This article was downloaded by: [North Carolina State University] On: 07 March 2015, At: 17:54 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
The Journal of Social Psychology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vsoc20
Street Addict Values: A Factor Analytic Study Richard C. Stephens
a b
, Stephen Levine
a b
& Wesley Ross
a
b a
New York State Drug Abuse Control Commission , New York, USA b
National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center , Lexington, Kentucky, USA Published online: 01 Jul 2010.
To cite this article: Richard C. Stephens , Stephen Levine & Wesley Ross (1976) Street Addict Values: A Factor Analytic Study, The Journal of Social Psychology, 99:2, 273-281, DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1976.9924780 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1976.9924780
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Downloaded by [North Carolina State University] at 17:54 07 March 2015
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The Journal of Social Psychology, 1976, 99, 273-281.
STREET ADDICT VALUES: A FACTOR ANALYTIC STUDY* New York State Drug Abuse Control Commission, New York; and National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Lexington, Kentucky
RICHARD
C.
STEPHENS, STEPHEN LEVINE, AND WESLEY
Ross
Downloaded by [North Carolina State University] at 17:54 07 March 2015
SUMMARY
This study was designed to describe the values of the street addict subculture. It was hypothesized that the values would be oriented around the three major components of the street addict role: the "cool cat" pattern, the importance of conning behavior, and the addict's antisociety viewpoint. A completed 92-item test protocol was obtained for a total of 516 narcotic addicts. The sample consists of 73 percent males and 27 percent females63 percent black, 30 percent white, and 7 percent other. A series of principal component analyses with varimax rotations yielded a final sixfactor structure composed of 47 items. The results indicated that a value structure, centered on the street addict role concept, did seem to exist. This value structure was also found to be similar in many ways to value systems of both delinquent subcultures and black lower-class ghetto dwellers. Thus, the question remains whether the value system is unique to street addicts or is merely reflective of a more general ghetto life-style. A.
INTRODUCTION
Narcotic addiction in America has been viewed from a number of different perspectives. Some observers have emphasized its physiological aspects (5), others its psychiatric properties (8), while yet others have looked at addiction from the vantage point of a number of different disciplines (2). Recently, there has been the growth of a literature which highlights the sociocultural aspects of addiction (1, 6, 8, 10, 14, 15). This literature focuses on one type of narcotic addict in the United States--the street addict-who is typically a heroin-using, slum-dwelling, minority
* Received in the Editorial Office, Provincetown, Massachusetts, on January 22, 1975. j:opyright, 1976, by The Journal Press. 273
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group member. The street addict belongs to a well-developed subculture in which he learns about drugs and techniques of crime and also assimilates a set of behavioral norms and values; in short, he is provided with a role. This role has been defined (13) and a first attempt at operationalizing the concept has also been made (14). In addition, the place of the role within a larger typology of addicts has been defined (8). The purpose of this paper is to extend further our knowledge by presenting an empirical study of street addict values. It was felt that the street addict value structure would probably revolve about the three major components of the street addict role: the "cool cat" pattern, the importance of conning behavior, and the addict's antisociety viewpoint. These components have been described elsewhere in fuller detail (13). Briefly, the first component, the "cool cat" pattern, is divided into eight overlapping sube1ements: (a) the lack of social concern-a concern with self and lack of interest in the problems of others; (b) the importance of outward appearance-the great importance put upon the conspicuous display of wealth as represented by clothes, "flashy" cars, and other status conferring material goods; (c) the argot-use of "hip" slang to indicate addict's membership in the "cool" street world; (d) the "cool" image-the emotional neutrality and posture of never revealing one's true feelings to others; (e) search for excitement-frenetic search for thrills and feeling of power which comes from overcoming danger; if) short-run hedonism-the "live for today" philosophy with little thought given to planning for the future; (g) the "code of the cool cat"-tacit rule which forbids divulging information (i.e., informing) about fellow addicts to authorities or other nonaddicts; (h) the "passive cool cat"-the concept that the addict should remain "cool" and resort to physical violence only as an extreme last resort. The second major role component is the street addict's conning ability. "Conning" serves several functions. First, the addict acquires material rewards through the use of various schemes or "con games." The money acquired from such conning helps him to support his habit. Secondly, the addict gains status inasmuch as the good con artist is something of a culture hero in the street addict value system. And thirdly, the addict gains a number of other rewards, such as a sense of good craftsmanship, power, revenge, and personal meaning (i). The third and final component of the street addict role is his antisocietal viewpoint. He believes that "everybody's got a game"-only society condones some games and not others. Those in positions of power-i.e.,
RICHARD C. STEPHENS
et al.
275
politicians, businessmen, etc.-merely use the legal machinery to exploit the disenfranchised. Hence he is entirely justified in using whatever means he can to avenge himself. He has no respect for the law which he understands to be the means the Establishment uses for its own purposes.
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B.
METHODOLOGY
With these three major role concepts in mind, it was decided to construct a series of attitudinal items which hopefully would measure street addict values. Accordingly, a 93-item questionnaire was constructed. All items were constructed by the authors using the elements of the street addict role (as discussed above), as guides for construction. All items were of the Likert type ("stongly agree" to "strongly disagree"). Also included in the questionnaire were items related to the S's background and some measures of involvement in the drug subculture. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 559 narcotic addicts in the Spring of 1972. Forty-three test protocols were eliminated from the final sample because of large numbers of skipped questions or careless marking. The final sample of 516 S s included 198 patients from the NIMH Clinical Research Center at Lexington, Kentucky. All of these patients were in a psychiatrically oriented, drug-free treatment modality. Additional S s were recruited from ambulatory methadone maintenance programs in Chicago, Illinois. These included 194 from the University of Illinois Clinic, 78 from the Madison Street Clinic, and 46 from the Northside Clinic. \ The final sample was composed of 73 percent males and 27 percent females. The ethnic composition of the final sample was 63 percent black, 30 percent white, 6 percent other, and 1 percent unknown. All S s were instructed as to how to complete the attitude instrument. They were told that the survey was not a test, there were no "correct" answers, and that they should record their honest opinions for each itern.? S s were not only guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality of their responses but were also assured that their cooperation and performance would in no way affect their treatment. The items were scored so that high scores indicated agreement with the I The authors would like to thank the staff of these clinics and members of the research staff of the Illinois Drug Abuse Program for their invaluable help. 2 As noted "conning" is one component of the street addict role. Thus, there is always the possibility that the addicts were "conning" the researchers in this study and responding in ways which did not express their true opinions. However, at least two studies have been conducted which indicate that addicts appear to be truthful respondents in research studies (2,
12).
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presumed street addict role. The means for 92 items (one had been eliminated because of ambiguous wording), were obtained and in the few instances (l %) where an item or items had been left blank by the respondent, the cell was filled with the closest approximation to the group mean for the item. Filling the missing data cells with the equivalent of the group mean cannot raise the correlations between variables if the missing data a.re random, although it must be acknowledged that slight distortion in individual factor scores may have resulted.
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C.
RESULTS
The 92-item intercorrelation matrix was initially factored by the principal components method, with factor extraction arbitrarily limited to nine components. Because the primary interest was in common variance, it was decided to delete some items with low commonalities. This procedure was used with two component analyses and varimax rotations eliminating first 22 items and then an additional 23 items. The final 47-item intercorrelation matrix was refactored and six components emerged which accounted for 34.4% of the variance. 3 Seven items displayed overlap with a second factor. Those items were assigned to the factor that had the largest loading or to the factor with the smallest number of items, if the loadings were similar. One item was also eliminated because the directionality of its loading was opposite to the predicted direction, thus making it possible simply to unit-weight and sum the items on each scale to develop a score for the factor. Following is a list of the six factors. The specific items, with their loadings, are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 THE SIx-FACTOR VALUE STRUCTURE (WITH ITEM LOADING)
Item Factor 1: Antisociety viewpoint 1. Policemen are usually dishonest. 2. To be successful a man must cheat at times. 3. Laws benefit those in power at poor people's expense. 4. Men will cheat on their wives if they believe they won't get caught. 5. Most people would break the law if they weren't afraid of getting caught.
Loading .63
.59 .55 .53
.50
3 Copies of the intercorrelation matrix and the complete data on the factor analysis are available from the senior author. Because the amount of variance accounted for is relatively small, this study should be considered an exploratory one and the conclusions drawn should be considered as tentative.
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et al.
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Item
Loading
6. Most people are interested only in themselves. 7. To be successful men get their money by conning others out of it. 8. A smart man can usually get others to work for him. 9. It is natural for a man to feel better about himself when he is wearing expensive clothes. 10. It is unwise to reveal your true feelings to a stranger. 11. A "square" cannot really understand a drug addict. 12. Most basic problems with drugs result from unfair laws. Factor 2: Rejection of middle-class values 1. Security is more important than an opportunity to become rich. (disagree) 2. The motto "honesty is the best policy" is wise. (disagree) 3. It is more satisfying to lead a secure life than an exciting one. (disagree) 4. Hard work is rewarded. (disagree) 5. "Squares" enjoy life more than hip people. (disagree) 6. It is more rewarding to give help than receive it. (disagree) 7. Justice demands that a man pay for his crimes. (disagree) 8. People respect intelligence more than they do physical strength. (disagree) 9. A lawbreaker should be reported to the police. (disagree) 10. The laws of this country protect the average citizen. (disagree) Factor 3: Excitement-hedonism 1. It is best to live each day rather than make plans far in advance. 2. A person who is addicted to heroin is not responsible for his behavior. 3. It is silly to plan too far ahead because life is too uncertain. 4. The addict can't help what he does. 5. "Squares" are people who are afraid of the disapproval of others. 6. Hustling is as exciting as shooting dope. 7. The philosophy "live fast, die young" is the most sensible. 8. Most people who talk like "squares" are dull. 9. Addicts are generally "slick" people. Factor 4: Importance of outward appearances 1. Clothes indicate the worth of a man. 2. One should not measure the worth of a man by his dress, car, or bank account. (disagree) 3. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. 4. It is intelligent to impress people as much as possible by wearing the right clothes. 5. Having money is more important than how one gets it. Factor 5: Valence of street addict subculture 1. Following treatment, an ex-addict should avoid drug-using friends. (disagree) 2. Following treatment, an ex-addict should stay away from his drug-using neighborhood. (disagree) 3. An ex-addict can't stay clean and have addict friends at the same time. (disagree) 4. Junkies are some of the worst people in the world. (disagree) 5. Junkies are desirable friends. Factor 6: The "cool cat" 1. It is dangerous to talk about personal matters with most people. 2. When other people discover your weaknesses, they lose respect for you. 3. A person should put his trust in others. (disagree) 4. It is better to remain emotionally uninvolved than to run the risk of being hurt. 5. If you like a person it is wrong to criticize him even if you're aware of a fault in him.
.49 .49 .47 .46 .45 .43
.37 .61 .57 .56 .56 .46 .45 .44 .42 .36 .36
.55 .54 .52 .52 .47 .45 .43 .43 .34
.67
.50 .46 .46 .43 .62
.58 .56 .47 .35
.51 .50 .47 .46 .34
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Factor 1-Antisociety viewpoint measures the idea that people are basically dishonest and egocentric. The factor also indicates the cynicism of the addict about nonaddict others. Factor 2-Rejection of middle-class values indicates the denigration of the alleged "square-life" ideals of hard work, security, and honesty. In fact, this factor is so well defined that one is tempted to assert that the addict subculture is almost a contraculture. Factor 3-Excitement-hedonism represents some of the elements of the "cool cat" pattern. Again, the factor appears to measure the "squareaddict" dichotomy with the addict lifestyle being a much more exciting and intense response to life. The factor structure strongly suggests that addicts do endorse the fast life and pursuit of immediate gratification with little thought given to the future. Factor 4-Importance of outward appearances indicates that the addict subscribes to the conspicuous consumption mode of life. Money, clothes, and cars are to be used for image management as much as for any intrinsic worth they may have. Factor S-Valence of street addict subcultures seems to indicate the importance of addict friends and involvement in the addict subculture. Rather than noting possible dangers inherent in membership in the addict subculture, the factor seems to measure the allegiance which even a "clean" addict is supposed to have to his addict friends. Factor 6-"Cool cat" emphasizes the addict's emotional aloofness. It makes the point that weakness is defined as being emotionaily liable to other persons. In other words, one should never "open up" to others. D.
DISCUSSION
Some preliminary conclusions can be drawn from this research. First, the research does seem to indicate that, by and large, the values reflective of the components of the street addict role as hypothesized earlier in this paper do have empirically observable referents. The three major elements of the role-the "cool cat" syndrome, the antisocietal viewpoint, and to a lesser degree, the importance of conning-emerge from the factor analysis. The first two components have clearly defined factors, while "conning" is a "leit-motif" which recurs throughout many of the factors. These findings can be compared with the delinquency studies of Miller (9) and Cohen (4) and the study of black, lower-class life-styles by Rainwater (11). In developing an explanation for delinquency among lowerclass youth, Miller hypothesized that delinquent behavior is reflective of
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et at.
279
the underlying lower-class value structure." This value structure revolves about the six focal concerns: (a) the concern with "trouble," (b) toughness, (c) smartness or ability to outsmart others, (d) excitement, (e) fate, and if) autonomy or freedom from superordinate authority. The reader will note a striking similarity between Miller's description of the value structure and the one contained herein. While it is true that the factor analysis yielded only one factor that directly corresponds to a focal concern, the excitement-hedonism factor with the excitement focal concern, much of the content of the two different descriptions overlaps. Contained within the excitement-hedonism factor is also the "fate" concern which Miller describes. Items such as "it is best to live each day rather than make plans far in advance" reflect this fate component. "Smartness" is primarily the ability to con which, as has been discussed, runs throughout the analysis presented in this paper. Autonomy is to some extent reflected in the "cool cat" factor in that the essence of that factor is emotional coolness and aloofness-that is, the person values noninvolvement with others. Concerns with trouble and toughness are to some degree found in Factors 1 and 2-the factors which measure antisocietal viewpoints and rejection of middle-class values. But more important than potential correspondence between factors and focal concerns is the "flavor" of the value structure presented by these two different analyses. In effect, the two studies reflect very similar value descriptions of persons who prize the "fast life," livefor-today ideology. Cohen in his Delinquent Boys sees the delinquent response as a reaction whereby the lower-class delinquent boy inverts the middle-class value system and uses this anti-middle-class ethic as the blueprint for his behavior (4). The present analysis suggests that such an inversion mechanism appears to operate with the street addict as well, particularly in the case of Factor 2. While both Miller and Cohen attempted to explain deviant (vis-a-vis middle-class standards) behavior, Lee Rainwater was not interested in "deviant" behavior, per se, when he studied black lower-class behavior patterns. Several of his findings are relevant to the present study although the reader must be cautioned that he studied only blacks while the present sample was about one-third white. Rainwater notes, for instance, that a premium is placed on the exploitation and manipulation of peers. In response to this threat of manipulation, he describes how people 4 T~e assertion. that lower-class values exist and are substantially different from those of the middle class IS a controversial issue and one with which these data cannot deal. See Valentine (16) for a review of the issues.
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relate to each other defensively-that is, they attempt to ward off manipulation and exploitation by peers. Rainwater also describes the expressive life-style of the young black, which is an exciting, action-oriented response to life (11). Obviously, there are overlaps between what Rainwater describes and the results of this study. His descriptions of the role of manipulation and the reaction to that manipulation are seen in the "conning" analysis presented herein and the "cool cat" factor. The expressive life-style is similar to the excitement-hedonism and importance of outward appearance factors. Though the overlap between the description of the street addict way of life and the ghetto dwellers' life-style is great, it is not complete. Rainwater does not suggest that the ghetto dweller has an anti-middle-class ideology. If anything, he suggests that the opposite is true; the ghetto dweller must adjust his aspirations downward, using the limited resources available in the ghetto, to carve out a meaningful existence and identity. It may be that for most slum dwellers, one of a limited number of possible identities is the "street addict" role. It is certainly an expressive life-style and at least initially provides the person with certain physiological rewards in the form of a "high." Additional reinforcement is found in a secure self-identity and membership and status in a peer group (3). In fact, it may well be that there is no value entity that is distinctively street addict. Rather, street addict values may be merely reflective of a lower class life-style and adaptation to life. Certainly, as has been demonstrated here, there is a large overlap in the value structure of ghetto dwellers, delinquents, and street addicts. That the addict may have acquired this particular value structure through socialization as a ghetto or slum dweller rather than as an addict is a distinct possibility. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
AGAR, M. Ripping and Running: A Formal Ethnography of Urban Heroin Addicts. New York: Seminar Press, 1973. BALL, J. The reliability and validity of interview data obtained from 59 narcotic drug addicts. Amer. J. Sociol., 1967, 72, 650-654. CHEIN, I. Psychological, social and epidemiological factors in drug addiction. In Rehabilitating the Narcotic Addict. Washington, D.C.: Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, 1966. COHEN, A. Delinquent Boys. New York: Macmillan, 1955. DOLE, V., & NYSWANDER, M. Methadone maintenance and its implications for theories of narcotic addiction. In The Addictive States. Baltimore: Wilkins, 1968. FELDMAN, H. Ideological supports to becoming and remaining a heroin addict. J. Health & Soc. Behav., 1968, 9, 131-139. LEVINE, S., & STEPHENS, R. Games addicts play. Psychiat. Quart., 1971,45, 1-11.
RICHARD STEPHENS
8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
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14. 15. 16.
et al.
281
. Types of narcotic addicts. In Drug Dependence and Rehabilitative Approaches, Hardy, R. & Cull, J. (Eds.). Springfield, Ill.: Thomas, 1973. MILLER, W. Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang deliquency. J. Soc. Iss., 1958, 14, 5-19. PREBLE, E., & CASEY, J. Taking care of business-The heroin user's life in the streets. Internat. J. Addictions, 1969, 4, 1-24. RAINWATER, L. Behind Ghetto Walls. Chicago: Aldine, 1970. STEPHENS, R. The truthfulness of addict respondents in research projects. lntemat. J. Addictions, 1972, 7, 549-558. STEPHENS, R., & LEVINE, S. The street addict role: Implication for treatment. Psychiat., 1971, 34, 351-357. STEPHENS, R., & SLATIN, J. The street addict role: Toward the definition of a type. Drug Forum, 1974, 3(forthcoming). SUTTER, A. The world of the righteous dope fiend. Iss. in Crime, 1966,2, 177-222. VALENTINE, C. Culture and Poverty. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1969.
Office of Drug Abuse Services Bureau of Social Science Research Two World Trade Center New York, New York 10047
The Journal of Social Psychology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vsoc20
Street Addict Values: A Factor Analytic Study Richard C. Stephens
a b
, Stephen Levine
a b
& Wesley Ross
a
b a
New York State Drug Abuse Control Commission , New York, USA b
National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center , Lexington, Kentucky, USA Published online: 01 Jul 2010.
To cite this article: Richard C. Stephens , Stephen Levine & Wesley Ross (1976) Street Addict Values: A Factor Analytic Study, The Journal of Social Psychology, 99:2, 273-281, DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1976.9924780 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1976.9924780
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Downloaded by [North Carolina State University] at 17:54 07 March 2015
Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/ page/terms-and-conditions
The Journal of Social Psychology, 1976, 99, 273-281.
STREET ADDICT VALUES: A FACTOR ANALYTIC STUDY* New York State Drug Abuse Control Commission, New York; and National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Lexington, Kentucky
RICHARD
C.
STEPHENS, STEPHEN LEVINE, AND WESLEY
Ross
Downloaded by [North Carolina State University] at 17:54 07 March 2015
SUMMARY
This study was designed to describe the values of the street addict subculture. It was hypothesized that the values would be oriented around the three major components of the street addict role: the "cool cat" pattern, the importance of conning behavior, and the addict's antisociety viewpoint. A completed 92-item test protocol was obtained for a total of 516 narcotic addicts. The sample consists of 73 percent males and 27 percent females63 percent black, 30 percent white, and 7 percent other. A series of principal component analyses with varimax rotations yielded a final sixfactor structure composed of 47 items. The results indicated that a value structure, centered on the street addict role concept, did seem to exist. This value structure was also found to be similar in many ways to value systems of both delinquent subcultures and black lower-class ghetto dwellers. Thus, the question remains whether the value system is unique to street addicts or is merely reflective of a more general ghetto life-style. A.
INTRODUCTION
Narcotic addiction in America has been viewed from a number of different perspectives. Some observers have emphasized its physiological aspects (5), others its psychiatric properties (8), while yet others have looked at addiction from the vantage point of a number of different disciplines (2). Recently, there has been the growth of a literature which highlights the sociocultural aspects of addiction (1, 6, 8, 10, 14, 15). This literature focuses on one type of narcotic addict in the United States--the street addict-who is typically a heroin-using, slum-dwelling, minority
* Received in the Editorial Office, Provincetown, Massachusetts, on January 22, 1975. j:opyright, 1976, by The Journal Press. 273
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group member. The street addict belongs to a well-developed subculture in which he learns about drugs and techniques of crime and also assimilates a set of behavioral norms and values; in short, he is provided with a role. This role has been defined (13) and a first attempt at operationalizing the concept has also been made (14). In addition, the place of the role within a larger typology of addicts has been defined (8). The purpose of this paper is to extend further our knowledge by presenting an empirical study of street addict values. It was felt that the street addict value structure would probably revolve about the three major components of the street addict role: the "cool cat" pattern, the importance of conning behavior, and the addict's antisociety viewpoint. These components have been described elsewhere in fuller detail (13). Briefly, the first component, the "cool cat" pattern, is divided into eight overlapping sube1ements: (a) the lack of social concern-a concern with self and lack of interest in the problems of others; (b) the importance of outward appearance-the great importance put upon the conspicuous display of wealth as represented by clothes, "flashy" cars, and other status conferring material goods; (c) the argot-use of "hip" slang to indicate addict's membership in the "cool" street world; (d) the "cool" image-the emotional neutrality and posture of never revealing one's true feelings to others; (e) search for excitement-frenetic search for thrills and feeling of power which comes from overcoming danger; if) short-run hedonism-the "live for today" philosophy with little thought given to planning for the future; (g) the "code of the cool cat"-tacit rule which forbids divulging information (i.e., informing) about fellow addicts to authorities or other nonaddicts; (h) the "passive cool cat"-the concept that the addict should remain "cool" and resort to physical violence only as an extreme last resort. The second major role component is the street addict's conning ability. "Conning" serves several functions. First, the addict acquires material rewards through the use of various schemes or "con games." The money acquired from such conning helps him to support his habit. Secondly, the addict gains status inasmuch as the good con artist is something of a culture hero in the street addict value system. And thirdly, the addict gains a number of other rewards, such as a sense of good craftsmanship, power, revenge, and personal meaning (i). The third and final component of the street addict role is his antisocietal viewpoint. He believes that "everybody's got a game"-only society condones some games and not others. Those in positions of power-i.e.,
RICHARD C. STEPHENS
et al.
275
politicians, businessmen, etc.-merely use the legal machinery to exploit the disenfranchised. Hence he is entirely justified in using whatever means he can to avenge himself. He has no respect for the law which he understands to be the means the Establishment uses for its own purposes.
Downloaded by [North Carolina State University] at 17:54 07 March 2015
B.
METHODOLOGY
With these three major role concepts in mind, it was decided to construct a series of attitudinal items which hopefully would measure street addict values. Accordingly, a 93-item questionnaire was constructed. All items were constructed by the authors using the elements of the street addict role (as discussed above), as guides for construction. All items were of the Likert type ("stongly agree" to "strongly disagree"). Also included in the questionnaire were items related to the S's background and some measures of involvement in the drug subculture. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 559 narcotic addicts in the Spring of 1972. Forty-three test protocols were eliminated from the final sample because of large numbers of skipped questions or careless marking. The final sample of 516 S s included 198 patients from the NIMH Clinical Research Center at Lexington, Kentucky. All of these patients were in a psychiatrically oriented, drug-free treatment modality. Additional S s were recruited from ambulatory methadone maintenance programs in Chicago, Illinois. These included 194 from the University of Illinois Clinic, 78 from the Madison Street Clinic, and 46 from the Northside Clinic. \ The final sample was composed of 73 percent males and 27 percent females. The ethnic composition of the final sample was 63 percent black, 30 percent white, 6 percent other, and 1 percent unknown. All S s were instructed as to how to complete the attitude instrument. They were told that the survey was not a test, there were no "correct" answers, and that they should record their honest opinions for each itern.? S s were not only guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality of their responses but were also assured that their cooperation and performance would in no way affect their treatment. The items were scored so that high scores indicated agreement with the I The authors would like to thank the staff of these clinics and members of the research staff of the Illinois Drug Abuse Program for their invaluable help. 2 As noted "conning" is one component of the street addict role. Thus, there is always the possibility that the addicts were "conning" the researchers in this study and responding in ways which did not express their true opinions. However, at least two studies have been conducted which indicate that addicts appear to be truthful respondents in research studies (2,
12).
276
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presumed street addict role. The means for 92 items (one had been eliminated because of ambiguous wording), were obtained and in the few instances (l %) where an item or items had been left blank by the respondent, the cell was filled with the closest approximation to the group mean for the item. Filling the missing data cells with the equivalent of the group mean cannot raise the correlations between variables if the missing data a.re random, although it must be acknowledged that slight distortion in individual factor scores may have resulted.
Downloaded by [North Carolina State University] at 17:54 07 March 2015
C.
RESULTS
The 92-item intercorrelation matrix was initially factored by the principal components method, with factor extraction arbitrarily limited to nine components. Because the primary interest was in common variance, it was decided to delete some items with low commonalities. This procedure was used with two component analyses and varimax rotations eliminating first 22 items and then an additional 23 items. The final 47-item intercorrelation matrix was refactored and six components emerged which accounted for 34.4% of the variance. 3 Seven items displayed overlap with a second factor. Those items were assigned to the factor that had the largest loading or to the factor with the smallest number of items, if the loadings were similar. One item was also eliminated because the directionality of its loading was opposite to the predicted direction, thus making it possible simply to unit-weight and sum the items on each scale to develop a score for the factor. Following is a list of the six factors. The specific items, with their loadings, are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 THE SIx-FACTOR VALUE STRUCTURE (WITH ITEM LOADING)
Item Factor 1: Antisociety viewpoint 1. Policemen are usually dishonest. 2. To be successful a man must cheat at times. 3. Laws benefit those in power at poor people's expense. 4. Men will cheat on their wives if they believe they won't get caught. 5. Most people would break the law if they weren't afraid of getting caught.
Loading .63
.59 .55 .53
.50
3 Copies of the intercorrelation matrix and the complete data on the factor analysis are available from the senior author. Because the amount of variance accounted for is relatively small, this study should be considered an exploratory one and the conclusions drawn should be considered as tentative.
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6. Most people are interested only in themselves. 7. To be successful men get their money by conning others out of it. 8. A smart man can usually get others to work for him. 9. It is natural for a man to feel better about himself when he is wearing expensive clothes. 10. It is unwise to reveal your true feelings to a stranger. 11. A "square" cannot really understand a drug addict. 12. Most basic problems with drugs result from unfair laws. Factor 2: Rejection of middle-class values 1. Security is more important than an opportunity to become rich. (disagree) 2. The motto "honesty is the best policy" is wise. (disagree) 3. It is more satisfying to lead a secure life than an exciting one. (disagree) 4. Hard work is rewarded. (disagree) 5. "Squares" enjoy life more than hip people. (disagree) 6. It is more rewarding to give help than receive it. (disagree) 7. Justice demands that a man pay for his crimes. (disagree) 8. People respect intelligence more than they do physical strength. (disagree) 9. A lawbreaker should be reported to the police. (disagree) 10. The laws of this country protect the average citizen. (disagree) Factor 3: Excitement-hedonism 1. It is best to live each day rather than make plans far in advance. 2. A person who is addicted to heroin is not responsible for his behavior. 3. It is silly to plan too far ahead because life is too uncertain. 4. The addict can't help what he does. 5. "Squares" are people who are afraid of the disapproval of others. 6. Hustling is as exciting as shooting dope. 7. The philosophy "live fast, die young" is the most sensible. 8. Most people who talk like "squares" are dull. 9. Addicts are generally "slick" people. Factor 4: Importance of outward appearances 1. Clothes indicate the worth of a man. 2. One should not measure the worth of a man by his dress, car, or bank account. (disagree) 3. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. 4. It is intelligent to impress people as much as possible by wearing the right clothes. 5. Having money is more important than how one gets it. Factor 5: Valence of street addict subculture 1. Following treatment, an ex-addict should avoid drug-using friends. (disagree) 2. Following treatment, an ex-addict should stay away from his drug-using neighborhood. (disagree) 3. An ex-addict can't stay clean and have addict friends at the same time. (disagree) 4. Junkies are some of the worst people in the world. (disagree) 5. Junkies are desirable friends. Factor 6: The "cool cat" 1. It is dangerous to talk about personal matters with most people. 2. When other people discover your weaknesses, they lose respect for you. 3. A person should put his trust in others. (disagree) 4. It is better to remain emotionally uninvolved than to run the risk of being hurt. 5. If you like a person it is wrong to criticize him even if you're aware of a fault in him.
.49 .49 .47 .46 .45 .43
.37 .61 .57 .56 .56 .46 .45 .44 .42 .36 .36
.55 .54 .52 .52 .47 .45 .43 .43 .34
.67
.50 .46 .46 .43 .62
.58 .56 .47 .35
.51 .50 .47 .46 .34
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Factor 1-Antisociety viewpoint measures the idea that people are basically dishonest and egocentric. The factor also indicates the cynicism of the addict about nonaddict others. Factor 2-Rejection of middle-class values indicates the denigration of the alleged "square-life" ideals of hard work, security, and honesty. In fact, this factor is so well defined that one is tempted to assert that the addict subculture is almost a contraculture. Factor 3-Excitement-hedonism represents some of the elements of the "cool cat" pattern. Again, the factor appears to measure the "squareaddict" dichotomy with the addict lifestyle being a much more exciting and intense response to life. The factor structure strongly suggests that addicts do endorse the fast life and pursuit of immediate gratification with little thought given to the future. Factor 4-Importance of outward appearances indicates that the addict subscribes to the conspicuous consumption mode of life. Money, clothes, and cars are to be used for image management as much as for any intrinsic worth they may have. Factor S-Valence of street addict subcultures seems to indicate the importance of addict friends and involvement in the addict subculture. Rather than noting possible dangers inherent in membership in the addict subculture, the factor seems to measure the allegiance which even a "clean" addict is supposed to have to his addict friends. Factor 6-"Cool cat" emphasizes the addict's emotional aloofness. It makes the point that weakness is defined as being emotionaily liable to other persons. In other words, one should never "open up" to others. D.
DISCUSSION
Some preliminary conclusions can be drawn from this research. First, the research does seem to indicate that, by and large, the values reflective of the components of the street addict role as hypothesized earlier in this paper do have empirically observable referents. The three major elements of the role-the "cool cat" syndrome, the antisocietal viewpoint, and to a lesser degree, the importance of conning-emerge from the factor analysis. The first two components have clearly defined factors, while "conning" is a "leit-motif" which recurs throughout many of the factors. These findings can be compared with the delinquency studies of Miller (9) and Cohen (4) and the study of black, lower-class life-styles by Rainwater (11). In developing an explanation for delinquency among lowerclass youth, Miller hypothesized that delinquent behavior is reflective of
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the underlying lower-class value structure." This value structure revolves about the six focal concerns: (a) the concern with "trouble," (b) toughness, (c) smartness or ability to outsmart others, (d) excitement, (e) fate, and if) autonomy or freedom from superordinate authority. The reader will note a striking similarity between Miller's description of the value structure and the one contained herein. While it is true that the factor analysis yielded only one factor that directly corresponds to a focal concern, the excitement-hedonism factor with the excitement focal concern, much of the content of the two different descriptions overlaps. Contained within the excitement-hedonism factor is also the "fate" concern which Miller describes. Items such as "it is best to live each day rather than make plans far in advance" reflect this fate component. "Smartness" is primarily the ability to con which, as has been discussed, runs throughout the analysis presented in this paper. Autonomy is to some extent reflected in the "cool cat" factor in that the essence of that factor is emotional coolness and aloofness-that is, the person values noninvolvement with others. Concerns with trouble and toughness are to some degree found in Factors 1 and 2-the factors which measure antisocietal viewpoints and rejection of middle-class values. But more important than potential correspondence between factors and focal concerns is the "flavor" of the value structure presented by these two different analyses. In effect, the two studies reflect very similar value descriptions of persons who prize the "fast life," livefor-today ideology. Cohen in his Delinquent Boys sees the delinquent response as a reaction whereby the lower-class delinquent boy inverts the middle-class value system and uses this anti-middle-class ethic as the blueprint for his behavior (4). The present analysis suggests that such an inversion mechanism appears to operate with the street addict as well, particularly in the case of Factor 2. While both Miller and Cohen attempted to explain deviant (vis-a-vis middle-class standards) behavior, Lee Rainwater was not interested in "deviant" behavior, per se, when he studied black lower-class behavior patterns. Several of his findings are relevant to the present study although the reader must be cautioned that he studied only blacks while the present sample was about one-third white. Rainwater notes, for instance, that a premium is placed on the exploitation and manipulation of peers. In response to this threat of manipulation, he describes how people 4 T~e assertion. that lower-class values exist and are substantially different from those of the middle class IS a controversial issue and one with which these data cannot deal. See Valentine (16) for a review of the issues.
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relate to each other defensively-that is, they attempt to ward off manipulation and exploitation by peers. Rainwater also describes the expressive life-style of the young black, which is an exciting, action-oriented response to life (11). Obviously, there are overlaps between what Rainwater describes and the results of this study. His descriptions of the role of manipulation and the reaction to that manipulation are seen in the "conning" analysis presented herein and the "cool cat" factor. The expressive life-style is similar to the excitement-hedonism and importance of outward appearance factors. Though the overlap between the description of the street addict way of life and the ghetto dwellers' life-style is great, it is not complete. Rainwater does not suggest that the ghetto dweller has an anti-middle-class ideology. If anything, he suggests that the opposite is true; the ghetto dweller must adjust his aspirations downward, using the limited resources available in the ghetto, to carve out a meaningful existence and identity. It may be that for most slum dwellers, one of a limited number of possible identities is the "street addict" role. It is certainly an expressive life-style and at least initially provides the person with certain physiological rewards in the form of a "high." Additional reinforcement is found in a secure self-identity and membership and status in a peer group (3). In fact, it may well be that there is no value entity that is distinctively street addict. Rather, street addict values may be merely reflective of a lower class life-style and adaptation to life. Certainly, as has been demonstrated here, there is a large overlap in the value structure of ghetto dwellers, delinquents, and street addicts. That the addict may have acquired this particular value structure through socialization as a ghetto or slum dweller rather than as an addict is a distinct possibility. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
AGAR, M. Ripping and Running: A Formal Ethnography of Urban Heroin Addicts. New York: Seminar Press, 1973. BALL, J. The reliability and validity of interview data obtained from 59 narcotic drug addicts. Amer. J. Sociol., 1967, 72, 650-654. CHEIN, I. Psychological, social and epidemiological factors in drug addiction. In Rehabilitating the Narcotic Addict. Washington, D.C.: Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, 1966. COHEN, A. Delinquent Boys. New York: Macmillan, 1955. DOLE, V., & NYSWANDER, M. Methadone maintenance and its implications for theories of narcotic addiction. In The Addictive States. Baltimore: Wilkins, 1968. FELDMAN, H. Ideological supports to becoming and remaining a heroin addict. J. Health & Soc. Behav., 1968, 9, 131-139. LEVINE, S., & STEPHENS, R. Games addicts play. Psychiat. Quart., 1971,45, 1-11.
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. Types of narcotic addicts. In Drug Dependence and Rehabilitative Approaches, Hardy, R. & Cull, J. (Eds.). Springfield, Ill.: Thomas, 1973. MILLER, W. Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang deliquency. J. Soc. Iss., 1958, 14, 5-19. PREBLE, E., & CASEY, J. Taking care of business-The heroin user's life in the streets. Internat. J. Addictions, 1969, 4, 1-24. RAINWATER, L. Behind Ghetto Walls. Chicago: Aldine, 1970. STEPHENS, R. The truthfulness of addict respondents in research projects. lntemat. J. Addictions, 1972, 7, 549-558. STEPHENS, R., & LEVINE, S. The street addict role: Implication for treatment. Psychiat., 1971, 34, 351-357. STEPHENS, R., & SLATIN, J. The street addict role: Toward the definition of a type. Drug Forum, 1974, 3(forthcoming). SUTTER, A. The world of the righteous dope fiend. Iss. in Crime, 1966,2, 177-222. VALENTINE, C. Culture and Poverty. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1969.
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