Running head: POVERTY, DRUG TRAFFICKING AND INFLUENCE ON MARRIAGE 1

Annotated Bibliography on Poverty, Drug Trafficking and Influence on Marriage

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POVERTY, DRUG TRAFFICKING AND INFLUENCE ON MARRIAGE 2

Annotated Bibliography on Poverty, Drug Trafficking and Influence on Marriage

Enamorado T., Lopez-Calva, L., Rodriguez-Castelan, C. & Winkler, H. (2016). Income

inequality and violent crime: Evidence from Mexico's drug war. Journal of Development

Economics. 120, 128-143.

The authors aimed at examining the influence of inequality on crime rates in the Mexican drug

war. The data sets are obtained from more than 2,000 municipalities from Mexico over a period

of 20 years. The use of the Gini coefficient was essential where there was a combination of the

municipal’s level initial income distribution and the national trends. The authors established that

during the drug war, there was a greater effect as there was increase in crime due to increased

drug trafficking organizations and activities. Poverty and income inequality were established to

be major contributors towards increased drug trafficking and crime rates. When these factors are

combined, they indicate an increase in criminal activity shift in a direction that is socially

undesirable leading to influence in other social institutions such as marriage. Therefore, this

paper would be of importance in the analysis of how poverty due to income inequality leads to

increased rates of violence and drug trafficking that affect other social institutions.

Gallahue, P. (2011). Poverty and Drug Trafficking: A Denial of Mercy. OpenDemocracy.

Gallahue analyzes how states apply serious penalties on drug traffickers considered the small

fish and leave the real drug ring controllers to continue with their operations. The states believe

that these poor and young souls do not elicit mercy. The drug mules are considered to be the

worst state enemies but it is essential to consider that it is poverty due to unemployment that

drives them to these operations. While drug lords survive since they are not considered to be the

ones strapping drugs onto their bodies, the poor young individuals that are looking to fend for

their families are often the ones that suffer. Overall, the author points towards the fact that
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poverty is mainly what drives individuals to drug trafficking for them to survive and fend for

their families. This article is thus essential in the analysis of the relationship between poverty and

drug trafficking and how they influence the social structure.

Homish, G., Leornard, K. E. & Cornelius, J. R. (2009). Illicit Drug Use and Marital

Satisfaction. Addict Behav. 33(2):279-291.

According to the authors, acquisition of adult roles in the social scope for example marriage

leads to decrease in socially disapproved or more deviant behaviors for example crime, drug use,

and drug trafficking. The authors therefore sought to establish patterns that are witnessed in

illicit drug abuse and sale in a sample of a community in the process of transition and in the early

stages of marriage. Moreover, the article explores discrepancy in drug use amongst couples and

this leads to the conclusion that there is a shaper decline in discrepant couples compared to other

couples that partake in illicit drug use or sale. The authors use the multilevel regression model in

the exploration of these factors over a period of four years for newly married couples. Overall,

the authors concluded that there was a decline in marital satisfaction for all couples over the first

four years of marriage but for illicit drug use discrepant couples, the decline was sharper. This

article therefore provides important information on how illicit drug use and sale is related to

marriage.

King, D., Massogilia, M. & Macmillan, R. (2007). The Context of Marriage and Crime:

Gender, the Prosperity to Marry, and Offending in Early Adulthood. Criminology, 45, 1.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00071.x

King et al. analyze the context of marriage and crime based on three main objectives. The first is

the use of the propensity score matching method to provide an estimation of marriage casual

effects in relation to crime in young adults. Secondly, the authors provide an assessment on the
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sex differences and how they influence marriage on the issue of offending. Finally, the authors

examine the propensity to marry conditions and how they affect marriage capacity. Overall, the

authors establish that gender has a great influence regarding crime and marriage with marriage

suppressing crime and offending in males. Moreover, crime influence on marriage is less robust

in women while marriage reduces the rate of crime and offending for individuals that have

moderate propensity towards marriage. The findings and conclusions from this journal is

essential in providing further understanding on the relationship between crime or offending and

the marriage institution based on gender.

Sams-Abiodum, P. & Sanchez, L. A. (2003). Barriers to Healthy Marriage and Parenting

among Poor, Urban Black Men. Center for Family and Demographic Research.

http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/center-for-family-

and-demographic-research/documents/working-papers/2003/CFDR-Working-Paper-2003-

08-Other-than-the-Drug-Problem-He-is-a-Good-Father-Barriers-to-Healthy-Marriage-

and-Parenting-Among-Poor-Urban-Black-Me.pdf

The authors focus on the issue of male unemployment that result in poverty and how it affects

marriage concerning the issue of family instability. Focus of the paper is founded on African

American fathers that are family men and low income earners. The authors use qualitative and

genealogical methods in exploring how these men vary in contribution and attachments to their

households. Moreover, focus is made on barriers to effective parenting and family relations in

marriage. The study is conducted on 27 African American men that reside in low-income

housing development for the public where he estimated poverty rates is above 90%. The authors

conclude that poverty leads to poor marriage relations and parenting amongst African American

men considering that they barely make enough to sustain themselves. According to the
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researchers severe financial limitations have led in failure in relationships and marriages that

depend entirely on men for support. This paper would therefore provide important insight on

how poverty influences marriage and parenting.

Shaw, A., Egan, J. & Gillespie, M. (2007). Drugs and poverty: A literature review: A report

produced by the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) on behalf of the Scottish Association of

Alcohol and Drug Action Teams. Scottish Drugs Forum. 1-50. http://www.sdf.org.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2017/03/Drugs__Poverty_Literature_Review_2007.pdf

The authors sought to establish the link between poverty, inequality, deprivation, and drug

problem in Scotland. Issues related to psychology, low paying jobs or employment, and fragile

family bonds are discussed in the report. There was a conclusion that he strong link between

drugs and crime is not straightforward bas explanations that have been put forward explain that

crime leads to drug us, drug use and trafficking leads to crime, and drug use, trafficking, and

crime are related to larger factors such as the social family structure. Overall, the authors

conclude that there is strong relationship between the extent of drug issues and the range of

economic and social inequalities. The recommendation from the authors is that there is need to

establish policies that aim at poverty reduction in dealing with the drug problem and criminal

issues in Scotland. The report on review of literature is thus essential in provision of information

related to the association between poverty, drug abuse, and crime.

Smeeding, T. M., Garfinkel, I., & Mincy, R. B. (2011). Young disadvantaged men: Fathers,

families, poverty, and policy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social

Science, 635. http://www.irp.wisc.edu/ publications/focus/pdfs/foc281d.pdf

The authors of this article introduce a special edition on the article series on the issues that

influence single fathers. The examination from the authors establish that a significant number of
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men deemed to be young or starting families with high school diplomas or less education are

prone to incarceration and are disadvantaged at the labor market. This means that these men are

poor and they need to provide child support for their children. The article narrates the influence

that poverty has had on these young fathers first which is separation from their spouses and thus

the need for them to provide child support. Policies that exit to protect these fathers are limited

with the only policy being SNAP which is an income support program for such young single

men after separation. This article is thus important as it will provide important information for

the paper where issues related to poverty and young fathers in early marriages are discussed.