Conflict Perspective On Drug Trafficking
Drug Dealing
Kahil Perine - Functionalist
Victoria DeCrescenzo - Interactionist
Jordan Sanders - Conflict
JPS 233 001
Deviance & Society
Lois Grizzle
October 20, 2014
Drug trafficking- generally refers to the sale and the distribution of illegal drugs. Penalties for federal drug trafficking convictions vary accord to the quantity of the controlled substance involved in the transaction. This is also known as drug dealing or pushing, that happens on the streets. In the “drug dealing world” there are levels to the game and the lower ranking people are the ones on the streets. Almost any drug can be found on the street such as, marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, bath salts, crack cocaine, PCP, K2-Spice, hashish, opium, etc. …show more content…
and even prescribed drugs from the doctors. In today’s society drugs are in such high demand almost every neighborhood has a “seller”, “buyer”, “user” and is becoming more popular everyday in the younger generations.
Functionalist
The functionalist perspective stands as one of the three major perspectives used by sociologists to understand society. The functionalist is concerned with how each part of society works together to contribute to the bigger picture of society. Each part plays a functional role in maintaining societal stability. Meaning, society is more than just the sum of its parts. As such, each component of society serves as its own institution that fulfills different needs and contributes to the form of society in distinct ways. Thus, the individual parts all depend on each other to shape society’s bigger picture. This perspective has been further developed by theorist throughout the years. One of these theorist, Robert Merton, was a major functionalist sociologist that proposed that human functions be divided into two types: manifest functions and latent functions. Merton saw that social practices tended to produce unforeseen consequences that were often different from the stated purpose. He identified these unintentional results as the latent function, and the expected results as the manifest function. Furthermore, theorist have gone on to label negative unforeseen outcomes as dysfunctions. In regard to dealing drugs, a functionalist would view this practice as serving multiple functions. Drug distribution, at its most basic level, is a means for individuals in low income neighborhoods to achieve financial success. Dealers also play a role in fulfilling the demand for drugs in neighborhoods. As such, these dealers gain prestige and respect for the role they play.As children often associate money and power with success, many will lend their admiration to these individuals and look to them as role models. Here, the manifest function of drug dealing is financial success. Dealers in low income neighborhoods may feel that legit opportunities for earning a living are limited and often turn to the distribution and sale of drugs as a result. In other words, individuals will usually turn to drug dealing as a means for breadwinning.
The latent function of this practice is prestige and respect. A dealer’s stated purpose for distributing drugs is usually not admiration from peers, yet it is still a welcome consequence for many engaged in the act. However, most try to avoid jail time and death - this practice’s disfunction - wholeheartedly. These negative outcomes are the direct result of drug dealing and when they occur they usually arrive completely unexpected.
Additionally, pursuing a college degree is found to have a manifest function, latent function, and dysfunction. Most students attend college with acquiring a desirable career and a high income as their stated goal. Thus, the manifest function here is a successful career. Through their experiences in college, students are instilled with skills, aptitudes, and other characteristics that those who have not attended higher education do not possess. As these outcomes are often unintended, they are identified as the latent functions. Lately however, some students across America have had negative experiences with attending college. Obtaining a Bachelor degree often results in massive debts being accrued.Furthermore, in today’s economy even those with a college education have found it difficult to find a stable job. With significant debt from student loans and a weak job market over their heads, some graduates have found it incredibly hard to acquire that successful career they desired in college. Thus, this outcome is seen as the disfunction of a college education.
Along with explaining why individuals seek success legitimately through a college degree, the Functionalist school also makes clear why one would pursue achievement illegitimately through drug dealing. Take for example Ricky “Freeway” Ross; a drug kingpin who at the height of his career made $2 to $3 million a day. Ross’ introduction into drug trafficking took place in 1979, when he was 19 years old. At the time, he had recently been arrested for stealing and reselling car parts, and was looking for a source of income after his disenrollment from school. A friend approached Ross with some cocaine he had procured from a nearby college and suggested Ross sell it. Until then, cocaine was a drug considered to expensive for regular use and was nearly non-existent in the lower-income neighborhoods of Compton and South Central Los Angeles.
Functionalist would argue that Ricky Ross turned to drug dealing as a means to make money. In this perspective, the manifest function of drug trafficking is financial success. At 19, Ross was an unemployed felon with no job prospects aside from drug sale. It is also likely that he was aware of the scarcity of cocaine in Los Angeles at the time and saw the region as a promising untapped market for a drug enterprise. By early 1980, after only six months of dealing, Ross and his partner had an exclusive client base and a steady supplier. By 1983, crack cocaine had already become the inner city’s drug of choice. Ross adjusted his business accordingly to capitalize on this event in a move that increased his sales exponentially. Even as his focus shifted to expanding his empire, the Functionalist perspective would claim that this too was motivated by a desire for riches. By 1984, Ross increased his market to include major cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma, New Orleans, St. Louis, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, New York and Detroit. By then, the amount of money brought in by his growing business was staggering. In a move a Functionalist would interpret as an attempt to acquire more legitimate income; Ross invested in real estate throughout his career in drugs until he had amassed around $5 million in real property. Indeed, the Functionalist perspective would argue that Ross engaged in drug dealing with the principal intention of making money - a drive that motivated him throughout his years as a kingpin. The Functionalist school also argues that the latent function of drug dealing in Ross’ life is gaining respect. While increases in income are the most immediate effects caused by drug dealing, one’s prestige often rises also. Ross’s success in trafficking drugs brought him in contact with supplier’s such as Oscar Danilo Blandón Reyes - a Nicaraguan who was heavily involved in the Contra revolution. Ross maintained a lucrative business relationship with Blandón wherein, massive quantities of cocaine were provided to him in exchange for large sums of US Currency. Blandón in turn used this money to fund his Contra rallies against Nicaraguan Sandinista rulers. As such, Ross became the main link between major Colombian drug cartels and lower level street dealers in the United States. Ross later became the head of Los Angeles first cocaine ring; a title that came attached with great deal of infamy. In the years following his introduction to Blandón, Ross’ movement of drugs continued to build his reputation. To hide the extent of his earnings, Ross invested in a hotel near the Harbor Freeway. This hotel later served as a secure meeting place for dealers and courriers under his influence; a constant affair that eventually earned Ross the nickname “Freeway Rick.” Even after his inevitable fall from kingpin to inmate, the social status created by his career in trafficking continued to follow him after his release from prison. His renovation of a rundown theater in South Central Los Angeles, purchased before his sentence in 1989, garnered the support of many. His aim was to turn the theater into an outreach center and rehabilitate the neighborhood surrounding it in the process. In doing so, he received television coverage and investments from politicians, large corporations, religious institutions and celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Magic Johnson and Ice Cube. Ross also fielded talks of book contracts and film deals about his career. There is no doubt that this level of popularity can be directly attributed to his involvement in dealing drugs. Yet, fame is not the obvious result of this practice, nor is it likely that it was Ross’ initial aim either. Thus, the Functionalist perspective views infamy as the latent function of drug dealing. However, just as the manifest and latent functions of drug dealing are apparent in Ross’ career, its dysfunction is present also. In 1989, after a reign lasting 10 years, Ross was captured for federal indictments stemming from charges of cocaine conspiracy in Cincinnati. Ross plead guilty and began serving his 10-year sentence in 1990. He was offered the opportunity to shorten his stay four years later in exchange for testifying in a federal case and was released shortly after on parole. He later returned to prison for a set of charges in Texas originating from a drug deal he had discussed over the phone. He pled guilty and served a year in a Texas prison. Upon his release in 1993, he sought to rebuild his life, but court costs and lawyer fees during his prison sentence sent him tumbling into bankruptcy. He also sold his remaining properties to pay the debts he had remaining. Ross soon contacted his old Nicaraguan connect Blandón to supplement his income. On March 2, 1995, Ross was apprehended with 100 kilos of cocaine in a setup made possible by Blandón, who had become an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency. As a result, Ross was sentenced to a reduced term of 20 years and was released in 2009. Ross’ career shows that although incarceration is not the intended function of drug dealing, it is still an outcome that is very much likely to occur. As such, Functionalists regard it as this practice’s disfunction. In sum, the Functionalist Perspective focuses on the components of society that fulfill different needs and contribute to the overall form of society in distinct ways. This perspective divides the purpose of any given societal component into three groups: manifest functions, latent functions, and dysfunctions. The expected results of social practices are identified as the manifest function, while the unexpected outcome is the latent functions. Results that are undesirable are none as the dysfunctions. In view of drug dealing, a Functionalist sees its manifest function as financial success, while its latent function is prestige, and its dysfunction is incarceration. Ricky “Freeway” Ross’ career as a drug trafficker illustrates these functions well. Ross involved himself with drugs intending to make money for himself. Upon building his wealth, his reputation began to expand also. Yet, eventually his empire crumbled with his inevitable incarceration. In closing, the Functionalists perspective stands as one of the major perspectives used to understand society.
Interactionism
The symbolic interactionist perspective, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. Symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber 's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world. Also, the interactionist perspective goes with individual roles and influences. The people must ask how particular parts in the society are affected by a certain topic.
An interactionist looks at the deviant act and how it affects just one person of the society. Since the perspective only focuses on the one person they look into how the deviant act changes their lives, their thinking, their ways, and what made them go to the act in the first place. Interactionist connects the people on and one-on-one basis and is more of a personal way of looking at a problem in a certain area. This perspective looks down into one person to see if this one person could be the reason the deviant behavior could be changed as well as giving the officials more information on why people commit the crimes they do.
One deviant act that is almost every society is drug dealing, or legally known as drug trafficking. This deviant behavior generally refers to the sale and distribution of illegal drugs. Penalties for federal drug trafficking convictions vary according to the quantity of the controlled substance involved in the transaction. Every neighborhood has the drug dealer that either stands at the corner or is more discrete and does it out of the house or other ways of exchanging the goods. This illegal act and the ones committing the act affect the neighborhood and the people that are residing in that area.
Even though drug trafficking is not hurting anyone physically, it is hurting the society surrounding it mentally. The people who live in the neighborhood have to then live with the known drug dealer on their block or have the younger kids grow up and think that it is okay. With the younger kids seeing and believing it is all right, it will influence the youth to either do drugs or even sell drugs. Growing up in a society where you witness and know the acts that are going on but are not being corrected it will influence and allow them to believe that since its happening and someone else is doing it then it will be the same if they were doing it.
The influence of drug dealers make the younger ones in the community think it is a quick and easy way to get and make cash instead of going to college and getting a real job. Most known drug dealers live and come out of the low-income, rundown projects. These dealers just want to make money so they could have a better life for themselves. Most have dreams of getting out of the poor, beat up living situations and getting a big house and moving their families into a safer place. Even though most have these big dreams not all of them have the ambition, strength, and patience to make the dreams reality. Big dreams of getting an education, a good job, becoming wealthy and stable enough to move the family out takes time and most feel like it takes too long. Under the pressure of all the school work, and the time it takes most crumble and then go into being a criminal to get the profits faster and easier.
Every neighborhood has the young kid who starts his or her own gang or drug dealing business. For example a very famous drug dealer, Felix Mitchell, who was just the poor boy trying to make some money. Felix was born into the 69th Street Projects which was not the best places to live. Later in life dropped out of high school because he “wasn’t for the school life anymore” and the streets over. Mitchell wanted nothing more than to get himself out of poverty. The strive for a better life drove Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr. to become a drug dealer that soon became one of the biggest in our time, who now has a big name on the streets and history of drug kingpins.
Even though drug dealers do not continue onto higher education or drop out of high school, most are very smart. Street smart, people smart, and even a little bit of book smart. Numbers are involved, you have to know the streets like the back of your hand, and you must know how to sell the product but also know how to read the people that are buying from you, and know the people you bring into your group so you don’t get caught. Like most drug dealers, Mitchell went to what he knew best and used his natural ability of organization and networking and got a group of notorious criminals. They soon became the 69 M.O.B. He was a self-made drug dealer who found his connections to suppliers, runners, and dealers all over California and Detroit. He made his own heroin empire on his own blocks.
As every drug dealer he had his own set of tactics and rules. He used children as spotters and runners for example and to eliminate the threat of enemies he set up drive-by shootings. Mitchell earned $400,000 to $1 million a month in his drug-income. He used his riches for personal use like getting costly cars, but also he gave back to his community. He donated time and money to his local youth communities. Even though he was giving back to the community he still had a job to do. The rivalry between another gang lit up like fireworks that caused a series of murders between the two groups. Mitchell was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison. Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr, a year later, was stabbed to death by another inmate. Felix Mitchell was just one example of how a specific person would go to a criminal act to help himself get out of a bad situation. Mitchell gave back to the young in his own community because he knew how it felt to be young and growing up in the projects and since he had the power, resources, and income he gave back to make those young kids lives better. Even though Mitchell was convicted and then killed in jail, becoming a drug kingpin was not a bad thing for him. At the time he wanted the money and to get him out of poverty and he reached his goals. An interactionist would look at Felix’s life and say he wanted to get out of poverty but wasn’t able to do it a legal way but still was able to create his own gang that became very successful. Felix became a drug dealer because at the time it was easier then going back to school. He used his smarts and grinded to the top of his streets. Out of a bad situation Mitchell made the best of it and lived better than most on his blocks. To conclude, drug dealing does affect the society as a whole but it also affects individuals on different levels. Every deviant behavior will affect different people in different ways. Here, Felix was affected by drug dealing because it was easy, fast, and he was good at what he did. He did not stop until he was captured and then killed. From the interactionist perspective, Mitchell did what he needed to do and before he was caught he did it well. Drug dealing helped him give back to his own community and even allowed him to die knowing he reached his goals of coming out of projects. Even after he died, his funeral showed the money he made and he went out and was buried in style. Felix may have died, but his name lives on into today’s world.
Conflict
Conflict perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever changing nature of society. Conflict theories like to look at the status quo and question it. They want to change the social order because they believe that the people with the wealth have power and they use their power to force rules among the poor. An example of this is when the rich spend money on things that would help people the people in their community instead of spending it to help everybody. This perspective is one that is used to promote the achievement of human rights instead of trying to control the people into doing what the elite want to happen. This perspective seeks out the troubles that exist in the world. The conflict usually comes from the people that have and the ones who don’t have anything.
The conflict perspective is applied to drug trafficking and dealing because the majority of the people who traffic are minorities.
Because minorities are considered to be in the lower part of society they are targeted for dealing when it the white kid that come to the neighborhood to buy the drugs and they are targeted. Even though all races use drug only minorities get punished for it. Most societies have the least amount of power are attracted to this activity because they see themselves able to move up in the ranks and gain power with in their organization. If you look at the numbers for arrest of drugs the numbers are racially disproportionate. The rich put these rules in place to hold the poor part of society so they can’t improve their lifestyles. The powerful use their influence make laws that hold down the powerless while telling everyone that they are just trying to protect you from international and national drug trade. There isn’t a problem it is just a way to blame the social problems we face. There isn’t a problem with the drugs that are is in the hospital that is used to control people but here it is with those that aren’t hurting …show more content…
anybody.
Its is evident through the history of the United States it has used its power to outlaw the use of drug that have be favored by minorities. In the nineteenth century the government outlawed the drug that were favored by the minorities who used them such as opium that was favored by the Chinese immigrants. In the 1900’s the government outlawed cocaine, which was used predominantly by blacks because they associated it to cause violence. By the 20s the United States had deemed alcohol and marijuana, which was used by European and Mexican immigrants. This was the first anti-drug law passed in our country. In the 1980 there was a harsh sentencing on crack cocaine. This was aimed at African American because they were more likely to be caught using crack cocaine than powder cocaine.
The powerful create laws that protect what they do so that they can’t be called out on what they are doing. If they don’t like what you are doing they will find a way to stop it. The laws are put in place to criminalize poor people but it the structure was rethought then the problem of drug dealing would be less of a problem. People may see drug are for people who are struggling but they are the one who has caused people to do what they are doing. People deal drug because it’s appealing because of the amount of money that can be made. Once we get caught dealing drug its hard to turn around and do right because job do background check and people don’t want people with dirty backgrounds working in their businesses. Drug offenders that keep getting targeted get longer sentences and many of those are minorities that have don’t have other ways to make money If the demand for drugs is high and why not sell them if you have a customer. Supply and demand basic economics. Once the government has found a way to make a profit off of the drug then it will no longer become such a big issue.
Richard Nixon launched the War on Drugs in 1972, this was a discreet way to allow institutionalized racial and class discrimination. This war has lead to special task forces that are only focused on finding drug groups and has brought up problems in the justice system with the overcrowded jail because people are being put away for non violent drug offences. The war on drugs is continued and supported because of the miss information that is provided. The reason drug aren’t legal is because it would reduce organized crime, eliminates the need for drug addicts to commit petty crimes to by drugs a, and it would destigmatize the use of drugs. With out these reason to why the should be illegal there would be any laws in place to stop this. Some of the law that included in this war on drug has produced laws that require you to spend more than half of your sentence based on the amount and type of drug that you were found with.
Higher arrest and incarceration rates for African Americans and Latinos are not reflective of increased prevalence of drug use or sales in these communities, but rather of a law enforcement focus on urban areas, on lower-income communities and on communities of color as well as inequitable treatment by the criminal justice system this is a way of racial control of a race. The neighborhoods of urban communities are targeted and ones of low income which are mostly populated by minorities. Mandatory sentencing laws that has been apart of this country’s judicial system since the 70 's have clearly done more harm than good. The inmate population has skyrocketed, driving prison costs to bankrupting levels, while having no impact at all on the drug problem. If wealthy prison owners are willing to go through bankrupt to keep drug dealers off the streets, now that dedication to keeping a races in check.
When cops pull people over in their automobiles the minorities were more likely to have their car search than their white counterpart.it is clear that whites commit the offences as black To the United States the laws that have put in place are faceless by using enforcers who have no bias. The may not be any intentions of bias, but the system offer little help to black. The amount of black incarcerated isn’t due to crime waves, but because of structural racism. The legalization of drug happens because of public opinion. The strongest support of the anti drug policies are the major alcohol and tobacco companies. Theses companies have the protection of the law to sell their drug that help them become wealthy. Because they have the protection under the law they are selling tobacco and alcohol, which accounts for more death than any drug. These things are legal because of the people who use them. The government is influencing TV network to help push anti-drug messages and these messages affirm stereotypes that are place on such a problem. The conflict perspective looks at the social connection between the people in power and those who aren’t. The reason that there is conflict amount the class is because of different interests.
The war on drugs was disproportionately to affect disadvantaged black American. By having heavy law enforcement in minority neighborhoods, which is hardly a necessary response. The effect of the war on drugs has been to support white supremacy and the constant subordination of blacks to whites. The war on drug has become the new segregation by separating, imprisoning, and destroying proportions if the population based on the color of their skin. When other laws of discrimination were outlawed the war on drugs brought that back. Still keeping black communities or communities of minorities from stabilizing themselves. The US government needs to recognize the constant imprisonment of black drug offenders compared to white drug offenders. The governmet couldn’t see that the number is disproportionate based primarily by race and poverty and among the races that are marginalized. The government is on looking at the supply and not the demand of the drugs. The government needs to go back and look at why they chose to target certain races based on their drug choice. The government needs to put more money into investing in positive changes in low-income neighborhood. The combination of race, poverty, drugs, and law enforcement have determined the way the war on drugs has been fought to date. The way they have gone after drugs has destroyed individual offenders, their families, and their communities. These laws contradict the whole justice system of equal protection of the law. The way this is headed its just creating a cycle that that will keep getting the same result. This result is the mass incarceration of drug offender and dealers, which keeps certain races under the control of the powerful. Some of these people keep their community going. By incarcerating the people in the poor community it keeps them poor and out of work. The person goes to jail and they are the ones who provide for their family and when they are in jail nobody can provide for his family and they become poor and that the cycle that’s has been created by the governments war on drugs. There is no other way to provide once you have messed up. That’s the goal of those with power in their hand, keep the man down with laws so they can’t be challenged.
Works Cited
Anderson, M.L.
and Taylor, H.F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth
Peralta, Katherine. "Benefits of College Still Outweigh Costs, Fed Study Says." US News World and Report. N.p., 24 June 2014. Web.
Ricky Ross. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 04:35, Dec 04, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/ricky-ross-481828. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/three-major-perspective s-in-sociology http://www.biography.com/people/felix-mitchell-487984#arrest-and-murder http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/drug-trafficking/ Source: Three major Perspectives in sociology. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2014. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/three-major-perspective s-in-sociology
The War is the Problem. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2014.
Haans, D. (n.d.). Why is There a 'War on Drugs '? Retrieved October 20, 2014. http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/haans1.htm
The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://realcostofprisons.org/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=2&search=offenders Articles. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from
http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=820:crime09-1&catid=142&Itemid=155
Kahil Perine - Functionalist
Victoria DeCrescenzo - Interactionist
Jordan Sanders - Conflict
JPS 233 001
Deviance & Society
Lois Grizzle
October 20, 2014
Drug trafficking- generally refers to the sale and the distribution of illegal drugs. Penalties for federal drug trafficking convictions vary accord to the quantity of the controlled substance involved in the transaction. This is also known as drug dealing or pushing, that happens on the streets. In the “drug dealing world” there are levels to the game and the lower ranking people are the ones on the streets. Almost any drug can be found on the street such as, marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, bath salts, crack cocaine, PCP, K2-Spice, hashish, opium, etc. …show more content…
and even prescribed drugs from the doctors. In today’s society drugs are in such high demand almost every neighborhood has a “seller”, “buyer”, “user” and is becoming more popular everyday in the younger generations.
Functionalist
The functionalist perspective stands as one of the three major perspectives used by sociologists to understand society. The functionalist is concerned with how each part of society works together to contribute to the bigger picture of society. Each part plays a functional role in maintaining societal stability. Meaning, society is more than just the sum of its parts. As such, each component of society serves as its own institution that fulfills different needs and contributes to the form of society in distinct ways. Thus, the individual parts all depend on each other to shape society’s bigger picture. This perspective has been further developed by theorist throughout the years. One of these theorist, Robert Merton, was a major functionalist sociologist that proposed that human functions be divided into two types: manifest functions and latent functions. Merton saw that social practices tended to produce unforeseen consequences that were often different from the stated purpose. He identified these unintentional results as the latent function, and the expected results as the manifest function. Furthermore, theorist have gone on to label negative unforeseen outcomes as dysfunctions. In regard to dealing drugs, a functionalist would view this practice as serving multiple functions. Drug distribution, at its most basic level, is a means for individuals in low income neighborhoods to achieve financial success. Dealers also play a role in fulfilling the demand for drugs in neighborhoods. As such, these dealers gain prestige and respect for the role they play.As children often associate money and power with success, many will lend their admiration to these individuals and look to them as role models. Here, the manifest function of drug dealing is financial success. Dealers in low income neighborhoods may feel that legit opportunities for earning a living are limited and often turn to the distribution and sale of drugs as a result. In other words, individuals will usually turn to drug dealing as a means for breadwinning.
The latent function of this practice is prestige and respect. A dealer’s stated purpose for distributing drugs is usually not admiration from peers, yet it is still a welcome consequence for many engaged in the act. However, most try to avoid jail time and death - this practice’s disfunction - wholeheartedly. These negative outcomes are the direct result of drug dealing and when they occur they usually arrive completely unexpected.
Additionally, pursuing a college degree is found to have a manifest function, latent function, and dysfunction. Most students attend college with acquiring a desirable career and a high income as their stated goal. Thus, the manifest function here is a successful career. Through their experiences in college, students are instilled with skills, aptitudes, and other characteristics that those who have not attended higher education do not possess. As these outcomes are often unintended, they are identified as the latent functions. Lately however, some students across America have had negative experiences with attending college. Obtaining a Bachelor degree often results in massive debts being accrued.Furthermore, in today’s economy even those with a college education have found it difficult to find a stable job. With significant debt from student loans and a weak job market over their heads, some graduates have found it incredibly hard to acquire that successful career they desired in college. Thus, this outcome is seen as the disfunction of a college education.
Along with explaining why individuals seek success legitimately through a college degree, the Functionalist school also makes clear why one would pursue achievement illegitimately through drug dealing. Take for example Ricky “Freeway” Ross; a drug kingpin who at the height of his career made $2 to $3 million a day. Ross’ introduction into drug trafficking took place in 1979, when he was 19 years old. At the time, he had recently been arrested for stealing and reselling car parts, and was looking for a source of income after his disenrollment from school. A friend approached Ross with some cocaine he had procured from a nearby college and suggested Ross sell it. Until then, cocaine was a drug considered to expensive for regular use and was nearly non-existent in the lower-income neighborhoods of Compton and South Central Los Angeles.
Functionalist would argue that Ricky Ross turned to drug dealing as a means to make money. In this perspective, the manifest function of drug trafficking is financial success. At 19, Ross was an unemployed felon with no job prospects aside from drug sale. It is also likely that he was aware of the scarcity of cocaine in Los Angeles at the time and saw the region as a promising untapped market for a drug enterprise. By early 1980, after only six months of dealing, Ross and his partner had an exclusive client base and a steady supplier. By 1983, crack cocaine had already become the inner city’s drug of choice. Ross adjusted his business accordingly to capitalize on this event in a move that increased his sales exponentially. Even as his focus shifted to expanding his empire, the Functionalist perspective would claim that this too was motivated by a desire for riches. By 1984, Ross increased his market to include major cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma, New Orleans, St. Louis, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, New York and Detroit. By then, the amount of money brought in by his growing business was staggering. In a move a Functionalist would interpret as an attempt to acquire more legitimate income; Ross invested in real estate throughout his career in drugs until he had amassed around $5 million in real property. Indeed, the Functionalist perspective would argue that Ross engaged in drug dealing with the principal intention of making money - a drive that motivated him throughout his years as a kingpin. The Functionalist school also argues that the latent function of drug dealing in Ross’ life is gaining respect. While increases in income are the most immediate effects caused by drug dealing, one’s prestige often rises also. Ross’s success in trafficking drugs brought him in contact with supplier’s such as Oscar Danilo Blandón Reyes - a Nicaraguan who was heavily involved in the Contra revolution. Ross maintained a lucrative business relationship with Blandón wherein, massive quantities of cocaine were provided to him in exchange for large sums of US Currency. Blandón in turn used this money to fund his Contra rallies against Nicaraguan Sandinista rulers. As such, Ross became the main link between major Colombian drug cartels and lower level street dealers in the United States. Ross later became the head of Los Angeles first cocaine ring; a title that came attached with great deal of infamy. In the years following his introduction to Blandón, Ross’ movement of drugs continued to build his reputation. To hide the extent of his earnings, Ross invested in a hotel near the Harbor Freeway. This hotel later served as a secure meeting place for dealers and courriers under his influence; a constant affair that eventually earned Ross the nickname “Freeway Rick.” Even after his inevitable fall from kingpin to inmate, the social status created by his career in trafficking continued to follow him after his release from prison. His renovation of a rundown theater in South Central Los Angeles, purchased before his sentence in 1989, garnered the support of many. His aim was to turn the theater into an outreach center and rehabilitate the neighborhood surrounding it in the process. In doing so, he received television coverage and investments from politicians, large corporations, religious institutions and celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Magic Johnson and Ice Cube. Ross also fielded talks of book contracts and film deals about his career. There is no doubt that this level of popularity can be directly attributed to his involvement in dealing drugs. Yet, fame is not the obvious result of this practice, nor is it likely that it was Ross’ initial aim either. Thus, the Functionalist perspective views infamy as the latent function of drug dealing. However, just as the manifest and latent functions of drug dealing are apparent in Ross’ career, its dysfunction is present also. In 1989, after a reign lasting 10 years, Ross was captured for federal indictments stemming from charges of cocaine conspiracy in Cincinnati. Ross plead guilty and began serving his 10-year sentence in 1990. He was offered the opportunity to shorten his stay four years later in exchange for testifying in a federal case and was released shortly after on parole. He later returned to prison for a set of charges in Texas originating from a drug deal he had discussed over the phone. He pled guilty and served a year in a Texas prison. Upon his release in 1993, he sought to rebuild his life, but court costs and lawyer fees during his prison sentence sent him tumbling into bankruptcy. He also sold his remaining properties to pay the debts he had remaining. Ross soon contacted his old Nicaraguan connect Blandón to supplement his income. On March 2, 1995, Ross was apprehended with 100 kilos of cocaine in a setup made possible by Blandón, who had become an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency. As a result, Ross was sentenced to a reduced term of 20 years and was released in 2009. Ross’ career shows that although incarceration is not the intended function of drug dealing, it is still an outcome that is very much likely to occur. As such, Functionalists regard it as this practice’s disfunction. In sum, the Functionalist Perspective focuses on the components of society that fulfill different needs and contribute to the overall form of society in distinct ways. This perspective divides the purpose of any given societal component into three groups: manifest functions, latent functions, and dysfunctions. The expected results of social practices are identified as the manifest function, while the unexpected outcome is the latent functions. Results that are undesirable are none as the dysfunctions. In view of drug dealing, a Functionalist sees its manifest function as financial success, while its latent function is prestige, and its dysfunction is incarceration. Ricky “Freeway” Ross’ career as a drug trafficker illustrates these functions well. Ross involved himself with drugs intending to make money for himself. Upon building his wealth, his reputation began to expand also. Yet, eventually his empire crumbled with his inevitable incarceration. In closing, the Functionalists perspective stands as one of the major perspectives used to understand society.
Interactionism
The symbolic interactionist perspective, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. Symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber 's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world. Also, the interactionist perspective goes with individual roles and influences. The people must ask how particular parts in the society are affected by a certain topic.
An interactionist looks at the deviant act and how it affects just one person of the society. Since the perspective only focuses on the one person they look into how the deviant act changes their lives, their thinking, their ways, and what made them go to the act in the first place. Interactionist connects the people on and one-on-one basis and is more of a personal way of looking at a problem in a certain area. This perspective looks down into one person to see if this one person could be the reason the deviant behavior could be changed as well as giving the officials more information on why people commit the crimes they do.
One deviant act that is almost every society is drug dealing, or legally known as drug trafficking. This deviant behavior generally refers to the sale and distribution of illegal drugs. Penalties for federal drug trafficking convictions vary according to the quantity of the controlled substance involved in the transaction. Every neighborhood has the drug dealer that either stands at the corner or is more discrete and does it out of the house or other ways of exchanging the goods. This illegal act and the ones committing the act affect the neighborhood and the people that are residing in that area.
Even though drug trafficking is not hurting anyone physically, it is hurting the society surrounding it mentally. The people who live in the neighborhood have to then live with the known drug dealer on their block or have the younger kids grow up and think that it is okay. With the younger kids seeing and believing it is all right, it will influence the youth to either do drugs or even sell drugs. Growing up in a society where you witness and know the acts that are going on but are not being corrected it will influence and allow them to believe that since its happening and someone else is doing it then it will be the same if they were doing it.
The influence of drug dealers make the younger ones in the community think it is a quick and easy way to get and make cash instead of going to college and getting a real job. Most known drug dealers live and come out of the low-income, rundown projects. These dealers just want to make money so they could have a better life for themselves. Most have dreams of getting out of the poor, beat up living situations and getting a big house and moving their families into a safer place. Even though most have these big dreams not all of them have the ambition, strength, and patience to make the dreams reality. Big dreams of getting an education, a good job, becoming wealthy and stable enough to move the family out takes time and most feel like it takes too long. Under the pressure of all the school work, and the time it takes most crumble and then go into being a criminal to get the profits faster and easier.
Every neighborhood has the young kid who starts his or her own gang or drug dealing business. For example a very famous drug dealer, Felix Mitchell, who was just the poor boy trying to make some money. Felix was born into the 69th Street Projects which was not the best places to live. Later in life dropped out of high school because he “wasn’t for the school life anymore” and the streets over. Mitchell wanted nothing more than to get himself out of poverty. The strive for a better life drove Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr. to become a drug dealer that soon became one of the biggest in our time, who now has a big name on the streets and history of drug kingpins.
Even though drug dealers do not continue onto higher education or drop out of high school, most are very smart. Street smart, people smart, and even a little bit of book smart. Numbers are involved, you have to know the streets like the back of your hand, and you must know how to sell the product but also know how to read the people that are buying from you, and know the people you bring into your group so you don’t get caught. Like most drug dealers, Mitchell went to what he knew best and used his natural ability of organization and networking and got a group of notorious criminals. They soon became the 69 M.O.B. He was a self-made drug dealer who found his connections to suppliers, runners, and dealers all over California and Detroit. He made his own heroin empire on his own blocks.
As every drug dealer he had his own set of tactics and rules. He used children as spotters and runners for example and to eliminate the threat of enemies he set up drive-by shootings. Mitchell earned $400,000 to $1 million a month in his drug-income. He used his riches for personal use like getting costly cars, but also he gave back to his community. He donated time and money to his local youth communities. Even though he was giving back to the community he still had a job to do. The rivalry between another gang lit up like fireworks that caused a series of murders between the two groups. Mitchell was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison. Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr, a year later, was stabbed to death by another inmate. Felix Mitchell was just one example of how a specific person would go to a criminal act to help himself get out of a bad situation. Mitchell gave back to the young in his own community because he knew how it felt to be young and growing up in the projects and since he had the power, resources, and income he gave back to make those young kids lives better. Even though Mitchell was convicted and then killed in jail, becoming a drug kingpin was not a bad thing for him. At the time he wanted the money and to get him out of poverty and he reached his goals. An interactionist would look at Felix’s life and say he wanted to get out of poverty but wasn’t able to do it a legal way but still was able to create his own gang that became very successful. Felix became a drug dealer because at the time it was easier then going back to school. He used his smarts and grinded to the top of his streets. Out of a bad situation Mitchell made the best of it and lived better than most on his blocks. To conclude, drug dealing does affect the society as a whole but it also affects individuals on different levels. Every deviant behavior will affect different people in different ways. Here, Felix was affected by drug dealing because it was easy, fast, and he was good at what he did. He did not stop until he was captured and then killed. From the interactionist perspective, Mitchell did what he needed to do and before he was caught he did it well. Drug dealing helped him give back to his own community and even allowed him to die knowing he reached his goals of coming out of projects. Even after he died, his funeral showed the money he made and he went out and was buried in style. Felix may have died, but his name lives on into today’s world.
Conflict
Conflict perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever changing nature of society. Conflict theories like to look at the status quo and question it. They want to change the social order because they believe that the people with the wealth have power and they use their power to force rules among the poor. An example of this is when the rich spend money on things that would help people the people in their community instead of spending it to help everybody. This perspective is one that is used to promote the achievement of human rights instead of trying to control the people into doing what the elite want to happen. This perspective seeks out the troubles that exist in the world. The conflict usually comes from the people that have and the ones who don’t have anything.
The conflict perspective is applied to drug trafficking and dealing because the majority of the people who traffic are minorities.
Because minorities are considered to be in the lower part of society they are targeted for dealing when it the white kid that come to the neighborhood to buy the drugs and they are targeted. Even though all races use drug only minorities get punished for it. Most societies have the least amount of power are attracted to this activity because they see themselves able to move up in the ranks and gain power with in their organization. If you look at the numbers for arrest of drugs the numbers are racially disproportionate. The rich put these rules in place to hold the poor part of society so they can’t improve their lifestyles. The powerful use their influence make laws that hold down the powerless while telling everyone that they are just trying to protect you from international and national drug trade. There isn’t a problem it is just a way to blame the social problems we face. There isn’t a problem with the drugs that are is in the hospital that is used to control people but here it is with those that aren’t hurting …show more content…
anybody.
Its is evident through the history of the United States it has used its power to outlaw the use of drug that have be favored by minorities. In the nineteenth century the government outlawed the drug that were favored by the minorities who used them such as opium that was favored by the Chinese immigrants. In the 1900’s the government outlawed cocaine, which was used predominantly by blacks because they associated it to cause violence. By the 20s the United States had deemed alcohol and marijuana, which was used by European and Mexican immigrants. This was the first anti-drug law passed in our country. In the 1980 there was a harsh sentencing on crack cocaine. This was aimed at African American because they were more likely to be caught using crack cocaine than powder cocaine.
The powerful create laws that protect what they do so that they can’t be called out on what they are doing. If they don’t like what you are doing they will find a way to stop it. The laws are put in place to criminalize poor people but it the structure was rethought then the problem of drug dealing would be less of a problem. People may see drug are for people who are struggling but they are the one who has caused people to do what they are doing. People deal drug because it’s appealing because of the amount of money that can be made. Once we get caught dealing drug its hard to turn around and do right because job do background check and people don’t want people with dirty backgrounds working in their businesses. Drug offenders that keep getting targeted get longer sentences and many of those are minorities that have don’t have other ways to make money If the demand for drugs is high and why not sell them if you have a customer. Supply and demand basic economics. Once the government has found a way to make a profit off of the drug then it will no longer become such a big issue.
Richard Nixon launched the War on Drugs in 1972, this was a discreet way to allow institutionalized racial and class discrimination. This war has lead to special task forces that are only focused on finding drug groups and has brought up problems in the justice system with the overcrowded jail because people are being put away for non violent drug offences. The war on drugs is continued and supported because of the miss information that is provided. The reason drug aren’t legal is because it would reduce organized crime, eliminates the need for drug addicts to commit petty crimes to by drugs a, and it would destigmatize the use of drugs. With out these reason to why the should be illegal there would be any laws in place to stop this. Some of the law that included in this war on drug has produced laws that require you to spend more than half of your sentence based on the amount and type of drug that you were found with.
Higher arrest and incarceration rates for African Americans and Latinos are not reflective of increased prevalence of drug use or sales in these communities, but rather of a law enforcement focus on urban areas, on lower-income communities and on communities of color as well as inequitable treatment by the criminal justice system this is a way of racial control of a race. The neighborhoods of urban communities are targeted and ones of low income which are mostly populated by minorities. Mandatory sentencing laws that has been apart of this country’s judicial system since the 70 's have clearly done more harm than good. The inmate population has skyrocketed, driving prison costs to bankrupting levels, while having no impact at all on the drug problem. If wealthy prison owners are willing to go through bankrupt to keep drug dealers off the streets, now that dedication to keeping a races in check.
When cops pull people over in their automobiles the minorities were more likely to have their car search than their white counterpart.it is clear that whites commit the offences as black To the United States the laws that have put in place are faceless by using enforcers who have no bias. The may not be any intentions of bias, but the system offer little help to black. The amount of black incarcerated isn’t due to crime waves, but because of structural racism. The legalization of drug happens because of public opinion. The strongest support of the anti drug policies are the major alcohol and tobacco companies. Theses companies have the protection of the law to sell their drug that help them become wealthy. Because they have the protection under the law they are selling tobacco and alcohol, which accounts for more death than any drug. These things are legal because of the people who use them. The government is influencing TV network to help push anti-drug messages and these messages affirm stereotypes that are place on such a problem. The conflict perspective looks at the social connection between the people in power and those who aren’t. The reason that there is conflict amount the class is because of different interests.
The war on drugs was disproportionately to affect disadvantaged black American. By having heavy law enforcement in minority neighborhoods, which is hardly a necessary response. The effect of the war on drugs has been to support white supremacy and the constant subordination of blacks to whites. The war on drug has become the new segregation by separating, imprisoning, and destroying proportions if the population based on the color of their skin. When other laws of discrimination were outlawed the war on drugs brought that back. Still keeping black communities or communities of minorities from stabilizing themselves. The US government needs to recognize the constant imprisonment of black drug offenders compared to white drug offenders. The governmet couldn’t see that the number is disproportionate based primarily by race and poverty and among the races that are marginalized. The government is on looking at the supply and not the demand of the drugs. The government needs to go back and look at why they chose to target certain races based on their drug choice. The government needs to put more money into investing in positive changes in low-income neighborhood. The combination of race, poverty, drugs, and law enforcement have determined the way the war on drugs has been fought to date. The way they have gone after drugs has destroyed individual offenders, their families, and their communities. These laws contradict the whole justice system of equal protection of the law. The way this is headed its just creating a cycle that that will keep getting the same result. This result is the mass incarceration of drug offender and dealers, which keeps certain races under the control of the powerful. Some of these people keep their community going. By incarcerating the people in the poor community it keeps them poor and out of work. The person goes to jail and they are the ones who provide for their family and when they are in jail nobody can provide for his family and they become poor and that the cycle that’s has been created by the governments war on drugs. There is no other way to provide once you have messed up. That’s the goal of those with power in their hand, keep the man down with laws so they can’t be challenged.
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