Gender, Drugs and Street Life

Drawing on a two-year ethnographic study undertaken in a Northern city in the UK, this book explores the political economy of drug dealing and crime amongst children and young people at the local level. It also provides illuminating description and analysis of the gendered nature of their drug taking practices and rituals.

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Gender, drugs and street life explores the way girls and boys of white British origin access and participate in legal and illegal drugs, within the context of supply at the local level. It explores the relationship of children and young people to the local drug market from a gendered perspective, and illustrates how their drug behaviours should be understood in both localised and gendered terms.

The book draws on a two-year ethnographic study of children and young people growing up on ‘Northside’, a small housing estate located on the edge of a large Northern city in England. The book addresses the environment which these young people inhabit, and provides a critical examination of the popular image of the contemporary British housing estate by exploring the political economy of drug dealing and crime at the local level. It also undertakes a detailed exploration and discussion of the gendered nature of drug taking practices and rituals.

By re-engaging with ethnographies this book provides a rich, descriptive account of young people’s drug taking practices and behaviours within the context of supply. It also unveils the gendered meaning and context of drug taking and drug selling.