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Women on the Edge of Crime: Crack Cocaine and the Changing Contexts of Street-Level Sex Work in New York City

NCJ Number
140453
Journal
Crime, Law and Social Change Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 221-258
Author(s)
L Maher; R Curtis
Date Published
1992
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the thesis that women's emancipation and drug use escalate female crime and violence, using data from ongoing ethnographic fieldwork on women crack smokers and the changing context of prostitution in New York City.
Abstract
The analysis looks at crack-induced participation in the sex-segmented informal economy, increased competition and hostility in the street environment, changes in the price and nature of prostitution, and market conditions for sexual services and the victimization of women. The authors show that changes in the structure, functioning, and locales of drug markets can be viewed in relation to changes in prostitution markets that provide the context for street- level sex work. Recent increases in rates of female participation in such criminal activities as robbery and assault may appear to suggest a shift away from traditional female involvement. Observations and interviews, however, indicate that these participation rates may more accurately reflect an "innovative solution," albeit one that is deeply immersed in prostitution. Forms of illicit income generation, which appear to reflect extended criminality and excursions into the male domain, more accurately reflect the continued subjugation of women. The position of female crack smokers can best be understood by locating their lives, their illicit drug use, and their income-generating activities within the context of a specific set of localized socioeconomic and cultural developments. Women are becoming more criminal and/or violent in the context of either crack cocaine consumption or alleged emancipation. 80 notes and references

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