article
In search of masculinity: violence, respect and sexuality among Puerto Rican crack dealers in East Harlem
British journal of criminology • 36 • Published In 1996 • Pages: 412-427
By: Bourgois, Philippe I..
Abstract
This article is based on the ethnographic fieldwork of the author while residing next to a crack house in East Harlem, New York during the period of the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Burgois describes '…how the social and economic marginalization of second- and third-generation Puerto Rican immigrants in the inner city has polarized violence and sexuality against women and children, both within the family and on the street. Traditional working-class patriarchy has been thrown into crisis by the restructuring of the global economy and the expansion of women's rights. Unable to replicate the rural-based models of masculinity and family structure of their grandfathers' generation, a growing cohort of marginalized men in the de-industrialized urban economy takes refuge in the drug economy and celebrates a misogynist, predatory street culture that normalizes gang rape, sexual conquest, and paternal abandomnent. Marginalized men lash out against the women and children they can no longer support economically nor control patriarchally' (p. 412).
- HRAF PubDate
- 2002
- Region
- North America
- Sub Region
- Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 2000
- Field Date
- late 1980s-early 1990s
- Coverage Date
- ca. 1946-1990s
- Coverage Place
- East Harlem, New York, N.Y., United States
- Notes
- Philippe Bourgois
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 425-427)
- LCCN
- 62052872
- LCSH
- Puerto Ricans--United States