Alice Goffman On The Run Essay

On the Run an ethnographic study by Alice Goffman offers an authentic and appalling view on the lives of black individuals who lives within the streets of Philadelphia, specifically young men. These young men struggles to hold on to their dignity and sanity by constantly being on the run from law enforcements due to their illegal acts in order to acquire a livelihood. Goffman spent six years with the 6th street boys gaining her own personal insights, experiences, and challenges of this issues. The goal to bring awareness to others on what these individuals had to face and critically challenge how lives can be changed within areas like this (ZIT zone). She becomes part of the community and familiarize herself with the people around her so that she could help tell their stories. This connection allowed her to thoroughly explain each person and their situation like the lives of Chuck, Tim, Reggie, Mike, Ronny, Alex, and Anthony. These boys always had warrants out for them whether their crime was a misdemeanor or not.
She had attended University of Pennsylvania to obtain her bachelor and then earned her PhD at University of Princeton in sociology. Her relation to her only book On the Run (copyright 2014 by The University of Chicago) was that it was a project she took as an undergrad to do a field study on the impact of mass incarceration and policing on African American lives within the streets of Philadelphia. During that six month duration there as an active participant she documented all events that went on to bring awareness to inequality. Though her book had received a lot of criticism for containing inaccurate facts and alleged felonious conduct her book can be used for gender studies, race and poverty classes as well as sociology classes. Goffman currently serves as a reviewer and a board member for different sociological