On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City

Goffman (sociology, Univ. of Wisconsin) draws on the best traditions of participant-observer research. Embedded for six years in a Philadelphia neighborhood, the author documents the ways in which policing has created "fugitive communities." The book opens with a graphic account of an unprovoked beating and proceeds to describe how the victim must avoid medical attention to stay on the correct side of parole rules. Through characters, narratives, and descriptions, Goffman lays out the contradictions and tensions of trying to "stay right." While sympathetic, the author comes across as neither nostalgic nor forgiving. She provides a direct look at the complicated lives of her subjects and draws the reader into the myriad ways in which "the highly punitive approach to crime control winds up being counterproductive, creating entirely new domains of criminality." Goffman's observations are often tragic, but always suspenseful and sometimes even hilarious. (She documents the market for "clean" urine to pass drug tests.) As well as offering commentary, Goffman draws extensively on the social science literature for guidance and explanation. Perhaps that should have been a giveaway, but it was only when perusing the references that this reviewer realized the author is also the daughter of the late sociologist and author Erving Goffman.