BOOK REVIEW Research required.Review Righteous Dopefiend by Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg - Essay Example

These emotions were intensified by their situation, with addiction bringing them closer and farther away from each other. The work of Bourgois and Schonberg critically presented their findings of the conditions of the homeless community by linking image, words and theories. This is reflected clearly on their research methods and their unique style of presentation with the use of their field notes and photographs from their period of study. They did not only show the dopefiends’ struggle with life on the streets and with moral judgment but they also revealed their humanity through the same struggles.

The authors aimed to present a critical presentation of the issue of addiction. They did not merely present what is happening, though, lest they be mistaken as simply intellectual voyeurs but they find the relationship between practice and theories (Bourgouis and Schonberg, p.297). They critically assessed the situation but they also looked for solutions through immediate policy options and specific local interventions, both short and long term, to reduce the suffering of their research subjects (Bourgouis and Schonberg, p.297). Their work also aimed to redress the institutional suffering of the homeless addicts and translate this to practical use for the betterment of the community and the moral economy.

They delved deep into the situation, considering not their personal reasons for being doped but the structural position and ehtnographic differences within the community. With this, the researchers learned how the community treats each other and how the larger and more dominant community regards dopelessness and homelessness. With the use of participant observation and photo-ethnography, the researchers developed a unique way of presenting the human side of the dopefiend community of Edgewater.

With the use photographs, they were able to present the emotions present in the everyday lives of the addicts. It also weaved a path for the