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Twenty‐nine all‐women police units have recently (1994) been established by the Tamil Nadu State Police in South India. These units generally consist of 15 women constables and 2 sub‐inspectors under the command of an Inspector. They mainly deal with family‐related disputes and cases involving women and children, but also serve the full range of general police functions. The units were established for two main reasons: (i) to engender trust in the police among women victims and (ii) to provide an independent career structure for women police officers. Interviews with officers in five of these units revealed a high level of satisfaction with the work and the career prospects. Many more of the women in the units than in a general sample of women officers questioned in 1988 expressed interest in performing the full range of police duties, but they also said they would like to do this in units staffed only by women. More detailed evaluations of the units are needed to see how far the units address the needs of women police officers in traditional cultures.

Extends the notion of informality into the area of illegality, looking at how illegal crack vendors in New York use informality to reduce and pass risk to others. Focuses on the techniques used to avoid detection and arrest and the methods of placing risk of imprisonment on smaller, lower‐income dealers. Suggests that this process of exploitation only makes sense when seen in the broader context of inequality in US society where some have nothing to lose by going to jail.

Interviews over 120 sellers and low‐level distributors of the drug “crack” in New York City. Documents seller strategies to counter police tactics. Finds that crack sellers and distributors have developed several important strategies to limit vulnerability to arrest, but that success in avoiding arrest diminishes considerably once they are detected by police. Suggests that problem‐oriented approaches are better than crackdowns, since they permanently disrupt the environmental conditions that foster drug market sites.