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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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”

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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”

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(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

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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

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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

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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

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Returning from bustouts usually entailed trial period where they had to reestablish trust & reliability

Voluntary reentry involved easier process

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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

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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

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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?

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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)

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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)

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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

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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?