NCJ Number
139756
Editor(s)
M S Ratner
Date Published
1993
Length
255 pages
Annotation
This book reports the findings from an 18-month study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse on the phenomenon of exchanging sexual services for crack or for money to purchase the drug.
Abstract
The bulk of the study consists of seven site reports from the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia-Newark which present an ethnographic analysis of this phenomenon. The individual chapters attempt to document and examine the values and actions of individuals engaging in sex-for-crack transactions; their lifestyle is often marked by compulsive drug use, promiscuity, despair, degradation, and the possibility of HIV infection. The first chapter discusses the origin and methodology of the study and provides a general conceptual framework for discussing forces at play in this phenomenon and their interactions. The site visit reports combine data collected from over 300 interviews conducted in crack houses, apartments, and on the street; the subjects were prostitutes, drug dealers, and homeless persons.