Between a Rock And a Hard Place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Between a Rock And a Hard Place - Essay Example Spillover vice is a problem in the community, with drugs and sex attracting rich white people into the area. The women consider this an insult and a hypocrisy, because rich people do not want to live in the area because of the resident blacks, although they provide the incentive for the proliferation of vice and crime in the area. Children are in particular danger, and the mothers exert extreme effort in watching their children and keeping them off the violence in the streets, and from being recruited by criminal gangs. Some have died protecting their children from armed goons. Maintaining vigilance often meant constantly staying indoors; therefore, women who find themselves in this position seldom could go to work, much less pursue a career. Their constant stress and watchfulness takes it toll on their health and the health of their children. Among those parents who had jobs, one in every four stressed that they did not have sick leaves available in order to take care of their sick children (Heymann, Earle & Egleston, 1996).