The Social Life of Smokes by Dwyer - Book Report/Review Example

Critical Analysis Name University Professor (Tutor) Course City/State Date A critical analysis of Dwyer, R. 2011. ‘Chapter 1: The social life of smokes: Processes of exchange in a heroin marketplace’ in Fraser and Moore (eds), 2011. The Drug Effect: Health, Crime and Society. Melbourne: Cambridge U Press.\ Introduction While drugs may be categorized differently, it is unquestionable that drugs have commanded significant attention globally. This has seen a lot of research work being done on drugs and their significant impacts on the health of individuals. Besides, particular authors have even been more interested in finer details relating to drug use and the associated effects. Dwyer (2011) is one such author whose work has stood the test of credibility and reliability. Dwyer’s work Chapter 1: The social life of smokes: Processes of exchange in a heroin marketplace’ in Fraser and Moore (eds), 2011. The Drug Effect: Health, Crime and Society. Melbourne: Cambridge U Press can also be argued to warrant a critical analysis owing to particular noteworthy aspects in it. This particular paper therefore provides a critical analysis of Dwyer’s research work. Summary of the work by Dwyer (2011) Chapter 1: The social life of smokes: Processes of exchange in a heroin marketplace’ in Fraser and Moore (eds), 2011. The Drug Effect: Health, Crime and Society. Melbourne: Cambridge U Press is basically a research-based work. In his work, Dwyer (2011) tends to highlight the fundamental role of exchanges in the whole drug equation. The work focuses more on exchange so as to bring an argument for the illicit drug market places being produced and enabled by the complex, dynamic social processes as well as the existing relations. This is in contrast to the dominant drug conceptions that particularly view market places as primarily driven by the demand and supply mechanisms. The work challenges dominant, stigmatizing construction of the heroine dealers and users while highlighting that they involve in same practices and struggles that all of us also encounter. A critical analysis This work has been quite elaborate on pertinent issues regarding drugs. The author seems to maintain a stand on the fact that drug consumption is dangerous, just as Fraser et al. (2011) argues that illegal drugs have their pleasure and pain. In the work, the author reveals different ways through which drug trafficking is conducted. The author similarly gives examples of social means like films, music, and videos hence making the work to clearly inform people of the danger of using drugs and warns them of the expected side effects. The author of this book seems to focus more on drug consumption among the Western countries. Similarly, the research work tends to conclude that many of the cultures have been saturated with the drugs iconic imagery, references and symbolism. The research work also tends to bring to focus the fact that most forms of entertainment have become more of creating understanding about the drug than just entertaining. The author argues that most illicit drug awareness is created through musical films, videos, and other social entertainment activities, a fact that is concurrent with the idea of Chambliss (2011). The book also reveals that illegal drugs are addictive. The research depicts that an addicted person cannot carry out his or her duties if he or she has not used the drugs. The author considered this as the primary disadvantage of drug addiction, a case that Dennis (2014) seems to agree with. The author’s major point of concern was whether the nation’s advocates for the consumption of these illegal drugs. The research shows that most of the nations have prohibited illicit drugs, but people have just ignored those prohibitions. But the question is what actions thus these countries take on those law breakers who are caught? Then it implies from the fact that the some behaviors are seen being repeated now and then that there are no serious actions that are being taken to the illicit drug consumers (Fraser and Moore, 2011). Moreover, the author agrees to the point that all illegal drugs have effects when taken. The author only talks about the side effects of these drugs without knowing that as much as they are illegal, they also have some positive impacts. This is true because people use them to gain energy to carry on with their duties. Taking the example of athletes, some of them use these drugs to add themselves energy. Meanwhile, the author’s argument is right. Many people using drugs end up involving in unlawful activities such as crimes and more others. All in all, the research concludes that there are more demerits of using the illicit drug than the merits, an argument which is supported by Goode (2012). Different social classes, genders and age groups have a different type of illegal drugs consumption. This is according to the author’s point of argument. The author gives the example of the celebrities in films that would like to preserve their privacy and dignity by taking expensive drugs but secretly. It should be disagreed with the author because, most of these celebrities are seen on videos and films using the drugs. This shows that they do not consider secrecy. He states that young people who have limited access to adult films and video have less information on how drugs are used thus they are less affected by drugs. But still these young ones interact with the adult and see what they do and learn from them. These limits imply that the young ones are not primarily affected by the illicit drugs (Goode, 2012). The central themes are the pleasure and the pain of the illegal drug representations, consumption and trafficking. The author states some of the most popular ways through which the people gets information on how different types of drugs are used and also on the ways that are used to create awareness about effects of drugs. The author condemns mostly the means of entertainment and social processes and relations to be the major ways. From the author’s point of view, it’s like he would have wished to burn any form of entertainment that has got anything to deal with drugs. The author must have failed to understand that not all those films and videos encourage drug consumption. In fact, most of them create awareness about the risks of drug use. The research similarly gives the factors that surround the production and consumption of drugs, as also highlighted by Goode (2012) The author concludes that the activities are commonly surrounded by social relations and processes. Cultural activities and ceremonies like music festivals are the primary processes involved in the production and consumption of drugs. This is according to the author who continues by arguing that during such activities, there are normally narratives, visual images, films and music that usually communicate understanding of illegal drugs. As a result, it plays a role in creating public awareness encouraging young once to start using drugs so as to be like whoever they saw in those films (Penna, 2012). The author is much correct since many people love when they are being associated with one celebrity or another by adopting their behaviors. Most people were found to associate according to their social classes and their age groups. As age mates, they would share ideas as per their level. Similar to people of the same social class will try to do what other persons of the same category do. As a result of that, even those individuals who were not using drugs will start to use so as to fit in the category. Therefore, social classes are one among those social processes that largely surrounds the production and consumption of the drug (Chambliss, 2011). Other than that, the research shows that the company and types of friends a person associated with also contribute to whether he or she will involve in drug consumption. If a person who does not use drugs starts to associate with those who uses, he will undoubtedly end up being influenced by the friends to start using (Chambliss, 2011). The most interesting part of this book is the clarity of the author’s points. The author has presented his points in short paragraphs that clearly state his stand. The author has also supported his argument with the relevant example from the real life situation. The tedious thing is that the author uses outdated examples like those films that were produced in the nineteenth century (Fraser and Moore, 2011). Likewise, the book is boring because of the way its author has presented it. He gives more references than even the real information needed by the reader. It can, therefore, be said that the author did not carry out enough research about the topic. Meanwhile, it can be concluded that the author of this book has achieved his intended goal. The author’s main point of concern was to articulate the idea that social places and entertainment resources are the major contributors of drug addiction. He achieves this by detailing it and explicitly stating it in his conclusion. He also ergs people to stop using drugs by saying that drugs impair people mind and health. This should be agreed with because drugs are harmful to human health and lead to various disorders in the body functioning, as Chambliss (2011) also argues. The author has also achieved his goals given that he directed his research to the right audience. Conclusion Dwyer (2011) has provided reasonable arguments backed by research. The critical analysis has highlighted the fundamental aspects that need to be noted in Dwyer’s work. As such, it is quite agreeable that the process of drug production and consumption is mostly contributed through social practices and relationships. Therefore, the directors of these activities should ensure that no form of entertainment encourages drug use. It should also be agreed that drugs are not safe for human bodies, and therefore people should stop using them. Bibliography Dwyer, R. 2011, ‘Chapter 1: The social life of smokes: Processes of exchange in a heroin marketplace’ in Fraser and Moore (eds), 2011. The Drug Effect: Health, Crime and Society. Melbourne: Cambridge U Press. Chambliss, W. 2011, Juvenile crime and justice, Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE. Dennis, F. 2014, the drug effect: Health, crime and society by Suzanne Fraser and David Moore, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Penna, S. 2012, Drugs, crime and public health: the political economy of drug policy, by Alex Stevens, Global Crime, 13(2), pp.136-139. Fraser, S. & Moore, D. 2011, the drug effect, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Goode, E. 2012, Drugs in American society, New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More