Alice Goffman On The Run Analysis

(In)balance of power, exploitation, crime, murder, probation and prison are only some of the issues Alice Goffman writes about in her book, On the Run. Her 6-year research examines the lives of young black men; Mike, Chuck, Reggie, Alex and Tim, amongst others, growing up in West Philadelphia on what she refers to as 6th Street and their daily interactions and coping mechanisms when confronted with these issues.

She describes the trials and tribulations the main characters of her book are faced with, like that of Tim and his first arrest at the age of eleven. While Chuck was driving him to school, in his girlfriend’s car, they were pulled over by the police. The car was reported stolen in California and Tim was sent to juvenile court, charged with accessory and given a sentence of a three-year probation. (Goffman 2014, 12). With this probation hanging over his head, Chuck taught Tim to evade the police to avoid further punishment.

Police use “threats of arrest, eviction, and loss of child custody”, physical violence and damage to an individual’s property as leverage against the families, girlfriends and neighbors to attain information on the individual they are in pursuit
Upon release into a halfway house, unreasonable and unrelenting probation requirements the men are bound to follow. If even they violate curfew, regardless of the reason why, they are sent to prison to finish their time. Once marked with a rap sheet (Record of Arrests and Prosecutions), the possibility of gaining legitimate employment is significantly limited if not impossible to attain and maintain which then forces them into an alternative economy of drug dealing and other illegal activities, simply to