Topic > An Ethnographic Study of The Impoverished Chicago Neighborhood in No Way Out, a Book by Waverly Duck

No Way Out by Waverly Duck incorporated the insights of numerous renowned sociologists, including Durkheim, Garfinkel, Goffman, and Rawls, who increased the credibility of Duck's claims. As an author, Duck gained information for his book by spending extended periods of time observing the topics in his book and learning about them on a personal basis. According to Duck, the evidence supporting his book came from ethnographic studies of people living in black and poor neighborhoods. This allowed him to write a fascinating and powerful book that told and analyzed personal narratives rather than relying solely on statistics to form conclusions about the people he studied. Although an ethnographic experiment provides Duck with great insight into the lives of his subjects, the data he collects is mostly qualitative rather than quantitative. This means that his data is subject to bias or variable interpretation, allowing critics to suggest that Duck's claims have no hard evidence to back them up. However, by understanding the social context of the neighborhood in which Duck conducted his study, it is possible to better interpret Duck's qualitative data. Duck studied a poor neighborhood in Chicago, which he called Bristol Hill (to preserve the anonymity of the predominantly African-American community he studied). Duck first became intrigued by Bristol Hill when he was invited to provide testimony in a federal death penalty case involving a defendant originally from this neighborhood. To testify accurately, Duck conducted an ethnographic study to help him develop a sociological angle for his testimony. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There is a common belief that many of these civilians have no way to improve their situation. This belief is partially true. Impoverished civilians have limited opportunities to leave the Bristol Hill community due to the absence of a social safety net, a flawed criminal justice system, and laws that burden the impoverished population with excessive regulations without providing needed relief . Isolated from mainstream society and struggling with poverty, the residents of Bristol Hill establish their own community, with drug dealers at the top of the hierarchy. Oddly, these drug dealers promote order by creating unwritten rules, which Duck calls "interaction order," that govern safety in their neighborhoods. These unwritten social norms are often misunderstood by mainstream society. To survive Bristol Hill, one must understand these informal laws. These regulations exist to help residents adapt to poverty and avoid prison, especially as the strengthening war on drugs has led to the mass incarceration of drug dealers. Essentially, Bristol Hill has its own culture, a concept that. fascinated Duck. Even in an area with little economic opportunity, poor educational offerings, and gang violence, this culture attracts many Bristol Hill residents, forcing them to willingly spend their entire lives in this “ghetto” neighborhood. attracts residents to Bristol Hill comes from the role that each civilian plays in this society, therefore there is a certain level of mutual respect between members of the neighborhood. Each resident is like an actor in a play with roles they must play to ensure the Bristol Hill neighborhood operates safely. This situation resembles dramaturgical theory, especially because one's role in the community does not necessarily coincidewith their personal beliefs. For example, there is a tension between acquiring the money necessary for survival through dangerous means such as drug dealing and protecting one's family. While the averageHowever, negative stereotypes of the Bristol Hill community influence the police's view of Bristol Hill residents, often incarcerating these poor citizens instead of protecting them. Therefore, residents of Bristol Hill rarely avail themselves of the help of the police. Interestingly, drug dealers in this neighborhood are respected, perhaps even revered. In conjunction with Merton's typology of deviance, drug dealers fall into the category of "innovators." Rather than being labeled criminals by their neighbors, they are seen as entrepreneurs, earning money despite living in situations that make survival difficult. They are also seen as protectors, ensuring that gangs and authority figures do not harm their loved ones. In Bristol Hill, drug dealers play the role that law enforcement and government usually play for other neighborhoods. Bristol Hill drug dealers work from street corners rather than a single location to ensure their success. It is difficult to catch these drug dealers red-handed with drugs or weapons in their homes as they hide drugs and weapons under "trash piles" in the neighborhood, although a passerby might think it is Bristol Hill residents cannot clean up after themselves, drug dealers depend on these piles of rubbish to make their business prosper. These piles of trash are a survival mechanism for drug dealers who want to avoid incarceration and provide money for their families. To avoid incarceration, drug dealers lure young black teenagers into their drug-dealing lifestyle, especially by using minors as “muggers,” forcing minors to possess the drugs if law enforcement pursues them. The rationale behind the use of "muggings" is that juveniles will receive relatively lenient prison sentences for drug offenses compared to adults. This rite of passage for teenagers also allows drug dealers to determine which young members of the community can be trusted to keep the secrets of their industry. To infiltrate this community, Duck also had to contribute to the community in some way. He eventually played the role of mentor or teacher at Bristol Hill. By becoming a mentor to residents, Duck might learn about their personal narratives. While statistics cannot enlighten mainstream society as to why Bristol Hill residents decide to stay in the neighborhood even if they have the means to leave, Duck's research has allowed him to explain this phenomenon very well. These residents chose to stay in an area where they were familiar with the unspoken rules rather than move to an unfamiliar neighborhood to improve their lives. This book seeks to answer a fundamental question that mainstream society often asks: If conditions in poor suburban African-American communities like Bristol Hill are as horrible as they seem, then why are civilians so reluctant to leave the neighborhood? Is there really no way out? This book focuses primarily on the African American population as the majority of Bristol Hill residents are people of color who live in poverty, receive little education, and face violence. However, whites also live in the neighborhood, either as members of a service team or as people who lived in the neighborhood for an extended period of time, before Bristol Hill became a predominantly African American neighborhood. Understanding the social nuances of.