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While the operations of crack houses have received significant attention in the US, by comparison, in the UK, we lack an insight into the precise mechanisms of such venues. Moreover, crack house literature has leaned more towards examining methods to close crack houses, rather than seeking to understand the operations that support them and their social function. Based on ethnographic research with crack cocaine users during 2004 to 2005, this article discusses the operations of three UK crack houses, providing a rare UK case study. I will suggest that the volatile nature of the social and structural pressures that direct street drug users and drug markets inhibit categorisation at this point.

There have been several recent cases reported in Malaysian newspapers of complaints about the impact of construction works on the physical conditions of the surrounding buildings. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study conducted on a complaint received by the Local Authority in Selangor, Malaysia, about the impact of adjacent new construction works on the conditions of existing buildings in the neighbouring vicinity.

The sample case study consists of 28 units of two‐storey terrace houses, and the instrument used was the inspection form for building inspections. A building survey was carried out for all the buildings in the case study. Two teams conducted the survey. Each team was led by a professional building surveyor and assisted by two assistant building surveyors. Apart from basic surveying tools, a digital calliper was also used to measure cracks. Crack‐width data were collected and analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software.

The findings show that the adjacent new construction works have impacted the existing buildings nearby. A numbers of cracks of various magnitudes were identified in all the existing houses. One significant finding is that there appears to be no significant relationship between the cracks on the interior and the exterior, nor between the original and the renovated parts, of the existing buildings.

The significant number of cracks identified in the existing houses implies that the cracks were associated with the impacts from the new construction works. However, the primary cause of the building cracks was difficult to determine. It is therefore proposed that the Local Authority should establish guidelines at the local level for new construction works to prepare an inspection report on the condition of existing buildings in the surrounding area before the project commences. Building condition reports can then be used for reference in the event of claims received from the surrounding building owners alleging that the new construction works have adversely impacted the existing conditions of nearby buildings.

Despite over two decades of crack use in the UK, there is little UK‐focused research and little understanding of the social context of crack use and health‐related risks. This is of concern because research in the UK suggests that service provision for crack users is inadequate. Research also suggests that there are high attrition rates of crack users in drug support services. Based on data collected in 2004/2005, this paper will examine how crack cocaine users start using crack, what happens over time, and where they end up as a consequence ‐ the crack scene. Many become mistrustful because of the manipulative and violent interactions that take place in these spaces. This is not helped when crack users reflect on past mistakes, which only results in increased crack use. As practical and health issues become too problematic, ways out, too, become more difficult. In addition, many find it difficult to place trust in welfare and drug support services because of negative past experiences, and feel ashamed about past failures in treatment. Taken together, I will also show how this is not helped by the configuration of drug support services.

Before beginning a detailed technical discussion on cracks it is necessary to put the subject into perspective and ask what ‘cracking’ means to a house owner or prospective house purchaser.

Attempts to theorize the relationship between the informal and the illegal sectors of the economy. States that there are significant behavioural similarities. Proposes an emergent paradigm based on dual labour market theory to explain the similarites and differences in order to guide future research in each area. Applies the theory to the production and marketing of crack cocaine and shows how the model helps us to understand issues of exploitation and risk makagement within the drug market.

Two Unity house owners describe how they have been affected by the publication of the Building Research Establishment report into the structural condition of Unity houses. The authors compare the results obtained from a chemical analysis of a concrete component at a Unity house in Chesham with those in the BRE report and discuss the lack of understanding of the significance of these results, and of the processes of carbonation and chloride‐induced corrosion, on the part of the building societies and the Building Societies Association (BSA). They conclude that this basic lack of understanding has made building societies overcautious in their treatment of Unity houses, which in turn has led to a mortgage blight on their estate.

Ethnographic research with street drug users is becoming increasingly difficult to undertake. In the main, it is perceived as “too risky” and frequently raises practical, ethical and emotional issues for ethnographers, however, this doesn't mean it is impossible. Indeed, one of the most challenging areas is the management of field relations – especially with gatekeepers. The main aim of this article is to provide an account of how gatekeeper field relations are developed and experienced in the context of researching street drug users.

The article is based on a reflexive account to comment upon the experience of the researcher engaged in ethnographic research.

The author examines how field relations are influenced by the specific social and structural contexts in which the project took place and makes critical reflections on how these relationships impacted on him – professionally, personally and emotionally.

The article is useful for academics or researchers who are looking to study similar social groups.

Ethnography has been an important research method that has given insight into ‘dangerous’ and ‘problematic’ populations. Yet, ethnographic methods with such populations are increasingly rare as the governance of social science research takes on an ever more intensified ‘risk assessment’ approach. Based on projects that made use of ethnographic methods undertaken from 2004 to 2008, this paper will try to offer some methodological reflections on working with ‘dangerous’ and ‘problematic’ populations such as mentally ill adults, those with antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs), crack cocaine users and gangs. It will call for greater consideration to be given to the use of ethnographic methods with such populations to inform policy and practice.

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.

To summarise research undertaken by the BRE into the identification and condition assessment, of non‐traditional housing. During the 1980s, defects were discovered in the design and construction of a number of house types designed and built before 1960 and these were subsequently designated as inherently defective under the Housing Defects legislation.

The research involved several years of investigation during which many different types of pre‐cast concrete, in situ‐concrete, steel‐ and timber‐framed housing systems were investigated. This research has culminated in the publication of a major new book and CDROM.

Overall the majority of non‐traditional dwellings have provided levels of performance not very different from many traditionally built dwellings of the same age. However, there are inherent defects with several systems. Some dwellings may be beyond economic repair.

The surveyor needs to be aware of the system of non‐traditional dwelling under inspection and to understand the likely defects and necessary remedial work.

This research will inform surveyors and home inspectors of the identification of non‐traditional dwellings, modes of failure of various systems, whether economic repair is possible and what remedial action should be proposed.