Wasted Lives: The Social Exclusion of Older Triads Who Use Drugs in the Hong Kong Illegal Employment Market (Routledge Studies in Crime and Justice in Asia and the Global South)

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews in Hong Kong, this book offers an investigation of the lives of older triad members who use drugs, focusing on their social exclusion within the underground criminal economy. Situated in the Driftwood Bay district - a site often represented as a “crime hub” - the study reveals how historical, political, and social factors intertwine legal and illegal livelihoods for marginalized individuals navigating both legitimate and illicit networks.Through detailed analysis of their criminal trajectories, shifting notions of respectability, and roles within the underground employment and arrest avoidance markets, the book uncovers how older drug-using triads experience gradual exclusion from the criminal world.It highlights the complex dynamics of respect, social status, and survival strategies, illustrating how these men oscillate between persistence and desistance amid structural constraints.By integrating literature on social exclusion,