ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explains the adoption of deviant pathways, namely drug use and delinquent activities, more specifically by teenagers. It describes the development of deviant behaviour patterns, and identifies variables that best explain the emergence of such behaviours, with the ultimate goal of predicting the behaviour being studied. The book focuses on ethnographic approaches, and stresses the role played by the environment and the opportunities provided by the individual's living environment or acquaintances in determining the careers of dealers, flexers or traffickers. It shows how the presence of 'macro forces' of structural and cultural disinvestments and the lack of viable economic alternatives in the formal sector led most women in their study to conclude that the informal economy had more to offer them.
