Fast Lives: Women Who Use Crack Cocaine (Paperback)

~ Claire Sterk (Author)
Key Phrases: white hustler, female drug users, crack cocaine habit, African American, Older Struggling Rookies, Queens of the Scene (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Fast Lives offers many new insights into neglected topics... [It] is an impressive piece of ethnographic research. Accessible and engaging, it gives the reader access to a world that most of us would never otherwise see." --Criminal Justice Review "Sterk's method is classical social science." --Addiction

Product Description

Providing insight into drug use from the point of view of female users, this book tells of the complex lives, challenges, and choices of women who use crack cocaine. While popular images of these women present them simply as unreliable individuals, unfit mothers, and women who will do almost anything for crack, Claire Sterk's years of ethnographic research reveal the nature and meaning of crack cocaine use in the larger context of their lives, including the impact of such issues as gender, class, and race. Focusing on active crack users, "Fast Lives" compiles information from participant observation, informal conversations, individual interviews, and group discussions. Sterk details the ways in which use affects the lives of these crack users. She captures how these women arrived at their use, how they survive under current circumstances such as the constant threat of HIV/AIDS and violence, how they develop and maintain intimate relationships, how they combine the multiple social roles of mother and drug user, and how as they share their aspirations and expectations for the future their stories underscore the effects of poverty, sexism, and racism on their lives. Many of these women recognize their own responsibility for ensuring positive change. Sterk's book, which includes an argument for a 'harm reduction' approach, reminds us that their strength and courage will too often be futile without social policies that are realistic and appropriate for women. "Fast Lives" will engage readers interested in social problems as well as students of cultural anthropology, sociology, criminology, public health, ethnography, substance abuse, and women's health. Claire E. Sterk is Associate Professor of Public Health at Emory University.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (February 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566396727
• ISBN-13: 978-1566396721
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #409,191 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Step into their world !, May 26, 2000

By	Denise Moseley "gemini32" (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Truly lets you see life through the eyes of a crackhead. You'll feel like you are really there. Shocking lifestyles. You won't wanna put this down. Whether you're a recovered addict or just curious I would say this book is worth reading!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Female Crack Addicts...Who Are They?, May 30, 2002

By	Roberta Dee-Vinyard "gurugirl" (Chicagoland area) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book lays in all out there for you, in a clinical, organized, research-based way. Claire Sterk explains the "hierarchy" among these crack-using women, from "queens of the scene" to the low-level prostitutes. The book details their sexual relationships, their jobs (or joblessness), how they manage children among other things. Terry Williams (see Crackhouse-Notes From the End of the Line, The Cocaine Kids) assisted with Sterk's research efforts. An excellent read of a side of life most of us thankfully don't experience.