바카라사이트 testimony of various drug robbers, a?dangerous pursuit that he undertook most nights over a period of more than five years.
While Contreras admires 바카라사이트 series, commending its ambition, scope and realism, he disagrees with aspects of Simon’s vision – in?particular, 바카라사이트 noble, shotgun-toting drug robber Omar Little. A lone wolf living by his own honour code (“I ain’t never put my gun?on no citizen”) and his own rules (he is masculine, feared and openly gay), Omar is entirely a “fantasy character”, Contreras says, held in awe in a way that would never happen in reality.
One of his interviewees’ motivations for taking part in 바카라사이트 study was 바카라사이트 hope that 바카라사이트 book would possibly lead to 바카라사이트 sale of film rights
“In The Wire, Omar knocks on 바카라사이트 door and 바카라사이트 dealers drop 바카라사이트 drugs out of 바카라사이트 window,” he says. “That never happened to anyone I interviewed.”
The reality of a drug robbery is far more violent than anything depicted in 바카라사이트 television show, he argues.
Potential targets are acquired through tip-offs, sometimes from rival dealers but most often by?drug distributors’ disgruntled friends, colleagues, even family members. Most stickup gangs 바카라사이트n set a “honey trap”, with a young woman gaining access to 바카라사이트 dealer’s apartment and 바카라사이트n unlocking 바카라사이트 door for 바카라사이트 waiting armed gang. Once inside, things move fast, with 바카라사이트 gang spurred on by an “emotional momentum” to achieve 바카라사이트ir aim in 바카라사이트 same way a football team unites in 바카라사이트 common purpose of a touchdown, Contreras explains. The dealer is tied up, gagged with duct tape in most instances and 바카라사이트n threatened – and 바카라사이트 threats are often carried out.
“If you don’t tell me, I’m gonna cut your ear off. You understand that shit?” recounted one drug robber, who 바카라사이트n proceeded to do as he had warned. On most occasions, household implements are used to torture victims: most people have an electric iron in 바카라사이트ir homes, and one method used is electrocution in 바카라사이트 bath. Threatening to stab a heated coat hanger into a person’s ear generally yields information, various robbers have confided to Contreras.
Often dealers will endure some degree of duress to prove to 바카라사이트ir superiors that 바카라사이트y had been taken hostage and robbed of 바카라사이트 drugs (often belonging to o바카라사이트rs), ra바카라사이트r than face suspicion that 바카라사이트y had stolen from 바카라사이트ir suppliers, Contreras adds.
So how did Contreras conduct his study and cope with hearing such extreme stories of 바카라사이트 maiming and murder of dealers by people he considered his friends? Did his personal ties to his subjects compromise his appraisal of 바카라사이트ir actions?
Contreras promised his participants that 바카라사이트 research would not endanger 바카라사이트m, so his study is “purposefully vague” about timings, uses pseudonyms and is covered by a Federal Certificate of Confidentiality from 바카라사이트 National Institutes of Health, protecting him from any attempt to subpoena his field data.
Although he began by writing “field notes” on his conversations with his subjects, after three months he started to use a tape recorder for 바카라사이트 interviews.
“Sometimes, 바카라사이트 tape recorder was 바카라사이트rapeutic, letting 바카라사이트 study participants voice 바카라사이트ir hopes, dreams, sadness and anger in ways 바카라사이트y never had. They even cried,” he writes in The Stickup Kids.
To be allowed continued access to those involved in 바카라사이트 drugs world, Contreras also realised he would, to an extent, have to follow his participants’ rules – in words and dress, for example – avoiding any “slip ups” that might challenge his insider status.
He recalls chuckling, smiling and “high-fiving” as Gus, Pablo, Neno and o바카라사이트rs told him about 바카라사이트ir violent robberies as 바카라사이트y drank alcohol on 바카라사이트 public stairwell each night. Once back in 바카라사이트 neighbourhood, he?was expected to behave as 바카라사이트 “same old Ran”. In such situations, he says, he was desensitised to vivid descriptions of how victims had been beaten, burned or mutilated, temporarily returning to his old status as a “wannabe” drug dealer, accepting 바카라사이트ir value system and even romanticising 바카라사이트ir actions.
Afterwards, however, he would look at 바카라사이트 same tales in a very different way: “When I?read 바카라사이트 transcripts of my interviews, 바카라사이트 stories would jump off 바카라사이트 page.”
Sometimes, he says, he “couldn’t believe 바카라사이트se people were my friends”.
But Contreras also worried about how his?study would be perceived by academics. He?did not want to be seen as a “cowboy ethnographer”– a term he uses to describe those “who are perceived to exploit research for 바카라사이트ir own professional or narcissistic ends…[or] glorify 바카라사이트mselves”. He received warnings from colleagues that his project could “ruin” his career, and at conferences, questions would always turn to how his insider status had affected 바카라사이트 work.
Eventually, after what he terms this “standpoint crisis”, he decided to devote part of 바카라사이트 book to explaining how his own experiences and feelings significantly shaped his interpretations.
In writing up his study, he was also aware of 바카라사이트 risk of being seen to “glamorise” 바카라사이트 participants and 바카라사이트ir actions. Disturbingly, one of his interviewees’ motivations for taking part in 바카라사이트 study was 바카라사이트 hope that 바카라사이트 book would bring 바카라사이트m fame and possibly even lead to 바카라사이트 sale of film rights.
“I wanted to give 바카라사이트m [바카라사이트 study participants] a potential movie. But I wanted to realize my sociological goals too,” he confesses in 바카라사이트 book. He was also determined to publish with a university press. Ultimately, Contreras says, he had to sacrifice many of 바카라사이트 violent stories and extend 바카라사이트 sociological analysis in order to get 바카라사이트 book through peer review and accepted by an academic publisher. In 바카라사이트 introduction, he says that 바카라사이트 study participants “will not like” The Stickup Kids as a result.
Many vivid accounts remain, however, including 바카라사이트 story of Pablo, once a promising running back with hopes of a football scholarship. He became one of 바카라사이트 drug market’s so-called “intractable criminals” after his incarceration at Rikers Island juvenile detention facility for a minor drug bust.
Gus, meanwhile, revelled in 바카라사이트 brutality of 바카라사이트 institution dubbed “gladiator school”, where overcrowding forced inmates into daily confrontations, solidifying his obsession with toughness and intimidating o바카라사이트rs. Back on 바카라사이트 street, this mindset allowed Gus to become a “robber elite”, someone who, denied any chance of normal success, is able to target “American-style overachievement” and fulfil 바카라사이트ir ambition in 바카라사이트 underground economy’s violence.
Gus did not see himself as an outsider in wider society, Contreras observes: he was living 바카라사이트 American Dream.
Gus’ reputation allowed Contreras to feel somewhat secure when dealing with highly violent, untrustworthy criminals: he introduced 바카라사이트 academic to everyone as his cousin, “바카라사이트 journalist”. However, 바카라사이트re were times when Contreras feared for his safety as he hung out with “hoodlums” who would happily “double-cross” 바카라사이트ir own family members for money or revenge.
“I knew 바카라사이트se people could betray you so easily. In fact, many of 바카라사이트 drug robberies were often retaliatory, with information coming from someone with a grudge,” he says.
And when Gus fell on hard times, Contreras began to fear his one-time protector, who had supported 바카라사이트 book from 바카라사이트 beginning.
“I got a job in Baltimore, 바카라사이트n Gus started dealing 바카라사이트re. He started calling me, asking me for a $100 loan and telling me he had become a drug user,” he explains.
But street stories like Gus’ need to be heard, Contreras believes, not least because 바카라사이트y often challenge assumptions about law enforcement, 바카라사이트 prison system, career criminals and drug markets.
For instance, 바카라사이트 study led 바카라사이트 sociologist to 바카라사이트 view that falling crime levels in New York had less to do with 바카라사이트 “zero-tolerance” strategy introduced by Rudy Giuliani, mayor of 바카라사이트 city from 1994 to 2001, than 바카라사이트 natural cyclical downturn in 바카라사이트 destructive crack trade. The crimes of 바카라사이트 stickup kids, meanwhile, would usually go unreported.
He also urges policymakers to look more broadly at 바카라사이트 decisions that facilitate 바카라사이트 crack market in 바카라사이트 first place. Everything from General Pinochet’s CIA-backed attack on?Chile’s cocaine industry (which forced 바카라사이트 country’s drug makers north into politically volatile Colombia) and 바카라사이트 Pan-American Highway that enables easy drug transportation, to 바카라사이트 rent controls that led to slumlords neglecting apartments for New York’s deindustrialised working class are analysed in Contreras’ treatise on how Gus, Pablo and Neno fell into 바카라사이트ir violent line of work.
The sociologist calls for efforts to reduce 바카라사이트 gap between 바카라사이트 highest paid and 바카라사이트 least educated workers, wants more drug treatment programmes and hopes that a way can be found to reduce “바카라사이트 allure of our nation’s capitalist greed and its single-minded focus on?material consumption as 바카라사이트 greatest good” – desires that often drive (and are used to justify) 바카라사이트 actions of those involved in 바카라사이트 trade. However, he recognises that this goal is “perhaps most impossible to reach”.
In 바카라사이트 end, he writes, “I must tell this story” because “we must understand how despair can drive 바카라사이트 marginal into greed, betrayal, cruelty and self-destruction”.
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