Fatima Freeman 1

In the text Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg (2009) introduces the world to Righteous Dopefiend and the way the Edgewater Homeless heroin addict lives as well as how they began to live there. However, in the text Serena Nanda and Richard L. Warms (2004) explains the many different studies of anthropology as well as explain what anthropology is in the book Cultural Anthropology (Nanda and Warms 2004). Therefore, both set of authors gives a different explanation of structural violence, symbolic violence and normalized violence as well as examples. For example Bourgois and Schonberg (2009) gives an example of structural violence as the way that the Edgewater Homeless live as well as how they deal with not been able to have the everyday material for sustaining their living conditions. However, in Nanda and Warms (2004) portrayal of structural violence is defined differently where in the text the many different cultures the this textbooks goes to explain how their lives are different from the average American is that they lack having the common use of some things that we as Americans take advantage of. In many cases the violence that people are known to is that of direct violence, but as the texts are explaining as well as the many different explanations of the different violence that are involved in todays society differ. Therefore, the differences as well as the definition of these different violences are not the same. As defined in the handout by Barbara Ryklo-Bauer, Linda Whiteford and Paul Farmer (Ryklo-Bauer, Whiteford and Farmer (eds): 18-40) Structural violence is defined as political-economical forces, international terms of trade, an unequal access to resources, services, rights and security that limit life changes. Symbolic violence is defined as domination, hierarchies, and internalized insult that are legitimized as a natural and deserved. Normalized violence is defined as institutional

Fatima Freeman 2 practices, discourses, cultural values, ideologies, everyday interactions, and routinized bureaucracies that render violence invisible and produce social indifference.

Bourgois and Schonberg (2009) Righteous Dopefiend gives an example of normalized violence with Tina who grew up in an environment where her mom would prostitute at home and tell her that she better go to school and bring home some money as well (Bourgous and Schonberg 2009: Ch. 2). However, Nanda and Warms (2004) does not go in to detail of what is consider normalized violence in the textbook Cultural Anthropology, but the textbook covers many different aspects of what can be considered normalized violence such as the Naciremas in North America (Nanda and Warms 2004: 16-17). The Naciremas normalized violence is that they consider the body is ugly and that our body carries diseases as well as it natural tendency to debility (Nanda and Warms 2004: 16-17). Bourgois and Schonberg (2009) descriptions of the Edgewater Homeless are that the heroin has taken control of their lives and that the heroin is in a complete domination (Bourgois and Schonberg 2009). To avoid getting dope sickness due to the lack of help from Hank one of the Edgewater Homeless was alone in his panhandling scheme to get his heroin, but he came up short so he was forced to ask the Island Boys for help in order for him to get his fix (Bourgois and Schonberg 2009). Therefore, because the Island Boy helped him to get the heroin they were entitled to some of the heroin, but even though Hank did not help him get the heroin he still was entitled to the cotton ball after the heroin was injected into the needle for all three to get their fix of heroin (Bourgois and Schonberg 2009). Nanda and Warms (2004) explains the organization of each culture and how they form their type of government (Nanda and Warms 2004). For example a tribe that consist of a distinct population whose members think as

Fatima Freeman 3 descended from the same ancestor or as part of the same people (Nanda and Warms 2004: 260). Furthermore, the Cheyenne male holding the inheritance of the political as well as becoming part of the military functions of their tribe inherits the role of protecting and governing his people (Nanda and Warms 2004: 260-261). In both Cultural Anthropology and Righteous Dopefiend the authors give very excellent examples of different violences that people are not use to seeing (Nanda and Warms 2004, Bourgois and Schonberg 2009). However, Nanda and Warms (2004) gives more of an explanation about other groups of people and how they go about solving everyday problem. While Bourgois and Schonberg (2009) gives many examples of how a group of people that relate to each other have created their own community on the fact that they found normality in injecting heroin (Bourgois and Schonberg 2009). However, injecting heroin in the real world that the American Society has built is not normal nor is this acceptable behavior. Therefore, that is why Bourgois and Schonberg (2009) anthropography Righteous Dopefiend is a great example of normalized violence that has developed over time in America and the fact that many people find that doing illegal drugs should be legalized because they find it normal (Bourgois and Schonberg 2009). In result when violence is viewed many people find that some violent acts are normal, but many other people do not find these acts of violence normal. For example, the Nacirema find it normal to preform many rituals on their bodies because they find it normal and as for the Edgewater homeless they find it normal to live their lives as heroin addicts because it is probably all they are known to Nanda and Warms 2004, Bourgois and Schonberg 2009).

Fatima Freeman 4 However, this behavior of normalized violence and the fact that these different groups of societies have made it normal in their own lives does not make it normal.

Reference List Barbara Ryklo-Bauer, Paul Farmer and Linda Whiteford (eds). Recognizing Invisible Violence: A 30-year Ethnographic Retrospective. In Global Health In Times of Violence. Santa Fe, NM: School of Advanced Research Press. Bourgois, Philippe and Schonberg, Jeff 2009 Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA University of California Press, Ltd. Nanda, Serena and Warm, Richard L. 2004 Cultural Anthrpology, Eighth Edition. Thomson Learning, Inc.