Crystal Mayberry is trapped in a sad and destructive pattern of poverty, drug abuse, prostitution, and low self-worth. This pattern keeps putting her right back where she started, which is desperate and homeless.
Given that her mother was a crack addict who was stabbed in a bank robbery, it's fair to say that Crystal was never really given a fair shot in life. Her poor judgment can, at least in part, be chalked up to the fact that she struggles with numerous mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder.
Between accepting bad advice to increase the rent that her illegal sub-letter pays to getting arrested for assault, Crystal's actions do not in any way help her to break free of the destructive pattern that her life seems to follow.
As with many other people in the book, Crystal seems perpetually trapped in an endless cycle of poverty and eviction. It's hard enough for anyone to escape in such circumstances, but for someone like Crystal with her low IQ and various mental health issues, it's virtually impossible. What makes things worse is that Crystal has racked up a long list of evictions, which inevitably makes it harder for her to find a place to stay. Add to that her anger management issues and her poor choices in life, and it's not surprising that she ends up on the streets, selling herself to survive.
Crystal was brought up in the foster system, raised in more than two dozen homes. She's been moving around from place to place of one kind or another practically her whole life. At no point has Crystal ever experienced any kind of stability or security. As such, she's unable to put down roots anywhere for any length of time. And so there's no opportunity for her to break free of this vicious cycle of homelessness and impoverishment. Crystal's behavior has been conditioned by both her unstable environment and her equally unstable mental health condition. So the pattern of that behavior continues on as before, pulling Crystal deeper and deeper into the quicksand of absolute poverty.
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