NCJ Number
139122
Editor(s)
A Harrell,
G E Peterson
Date Published
1992
Length
317 pages
Annotation
The contributors to this book have examined the phenomenon of inner city isolation from various perspectives.
Abstract
A historical background on the underclass debate focuses on the experiences of African-Americans living in Philadelphia following World War II and contrasts it with current experiences. The following chapter examines the more recent period of cities' economic transformation and the resultant impact on distressed urban families. An analysis on the most widespread illegal activity in the inner city, drug trafficking, is based on interviews with 1,000 drug users and sellers in two New York City neighborhoods. An ethnographic report of John Turner illustrates the social and economic choices facing young men burdened with few job prospects, a criminal record, and a desire to maintain their standing with their peers. Two further ethnographic studies examine the situation of families who live within the social and personal disorganization of drug dependence and the lives of middle- aged male crack addicts. The final chapter draws upon the hypothesis of social isolation, using a household sample of friendship patterns and institutional affiliations for Chicago's poverty areas.