NCJ Number
110397
Journal
Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1986) Pages: 645-666
Date Published
1986
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This paper reports ethnographic data on the street life of persons involved in the heroin subculture of two major Detroit inner-city housing projects, focusing on the heroin seller and the social organization of selling at the retail level.
Abstract
The data base is derived from a series of interviews with 15 heroin dealers and from the author's observations over 3 months on site with the dealers. The Young Boys, Inc., one of the drug syndicates in Detroit, uses the 'runner' system, which is a multitiered, task-directed organizational system that services a heroin-consuming clientele. The direct sale of the heroin is done by a street-level actor called a runner. Runners are issued heroin to sell and are supervised by 'crew bosses,' who are in turn managed by 'lieutenants' responsible for several crews. All the crews of a syndicate are 'owned' by the 'big man,' who is the source of the heroin supply for all the crews. With the exception of the runners, those staffing the syndicate are not drug users and view drug use by syndicate members as a detriment to the organization's profitmaking potential. No one syndicate monopolizes the heroin trade. The trade is too broad and entrepreneurial participation to easy to achieve for monopolies to develop. This paper profiles the characteristics and roles of the 'runner' and the 'crew boss.' 4 tables, 18 references.