Parents and teachers will find little objectionable in Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack. Despite its title, the book's focus on drugs is more metaphorical than literal. Kerr uses the concept of addiction as a character development device.

Some adults, however, may be put off by the intense criticism the author levels at parents. With almost no exception, parents are portrayed as insensitive, childish in their superficial judgments of others, susceptible to fads, and lacking sincerity in the social concerns they profess to support. Nevertheless, the novel's complex and beautifully written conclusion makes it clear that parents, like their children, are vulnerable, irrational, and sometimes misguided, but often well-meaning, in their actions and decisions. Kerr's exposition of the conflicts and foibles that fill the book is meant to illuminate human nature in general and is not directed at parents, teen-agers, drug users, or any other specific groups.