The Cocaine Kids is the story of eight kids and their roles in the fast lane of the underground illegal drug ring. William states, “My intention is to throw light on a major and complex social problem, but without blaming the victims and without placing teenagers in stereotypical roles.” Williams argues the poverty and drug ring leads to a social problem for the young dealers, “grow to adulthood with little time to be young” For four years, Williams spent time with the “Kids”, earned their trust, and observed their weekly routines, some more in depth than others. Williams’ observations were recorded from 1982 to 1986 in Washington Heights (Spanish Harlem), in New York City, during the Reagan era. Williams, a well- known sociologist, with
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Based on each character’s personal experiences, vividly described in his writings, the reader can interpret the “Kids” have no moral or parental support. The parental absence from these young hustlers force them to take on the responsibilities of adults, such as finances, marriages, and bearing children; all characters are younger than the age of twenty. The only female in the crew, Kitty, is the epitome of Williams’ argument. At the age of twelve, Kitty had little to no choice to pick up the pieces in her house. “My father was nothing when mother left him… I left when I was seventeen… [Father] wanted me to spend the rest of my life cooped up taking care of him and my [little] brother.” Before the age of twenty, Kitty married Splib, had two kids, and learn how to sell cocaine using extreme …show more content…
The concept is as Masterrap says, “You gotta go state of fresh, all the way live, if you wanna do anything worthwhile out here.” The valuable aspect of The Cocaine Kids is Williams’ ability to not label the kids as anything, not criminals, not drug dealers, but simply kids working a regular job. Although Williams was able to normalize the drug trade from the perspective of the teenagers, he fails to broaden focus on each teen equally, but rather focuses on the leader of the crew, Max. This book may also help shape future criminal law policies by focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment for young kids similar to the
Based on each character’s personal experiences, vividly described in his writings, the reader can interpret the “Kids” have no moral or parental support. The parental absence from these young hustlers force them to take on the responsibilities of adults, such as finances, marriages, and bearing children; all characters are younger than the age of twenty. The only female in the crew, Kitty, is the epitome of Williams’ argument. At the age of twelve, Kitty had little to no choice to pick up the pieces in her house. “My father was nothing when mother left him… I left when I was seventeen… [Father] wanted me to spend the rest of my life cooped up taking care of him and my [little] brother.” Before the age of twenty, Kitty married Splib, had two kids, and learn how to sell cocaine using extreme …show more content…
The concept is as Masterrap says, “You gotta go state of fresh, all the way live, if you wanna do anything worthwhile out here.” The valuable aspect of The Cocaine Kids is Williams’ ability to not label the kids as anything, not criminals, not drug dealers, but simply kids working a regular job. Although Williams was able to normalize the drug trade from the perspective of the teenagers, he fails to broaden focus on each teen equally, but rather focuses on the leader of the crew, Max. This book may also help shape future criminal law policies by focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment for young kids similar to the