Activity 5- Cocaine Kids

Cocaine Kids by Terry Williams was a very interesting insight on the lives of young cocaine dealers in New York City. The author followed these kids for 4 years. The form of research this author used was ethnography. Williams observed these individuals in their own social setting, and took clear, detailed, and descriptive field notes throughout. Williams did not take notes while observing, but instead, reconstructed the conversations the next day. In the end, he had 1,200 hours of fieldwork.

            This book had very interesting aspects. One aspect of the drug culture that I found particularly interesting was that these kid cocaine dealers acted as if they were adults. It didn’t really seem like they had any sort of normal childhood. It was interesting that they were dealing with adult situations, despite their young age. For example, some were married and dealt with marital problems and some were parents and dealing with parenting their children. Kitty and Splib have several adult life issues addressed in the book, like being married for 3 years and separating and parenting issues with their two year old son, Armando. Additionally, Max and Susanne also got married at a young age and deal with problems with married life.

            Another aspect of the drug culture that I found interesting is the after-hours clubs and the fact that it is a key social institution of the cocaine culture. All types of users attend these clubs and share cocaine and engage in cocaine rituals and socialize with other dealers and cocaine users. It was also interesting to me that these dealers took time off from selling cocaine and just went to these places to socialize with other dealers and share their stories.

            A third aspect I found interesting about the drug culture is the crack houses. Williams’ description of the crack house he went to is the picture I have in mind whenever I think of crack houses. He explained that the floors were blood stained and dirty. The house was desolate, uninviting, dank and smoky. Williams described the people in this establishment as only there for sex and cocaine. Kitty described Jason’s crack house as a place to go for intercourse and that is how it was advertised. It was bothersome that she described the girls in this house as very young and that they stayed for days at a time.

            The author’s observations and this book as a whole relate to class material. In class, we generally learn about the drug itself and the effects these drugs have on users, but we do not usually go into detail about the people that deal these drugs. I think this was a good book to read in addition to class material and lectures because it gives an insight to the other side of cocaine and gives insight to the dealers lives and what goes into getting the drugs into the hands of users and addicts.