Mohammad and Fritsvold’s research involved ethnography, in which they closely observed daily interactions between the dealers and their clientele. This meant building close relationships with the subjects in order to accurately observe what went on in their daily lives. The descriptions of the Dorm Room Dealers disproves traditional views about the stereotypical drug dealer. When picturing the typical “drug dealer” profile, often times people think of a stereotypical “stoner” with the qualities portrayed by things like rap music. Some might think of people that have no primary job, or have no prior obligations. Frequently, the idea of a drug dealer involves someone with a lack of formal education. These are not characteristics of the drug dealers depicted in Dorm Room Dealers, however. This study of about fifty participants were all college students at varying Southern California universities, one private university in particular. This alone is contrary to how society views the average drug dealer.
There are, however, some similarities between the dealers in
this study and others in society. For example, some of the Dorm Room Dealers
claimed that they dealt drugs as a way to underwrite the cost of personal drug
use and other expenses. This is much like that of the “average” drug dealer. Additionally,
common thought of drug dealers involve their desire for flashy things,
similarly to the drug dealers in Dorm Room Dealers as they use their drug
activity to be able to pay for nice rims on their cars and new clothes, cars, etcetera.
On the contrary, Dorm Room Dealers also goes into much detailing explaining how
the subjects of this study are “Anti-Targets” to the criminal justice system.
The dealers seemed to be never worried about getting caught in their drug
dealing antics, which could be a difference between this group of drug dealers
and the “average” street dealer.
Personally, I know people in college that sell marijuana as
a way to get a little extra money on the side. The general train of thought is
if they smoke it and usually have a supply of it, why not sell it and make an
easy profit. Therefore my description of a drug dealer is probably a little
different than the rest of society’s negative views, due to the fact that most
of the drug dealers I’ve encountered have been college students or educated
people just trying to flip marijuana to make a profit as is the case in Dorm Room Dealers. One primary difference
though is that most college drug dealers, at least to my knowledge, discontinue
their sale of marijuana after graduation or getting a better job.
