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Part VIIIChapter 46
Focus on “burning out” of deviance, specifically exiting drug trafficking
Upper echelon marijuana & cocaine dealers & smugglers who were initially attracted to drug trafficking eventually find drawbacks of lifestyle exceeds rewards
Previous research focused on low & middle levels of drug smuggling (Anonymous, 1969; Atkyns & Hanneman, 1974; Blum, 1972; Carey, 1968; Goode, 1970; Langer, 1977; Lieb & Olson, 1976; Mouledoux, 1972; and Waldorf et al., 1977)
Part 8: Ch. 46
Part 8: Ch. 46
Total of 65 smugglers & dealers were observed (N = 65) Half earned up to three-quarters of a
million a yearOther half continually struggled in
business, either breaking even or losing money
Based in “Southwest County” – section of large metropolitan area in southwestern California near Mexico border
Marijuana obtained in Mexico & cocaine in Colombia, Bolivia & Peru purchasing between 10 & 40 kilos at a time
Drugs imported to US by land, sea & airPart 8: Ch. 46
Middled: transferring to another buyer for small, immediate profit ($2-$5 per kilo for marijuana & $5k per kilo for cocaine)
Straight dealing: no middleman entailedWholesale marijuana dealers: bought
directly from smugglers buying 300 – 1,000 “bricks” & selling in lots of 100 – 300 bricks (avg. a kilo in weight)
Multi-kilo dealers: not smugglers’ first connections, but bought 100 – 300 bricks & sold in 25 -100 brick quantities
Part 8: Ch. 46
Marijuana prices dependent on following:Purchase costDistance it was transportedAmount of risk assumedQuality of marijuana
Cocaine prices much more predictable:$10,000 purchasing a kilo, sold for about
$60,000“Pound” dealers cut in quantities of
pounds ($30,000) or 1/2 pound ($15,000) & sold them to “ounce” dealers who then sold them to “cut ounce” deals ($2,000 per oz) Part 8: Ch. 46
Pursued drug trafficking as full-time occupation
If involved in other businesses, they were usually maintained to provide them with legitimate front for security purposes
Profits depended on individual’s style of operation, reliability, security & amount of product he or she consumed
Business activities varied, but they clustered together for business & social relations
Part 8: Ch. 46
Smugglers & dealers banded together & pursued “fast” lifestyle emphasizing:Intensive partyingCasual sexExtensive travelAbundant drug consumptionLavish spending on consumer goods
At this level, drug world was homogenousParticipants predominantly white, from
middle-class backgrounds & previous criminal involvement
Included men & women, but most menAges 25 to 40 years
Part 8: Ch. 46
Drew on snowball sampling techniquesLargely by accidentResearchers became friendly with group
of neighbors who turned out to be heavily involved in smuggling marijuana
Use of key informants to gain trust of other members
Old ladies: girlfriends or wives of dealers & smugglers
Part 8: Ch. 46
Part 8: Ch. 46
Despite gratifications originally derived from easy money, material comfort, freedom, prestige & power, 90% of those observed decided to quit the businessStemmed in part from initial perceptions of
career as temporaryRapid aging in the careerTired of living the fugitive lifeDisengaging rarely an abrupt act
Rarely successful in making it legitimately because they failed to cut down on extravagant lifestyle & drug consumption
Part 8: Ch. 46
Many abandoned efforts to reform & returned to deviance, sometimes picking up where they left off & other times shifting to new mode of operatingExample: Dealing cocaine to dealing
marijuanaShifted role within same group of traffickers
Series of phase-outs & reentries, combined with career shifts endured for years, dominating pattern of their remaining involvement with the business
But also represented method by which many eventually broke away from trafficking
Part 8: Ch. 46
Once established in drug world, dealers & smugglers entered middle phase of aging in careerCharacterized by loss of enchantment with
occupationResult of both extended exposure to
mundane, everyday business aspects & exorbitant consumption of drugs (esp. cocaine)
Frenzy of overstimulation & resulting exhaustion hastened process of “burnout”
Part 8: Ch. 46
Dealers & smugglers generally repressed awareness of danger.
But result of accumulating “scares” increased feelings of “paranoia”
They also grew progressively weary of their exclusion from legitimate world & deceptions they had to manage to sustain separation
Feeling of being “expatriated citizen within one’s own country”
Part 8: Ch. 46
(1) Hedonistic & materialistic satisfactions the drug world provided
(2) Dealers & smugglers identified with, and developed commitment to, occupation of drug trafficking – self images tied to role & couldn’t be easily disengaged
(3) Dealers & smugglers hesitated to voluntarily quite field because of difficulty involved in finding another way to make a living
Part 8: Ch. 46
Dealers & smugglers trying to leave drug world fell into one of four patterns:(1) Postpone quitting until after they
could execute one last “big deal(2) Planning to change immediately but
never did(3) Suspending their dealing & smuggling
activities, but didn’t replace them an alternative source of income
(4) Try to move into another line of work
Part 8: Ch. 46
Phasing out of drug world was more often than not temporary
For most, it represented but another stage of their drug careers
Most forced out of were anxious to return
Coming back from financial, legal & reputational bustouts was possible difficult & was not always successfully accomplished
Part 8: Ch. 46
About 10% began tapering off drug world involvement gradually
40% experienced a “bustout” – forced withdrawals, which were usually sudden & motivated by external factors
Legal bustouts generally occurred when dealers or smugglers were either “burned” or “ripped off” by others, leaving them in too much debt to rebuild their operationsDeath was ultimate bustout
Part 8: Ch. 46
Returning from bustouts usually entailed trial period where they had to reestablish trust & reliability
Voluntary reentry involved easier process
Part 8: Ch. 46
Whether forced out or voluntary bustout, they didn’t always return on same level of transacting or commodity which characterized previous style of operation
Many underwent a “career shift” & became involved in some new segment of drug world
A final alternative involved neither completely leaving nor remaining within deviant world – a continual “dabbling” in drug trafficking
Part 8: Ch. 46
Part 8: Ch. 46
Oscillation into & out of active drug trafficking makes it difficult to speak of leaving – a final retirement
Those forced out had difficult time returning given that bustouts were damaging, with attempted reentries usually unsuccessful
Nonetheless it was difficult to ascertain whether leaving was temporary or permanent
Part 8: Ch. 46
What distinguishes upper-level drug dealers & smugglers from middle & low-level ones?
What factors contributed to leaving the drug world? Why was it difficult to do so?
Part 8: Ch. 46
Part VIIIChapter 47
Some identity careers have “highly articulated” (Glaser & Strauss, 1971) durations marked by explicit entrances & exits
Some, like emotional disorder labels, don’t given that the sensations & experiences that qualify as symptoms tend to be internally located & lack visible boundaries; thus they are highly subjective
The present study explores subjective self-meanings of those identified with emotional disorder labels & no longer do (delabelers)
Part 8: Ch. 47
Part 8: Ch. 47
In-depth interviews with 40 individuals claiming to be delabelers (N = 40)
Individuals formerly identified with range of emotional disorder labels such as:AnorexicCodependentBipolarAgoraphobic
Narratives offer insight into changing subjective meanings of disorder identities over time as well as exits (from such labels)
Part 8: Ch. 47
Only criterion for being considered labeler:Formerly labeled with emotional disorder
either professionally or “self-labeled”Thus being a delabeler not necessarily
synonymous with being “cured” – just that individual no longer uses label as source of identity
Use of snowball sampling & advertisements with flyers
Informants from 10 different statesPrimarily female (n = 31)Ages 20 to 69 years
Part 8: Ch. 47
One-third over age 50Half in social service, mental health or
other health-related professionGender skew attributed to feminization
of psychotherapy and mental healthDisorders & conditions predominantly
resemble DSM-IV-TR criteria of mental disordersDiagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental
DisordersMajority identified with labels for <10
years, while 11 delabelers report having identified for 10+ years
Identity exit fraught with intra- & interpersonal conflicts that make process emotionally difficult
Obstacles of disidentifying illustrated on existential, interactional & cultural levels
Several delabelers went through period of questioning “Who am I now?” after deciding to disidentify with labels
Disidentifying from emotional disorder labels doesn’t involve adopting a new, labeled status, instead the transition moves exiting individual from a highly “marked,” culturally recognized status to completely “unmarked” non-identityThus it requires simple forfeit of known
identity, which can be destabilizing for most
Faced with identity void
Disassociating with group identity (i.e., support groups) can trigger feelings of guilt & fear, which are associated with issues of loyalty to group
Deserter complex: results from considering leaving group
Reverse Stigmatization: fear of being ostracized by group for choosing to disidentify with label
Delabelers describe cultural pressure to remain identified as “disordered”
Narratives reflect cultural trend of assuming that label is needed in order to understand & cope with life’s difficultiesThe increased psychologization of every
day life has borne an explosion in number of therapeutic practitioners & therapeutic self-help groups; and expert domain of psychological professionals & popular self-help culture & media representations further reinforces cultural preoccupation with therapeutics
This potential is suggested in several delabelers’ narratives that reveal internalization of their disease concept of emotional behavior, which made disidentifying especially difficult
What factors influence the process of disidentifying with emotional disorders so difficult?
What specific obstacles do delabelers face and to what extent can this be attributed to socialization and society?