Drifting into dealing: Becoming a cocaine seller

This paper describes a study of eight ex-cocaine sellers located via chain referral from eight different levels of sales. To be eligible for the study respondents must have sold cocaine steadily for at least a year and have stopped selling for at least six months. The authors describe modes and levels of entree into cocaine sales, and the subtle transformation of identity that occurs when a person moves from a user to a dealer. The interviews suggest that entry into social worlds of cocaine sales is a fluid process akin to Matza's notion of drift (1964). Five basic ways in which people begin to sell cocaine are identified. The first is to become a go-between, a seller who starts out buying only for friends and only later envisions the profit possibilities. The second mode is to become a stash dealer, a person who sells small amounts in order to better afford their own cocaine use. The third style, the connoisseur, is characterized by the user's desire to buy high quality drugs through wholesale purchases. The fourth mode of entree may be called apprenticeship, trainee-style relationships where the novitiate lives with an established seller, learns the ropes, shares the dope, and eventually takes over all or part of the experienced dealer's business. Finally, there is product line expansion, wherein dealers start outselling other drugs, usually marijuana, and move into cocaine sales when it becomes available.The research reported herein was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (#7-0363-9-CA-IJ)), Bernard A. Gropper, Ph.D., Program Manager, Drugs, Alcohol and Crime Programs, Center for Crime Control Research. The views expressed herein are those of the authors alone. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers ofQualitative Sociology for helpful comments.     

The Heartland Responds to Terror: Volunteering After the Bombing of the Murrah Federal Building

Objective. We examine volunteering to support the relief effort after the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. We address two issues: (1) how widespread was volunteering and what forms did it take, and (2) does Wilson and Musick’s (1997a) “integrated theory of volunteer work” help to explain variation in volunteering in this disaster situation? Methods. We use data from the 1996 Oklahoma City Survey (OKC Survey). The 1996 OKC Survey is based on a random sample of the adult population of Oklahoma City and was administered 10 months after the bombing. Results. Nearly 75 percent of the sample respondents volunteered to support the relief effort in at least one way; giving money and donating nonprofessional goods or services were the two most prevalent volunteer activities. Socioeconomic status, knowing someone killed or injured in the bombing, belonging to voluntary organizations before the bombing, and being affiliated with a religious denomination were predictors of volunteering, depending on the type of volunteer activity considered. Conclusions. The magnitude of volunteering after the Murrah Building bombing was in line with volunteer efforts after other disasters. The integrated theory of volunteer work is a useful framework for studying volunteering after disasters.     

Protest or Partnership? The Voluntary and Community Sectors in the Policy Process

The growing emphasis on partnership is opening up new opportunities for voluntary and community organizations, many of which have felt themselves hitherto to be “outsiders” in the policy process. But it is also generating new dilemmas as they strive to maintain their autonomy while increasingly operating as insiders. This article examines the strategic choices that such organizations make in seeking to influence policy and the challenges that they face. It rejects the simple categorizations made between “insiders” and “outsiders” in the policy process, arguing that strategic choices are more complex and dynamic than this, with insider strategies dependent on outsider strategies and vice versa, and many organizations operating from both arenas.     

Family Assessment and Intervention for Early Adolescent Problems*

The clinical assessment of adolescent problems is most effective when conducted in view of developmental tasks, family interaction, and peer group influences. For early adolescents, developmental issues need to be resolved within a supportive family milieu before satisfactory differentiation toward a peer group can occur. An assessment-intervention model for initiating treatment with early adolescents and their parents is presented. The combined collaborative-conjoint method was operationalized by interdisciplinary professional teams in a community health setting. The treatment model's effectiveness was evaluated by self-reports and statistical comparisons in 50 cases over a two year period. The results are discussed and illustrated in two case studies.     

Adaptive familial strategies among merchant seamen

The study reported here examines those familial strategies that develop among merchant seamen families: replacement husband/father, conflict, contingent authority, and periodic guest. Data were gathered from interviews with 141 families over a 7-year period. Results indicate that merchant seamen families use a replacement husband/father strategy if male kin are available. When kin are not available these families eventually arrive at and remain in a periodic guest strategy. A discussion of family power as it relates to the development of specific strategies is also included.Craig J. Forsyth is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, P.O. Box 40198, Lafayette, LA 70504. His current research interests include deviant life-styles, maritime sociology, and the interrelationship between family and work. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.Robert Gramling is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, P.O. Box 40198, Lafayette, LA 70504. His research interests are in the areas of social impacts of economic activity, particularly on the family, and microscopic social theory. His Ph.D. is from Florida State University.     

Past Activeness,Solidarity, and Local Development Efforts1

Abstract Actions by local groups and leaders constitute an essential but poorly understood element of many rural development strategies. Previous studies suggest that local development efforts can influence community change, but questions remain about why localities differ in mobilization to achieve development goals. Drawing upon community field theory and human ecology, this study uses data for rural school districts in Pennsylvania to examine the argument that activeness in the past and development of solidarity can contribute to a higher probability of local mobilization than would be predicted by ecological characteristics alone. Hierarchical regressions support this argument for some local actions, while canonical correlations show a generalized pattern strongly associated with past activeness and solidarity.     

Gay Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Sexual Minority Youth: A Clinical Adaptation

Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at high risk for negative mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidality. However, there has been a disconnect between clinical social work practice and research with SMY, resulting in a lack of rigorous research that demonstrates the use of effective interventions. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has long been established as a best practice option for the general adolescent population suffering from mental health problems, knowledge about the use of CBT with SMY lags far behind. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present a clearly defined adaptation of CBT for SMY that integrates gay affirmative practices for youth (e.g., coming out, stigma and discrimination, the role of social support and community). Specifically, the authors: (a) discuss the impact of minority stress on SMY; (b) highlight the specific components of CBT that represent a good fit for SMY and also address the criticisms of using such an approach; (c) consider the importance of using gay affirmative practices with SMY; and (d) offer recommendations for incorporating gay affirmative practices into traditional CBT models to better meet the needs of SMY.     

Metropole and Colony: Irish Networks and Patronage in the Eighteenth-Century Empire

This study examines how social networks helped to overcome problems of physical distance in the British Empire during the eighteenth century. In particular, it explores the relationships between ethnicity, patronage and place by focusing on a group of Irish professionals. By piecing together connections between lawyers, merchants and medical doctors in various places including Ireland, London, Jamaica and Senegambia, this essay suggests that Irish networks were flexible enough to allow for dialogue, disagreement and change, but were also durable enough to transcend time and space. These qualities were crucial for sustaining the obligations of patronage that characterised the ‘Old Society’ of eighteenth-century Britain and generated the means to overcome some practical problems of imperialism.     

The question of community attachment revisited

In this paper we compare the relative effects of satisfaction with specific community (neighborhood) attributes and social integration into the community on community attachment. Previous research on community attachment has not assessed the importance of satisfaction with specific attributes as a determinant of attachment. Instead, this research has focussed on integration into the social life of a community as the primary source of community attachment. We find that although social integration has the more important effect on attachment, satisfaction with specific community attributes also has a statistically significant effect. People who are satisfied with the general physical appearance, the noise level, and the quality of neighbors in their communities tend to be more attached to them than those who are less satisfied. We address the theoretical and policy implications of this finding. In short, this finding implies, contrary to previous thought, that it is possible for there to be higher levels of attachment to communities that appear to be lacking a well‐developed social life. It also implies that levels of attachment to communities could be enhanced by programs that improve certain features of the physical environment which are seen as indicative of the quality of communities as good places to live.