Reading review of On the Run

In the work which has been done the fieldwork from undergraduate, Goffman’s daughter, who is Alice Goffman (little G), fused ethnographic methods and her father’s theory, observing the impact of law enforcement agency for the life of ethnic groups, community and social ties, and the reaction of the latter. Judicial and law enforcement systems has become increasingly sophisticated (all kinds of advanced scientific and technological, and even learn inventory and monitoring techniques from Stacy), cumbersome (each law enforcement agency has its own bail and wanted system, which fines to issue a warrant for one who violated the bail conditions or did not pay court fees), common (helicopters and police cars are on patrol), often in the use of force (a Philadelphia Sheriff declared: who dares to touch the police will be beat until he into the hospital), the tendency of the crime and the strong surveillance and detention (if one did not pay the court fee can be arrested, one day in the prison is equivalent to ten yuan), which will penetrate into every aspect of the poor black community life.

The minor offenses of the young men, from selling marijuana to throwing stones at people, all can be sentenced to detention, let alone a felony. So they cannot use their real identities to obtain regular work and life patterns. Their life patterns are only between been put into prison and been released from prison. Only learn to avoid law enforcement, escape and evade the identity, look for a reliable partner and cover, continue to engage in illegal profits, can they form the new social ties, reputation and status by avoiding and illegal behaviors; sometimes strategically make profits by using their illegal records, such as actively seek custody to escape the gang wars, and utilize the deferred redemption bail to replace the bank deposits. But they have no possibility to get out of the community through education, work and other ways, short-term absconding and out-migration for work could not completely cut their connections with the community. Women are struggling to help the younger men, and law enforcement agencies to provide clues and participate into the hunt: law-executors mastered the skill of starting from the relatively weak loved ones, often coercive women denounce men. Choose to help or to denounce, often affect their social status and reputation. A person who is abstinence or in good standing with the authority, either completely cut off the connection with the illegal population, or occasionally provide some small service to make profit.

Once this kind of community life pattern is formed, the whole community is called the Fugitive Community. Young men are struggling between the arrest and avoid law enforcement, women, family members, and other outsiders are all intentionally or unintentionally involved (unless deliberately isolation) to do the culture and social interaction and to carry out various kinds of economic transactions. The fugitive community still has the general community’s interaction, social ties and economic and cultural exchange, but all the nodes are around the law enforcement agencies, the scene has changed into a life experience center for young men to experience and escape law enforcement agencies. For example, the general urban class young people get the mode of social status, reputation, peer acceptance and social relationships, such as playing games, football, brotherhood, special interest clubs, and balls are completely not exist in the block, but the node program of law enforcement and judicial organs have unexpectedly altered into the place for social interaction and the establishment of intimate relationships: the female partners who appear in court are often jealous, help each other in the hiding is the sign of a close friend, a man who has more successful absconding experience is regarded as the hero. Visits and frequently sent money can repair the broken relationship of boyfriends, girlfriends or friends for denouncing the person who is in the jail. The latter’s behavior pattern seems to play a similar social function of the former, overall, but it is ongoing under the atmosphere of depression, escape, isolation, self-confinement, and is totally different from the active, positive, outgoing, self-shape of social interaction.