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Are drug treatment services only for 'thieving junkie scumbags'? Drug users and the management of stigmatised identities

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  • Radcliffe, Polly
  • Stevens, Alex

Abstract

This article uses qualitative interviews with 53 problematic drug users who had dropped out of treatment in England, UK to explore how they describe the stigmatisation of drug users and drug services. It discusses the construction of the category of the junkie through its association with un-controlled heroin use and criminality. It shows how some drug users carefully manage information about their discreditable identities by excluding themselves from this category, while acknowledging its validity for other drug users. The junkie identity was generally seen as shameful and therefore to be avoided, although it holds attractions for some drug users. For many of the interviewees, entry to treatment risked exposing their own activities as shaming, as they saw treatment as being a place that was populated by junkies and where it becomes more difficult to manage discreditable information. The treatment regime, e.g. the routine of supervised consumption of methadone, was itself seen by some as stigmatising and was also seen as hindering progress to the desired 'normal' life of conventional employment. Participation in the community of users of both drugs and drug services was perceived as potentially damaging to the prospects of recovery. This emphasises the importance of social capital, including links to people and opportunities outside the drug market. It also highlights the danger that using the criminal justice system to concentrate prolific offenders in treatment may have the perverse effects of excluding other people who have drug problems and of prolonging the performance of the junkie identity within treatment services. It is concluded that treatment agencies should address these issues, including through the provision of more drug services in mainstream settings, in order to ensure that drug services are not seen to be suitable only for one particularly stigmatised category of drug user.

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  • Radcliffe, Polly & Stevens, Alex, 2008. "Are drug treatment services only for 'thieving junkie scumbags'? Drug users and the management of stigmatised identities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1065-1073, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:67:y:2008:i:7:p:1065-1073
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    5. Jonas, Adam B. & Young, April M. & Oser, Carrie B. & Leukefeld, Carl G. & Havens, Jennifer R., 2012. "OxyContin® as currency: OxyContin® use and increased social capital among rural Appalachian drug users," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1602-1609.
    6. Radcliffe, Polly, 2011. "Motherhood, pregnancy, and the negotiation of identity: The moral career of drug treatment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 984-991, March.
    7. Mynti Hossain & Lauren Akers & Patricia Del Grosso & Marisa Shenk & Michael Cavanaugh & Melissa Azur, "undated". "Touchpoints for Addressing Substance Use Issues in Home Visiting: Phase 1 Final Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 0761ea54498b4f27b8d238e2b, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Gowan, Teresa & Whetstone, Sarah & Andic, Tanja, 2012. "Addiction, agency, and the politics of self-control: Doing harm reduction in a heroin users’ group," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1251-1260.
    9. Sarah Page & Sophia Fedorowicz & Fiona McCormack & Stephen Whitehead, 2024. "Women, Addictions, Mental Health, Dishonesty, and Crime Stigma: Solutions to Reduce the Social Harms of Stigma," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-18, January.
    10. Katrina Warren & Suzanne Huot & Lilian Magalhães & Marilyn Evans, 2016. "Exploring the Daily Lives of People on Methadone Maintenance Treatment: An Occupational Perspective," Societies, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-14, September.
    11. McNeil, Ryan & Kerr, Thomas & Anderson, Solanna & Maher, Lisa & Keewatin, Chereece & Milloy, M.J. & Wood, Evan & Small, Will, 2015. "Negotiating structural vulnerability following regulatory changes to a provincial methadone program in vancouver, canada: A qualitative study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 168-176.
    12. Lancaster, K. & Seear, K. & Treloar, C. & Ritter, A., 2017. "The productive techniques and constitutive effects of ‘evidence-based policy’ and ‘consumer participation’ discourses in health policy processes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 60-68.
    13. Elizabeth Stone, 2017. "Is There “Hope for Every Addicted American”? The New U.S. War on Drugs," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Rance, Jake & Newland, Jamee & Hopwood, Max & Treloar, Carla, 2012. "The politics of place(ment): Problematising the provision of hepatitis C treatment within opiate substitution clinics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 245-253.
    15. Jennifer Hoolachan, 2020. "Exploring the ‘Spoiled’ and ‘Celebrated’ Identities of Young and Homeless Drug Users," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 76-85.

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