The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story Of A Teenage Drug Ring - Softcover

Terry Williams

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201570033 ISBN 13: 9780201570038

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1990

Synopsis

Since 1982, sociologist Terry Williams has spent days, weeks, and months hanging out” with a teenage cocaine ring in cocaine bars, after-hours clubs, on street corners, in crack houses and in their homes. The picture he creates in The Cocaine Kids is the story behind the headlines. The lives of these young dealers in the fast lane of the underground economy emerge in depth and color on the pages of this book.

About this title

About the Author:

Sociologist Terry Williams, Ph.D., coauthor of Growing Up Poor, is the joint recipient of a MacArthur foundation grant to study the culture of housing projects. The completion of The Cocaine Kids was accomplished during Williams's appointment at the Conservation of Human Resources at Columbia University.

From Library Journal:

From 1982 to 1986, sociologist Williams followed the activities of a teenage cocaine ring in New York's Spanish Harlem. He tells their story in their own street language (and conveniently provides a glossary). The "kids" tell how cocaine is adulterated, packaged, and sold; how the chain of distribution works; and even detail the etiquette of drug selling and usage. They also give the stories of their lives, and Williams follows up with what has happened to them since 1986. Williams is very nonjudgmental, which is the book's main fault; by showing the drug trade primarily as a way for teenagers to attain status and money, and soft-pedaling the violence and harm involved, he makes the activities of the "kids" seem as normal as those of any teenagers with part - time jobs. For larger crime and sociology collections.
- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0201570033
• ISBN 13: 9780201570038
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160