NCJ Number
230271
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2010 Pages: 159-185
Date Published
April 2010
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This study examined the structural and cultural forces that illuminate the enormous criminal growth potential of the steroid marketplace.
Abstract
Illicit steroid and human growth hormone use by professional athletes has received significant media and political attention in the last 5 years. The resulting political pressure has compelled federal law enforcement to prosecute serious new control initiatives. To date, no academic research inquiring into the nature of this illicit industry exists. This study fills this void through the mixed methods approach employing both ethnographic field research and quantitative content analysis. The ethnographic data demonstrate a fascinating late-modern trafficking scheme where the central informant established an apartment-based manufacturing operation, converting raw steroid chemical compounds ordered off the Internet into injectable solutions. Content analysis of 186 Web sites that supply anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) demonstrates that these grounded findings are indicative of a much larger phenomenon. Our final analysis examines the broader theoretical relevance of the ethnographic findings through contextualizing them within macro-structural (supply) and macro-cultural (demand) social forces. Tables, diagrams, and references (Published Abstract)