Developing a Penal Abolitionist Application to Drug Treatment Drawing from Insider Perspectives and Lived Experiences

2020 ◽  
pp. 016059762097878
Author(s):  
Denise Woodall ◽  
Miriam Boeri
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Justice System ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Treatment Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

As evidence of a failing war on drugs mounts and a deadly opioid crisis continues, U.S. drug policy is slowly changing to less punitive responses to drug use. Collaborations between treatment programs and law enforcement gained praise from politicians, but concerns regarding the impact of increased surveillance and the rising culture of control call for greater focus on these governing relationships. Framed within an abolitionist perspective, and incorporating insights from successful models of decriminalization in Portugal and deinstitutionalization in Italy, our analysis of in-depth interviews with 117 people who are actively using opioids seeks to understand their perspectives on treatment drawing on lived experiences. Findings reveal a need for a paradigm shift in drug policy as well as treatment practices and increased access to targeted social resources in the community. An application of penal abolition policy requires decriminalizing (or legalizing) drug use and creating commissions composed of community members, peers, and professionals disconnected from the criminal justice system.

Hurt

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Boeri
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Coerced Treatment ◽  
The Impact

Hurt: Chronicles of the Drug War Generation weaves engaging first-person accounts of baby boomer drug users, including the account of the author’s own brother, a heroin addict. The compelling stories are set in their historical context, from the cultural influence of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n' roll to the contemporary discourse that pegs drug addiction as a disease punished by incarceration. Boeri writes with penetrating insight and conscientious attention to the intersectionality of race, gender, and class as she analyzes the impact of an increasingly punitive War on Drugs on a hurting generation. The chapters narrate the life course of men and women who continued to use cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine after age thirty-five. They were supposed to stop drug use as they assumed adult roles in life—as the generation before them had—but the War on Drugs led to mass imprisonment of drug users, changing the social landscape of aging. As one former inmate hauntingly said, America’s drug policy left scars that may rival those of the slavery and genocide in America’s past. The findings call for new responses to drug use problems and strategies that go beyond coerced treatment programs and rehabilitation initiatives focused primarily on changing the person. Linking tales from the field with sociological perspectives, Boeri presents an exposé as disturbing as a dystopian dream, warning that future generations will have an even harder time maturing out of drug use if the War on Drugs is not stopped and social recovery efforts begun. The book ends with an appendix that details how the research was conducted, the data collected and analyzed, and the results were drawn. It describes the ethnographic methods, fieldwork, participant-recruitment strategies, and the innovative mixed method approach—a combination of data science techniques with qualitative data collection. It includes a description of the data visualization images used to illustrate each participant’s life and drug trajectory in graphic simplicity. This appendix offers insight into how to conduct careful quality control at each phase of data collection, team coding of the qualitative data, and why Boeri selected the stories to include in this book.

scholarly journals Perspectives on the psychological and emotional burden of having gestational diabetes amongst low-income women in Cape Town, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorrein Shamiso Muhwava ◽  
Katherine Murphy ◽  
Christina Zarowsky ◽  
Naomi Levitt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Gestational Diabetes ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Psychological Burden ◽  
Pregnancy And Postpartum ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Background The diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may affect women’s mental wellbeing, functioning and quality of life, with potentially negative effects on treatment adherence. Identifying and addressing the psychological and emotional needs of women with GDM, could have benefits for sustainable long-term behavioural change following the affected pregnancy. This study explored the lived experiences of women with GDM and the impact of GDM on their experience of pregnancy and sense of well-being. Methods Purposive sampling was used to recruit women who had been diagnosed with GDM in their previous pregnancy and received antenatal care at a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. This was a descriptive qualitative study using a combination of focus groups and in-depth interviews for an in- depth exploration of women’s lived experiences of GDM, their context and perceived needs. Data analysis followed an iterative thematic analysis approach. Results Thirty-five women participated in nine focus groups and five in-depth interviews. Women discussed the emotional and psychological burden of having GDM, highlighting (i) their initial emotional reactions to receiving a GDM diagnosis, (ii) their experience of adjusting to the constraints of living with GDM (iii) their feelings of apprehension about childbirth and their maternal role and (iv) their feelings of abandonment in the post-partum period once the intensive support from both health system and family ends. Conclusions The current biomedical model used in the management of GDM, is highly foetal-centric and fails to acknowledge important psychological factors that contribute to women’s overall wellbeing and experience of pregnancy. These results demonstrate the importance of incorporating mental health support in the management and care for women with GDM in public health services, along with facilitating emotional support from partners and family members. Based on our findings, we recommend routine mental health and psychosocial vulnerability screening and monitoring for women diagnosed with GDM throughout pregnancy and postpartum to improve prognoses.

scholarly journals Connecting communities to primary care: a qualitative study on the roles, motivations and lived experiences of community health workers in the Philippines

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice Mallari ◽  
Gideon Lasco ◽  
Don Jervis Sayman ◽  
Arianna Maever L. Amit ◽  
Dina Balabanova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Community health workers (CHWs) are an important cadre of the primary health care (PHC) workforce in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Philippines was an early adopter of the CHW model for the delivery of PHC, launching the Barangay (village) Health Worker (BHW) programme in the early 1980s, yet little is known about the factors that motivate and sustain BHWs’ largely voluntary involvement. This study aims to address this gap by examining the lived experiences and roles of BHWs in urban and rural sites in the Philippines. Methods This cross-sectional qualitative study draws on 23 semi-structured interviews held with BHWs from barangays in Valenzuela City (urban) and Quezon province (rural). A mixed inductive/ deductive approach was taken to generate themes, which were interpreted according to a theoretical framework of community mobilisation to understand how characteristics of the social context in which the BHW programme operates act as facilitators or barriers for community members to volunteer as BHWs. Results Interviewees identified a range of motivating factors to seek and sustain their BHW roles, including a variety of financial and non-financial incentives, gaining technical knowledge and skill, improving the health and wellbeing of community members, and increasing one’s social position. Furthermore, ensuring BHWs have adequate support and resources (e.g. allowances, medicine stocks) to execute their duties, and can contribute to decisions on their role in delivering community health services could increase both community participation and the overall impact of the BHW programme. Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of the symbolic, material and relational factors that influence community members to participate in CHW programmes. The lessons drawn could help to improve the impact and sustainability of similar programmes in other parts of the Philippines and that are currently being developed or strengthened in other LMICs.

scholarly journals The impact of drug policy liberalisation on willingness to seek help for problem drug use: A comparison of 20 countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 162-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella Benfer ◽  
Renee Zahnow ◽  
Monica J. Barratt ◽  
Larissa Maier ◽  
Adam Winstock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Willingness To Seek Help ◽  
Problem Drug Use ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Problem Drug

Drugs and Justice: The Impact of Drugs on Criminal Justice in a Metropolitan Community

1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Klofas
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Case Processing ◽  
York Metropolitan Area ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

This study examines the impact of drugs on the criminal justice system of the greater Rochester (New York) metropolitan area. Although discussed widely, there has been little investigation of the effects of the “war on drugs” at the local level. This research considers patterns of arrest and case processing and includes an examination of drug treatment. Increases in arrests, particularly for possession of drugs, have occurred in the city but not the suburbs and have had a disproportionate effect on African-Americans. Many cases are processed as misdemeanors and result in minor sanctions. The implications for traditional order maintenance concerns in a metropolitan community are discussed.

Challenges Faced by Community Volunteers in Community Development: Voices from Volunteers in Chegutu District, Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962110345
Author(s):  
Itai Kabonga ◽  
Kwashirai Zvokuomba
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Focus Group Discussion ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Spiritual Support ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Volunteers ◽  
Depth Interviews

Volunteer scholarship in Zimbabwe tends to focus on volunteer motivations, volunteers’ role in community development and, to a lesser extent, volunteers’ challenges. In this study, we captured the lived experiences of volunteers in the current milieu of socio-economic challenges. We discovered that the major challenges affecting community volunteers in the Chegutu District are poverty and vulnerability, burnout, too much work, lack of community appreciation of volunteerism and lack of adequate volunteer paraphernalia. We move beyond other studies to explore how volunteers are coping with the challenges. Volunteers are reliant on spiritual support and encouragement by some community members. The study adopts a qualitative approach with data collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussion. The findings are presented and discussed thematically.

Human Perceptions and Reflections on the Urban Context

2020 ◽  
pp. 136-155
Author(s):  
Gina S. Lovasi ◽  
Stephen E. Lankenau
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Environmental Features ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Human Perceptions ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Momentary Assessment

To highlight quantitative and qualitative approaches to better understand perceptions and reflections of urban residents relevant to the links between environmental features discussed in Chapter 5 geographically referenced health outcomes discussed in Chapter 7. Strategies to capture what residents perceive, feel, and recommend regarding their environments include characterization of lived experiences (via surveys, focus groups, in depth interviews) as well as detailed assessments of taking place within urban contexts (via ecological momentary assessment, photovoice, ethnography). Participatory approaches that engage community members are illustrated with examples from Bogotá, Madrid, and Philadelphia.

scholarly journals An ethical analysis of UK drug policy as an example of a criminal justice approach to drugs: a commentary on the short film Putting UK Drug Policy into Focus

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Holland
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Short Film ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Related Harm

Abstract Background Drug-related deaths in the UK are at the highest level on record—the war on drugs has failed. A short film has been produced intended for public and professional audiences featuring academics, representatives of advocacy organisations, police and policymakers outlining the problems with, and highlighting alternative approaches to, UK drug policy. A range of ethical arguments are alluded to, which are distilled here in greater depth for interested viewers and a wider professional and academic readership. Main body The war on drugs is seemingly driven by the idea that the consumption of illegal drugs is immoral. However, the meaning ascribed to ‘drug’ in the illicit sense encompasses a vast range of substances with different properties that have as much in common with legal drugs as they do with each other. The only property that distinguishes illegal from legal drugs is their legal status, which rather than being based on an assessment of how dangerous they are has been defined by centuries of socio-political idiosyncrasies. The consequences of criminalising people who use drugs often outweigh the risks they face from drug use, and there is not convincing evidence that this prevents wider drug use or drug-related harm. Additionally, punishing someone as a means, to the end of deterring others from drug use, is ethically problematic. Although criminalising the production of harmful drugs may seem more ethically tenable, it has not reduced the supply of drugs and it precludes effective regulation of the market. Other potential policy approaches are highlighted, which would be ethically preferable to existing punitive policy. Conclusion It is not possible to eliminate all drug use and associated harms. The current approach is not only ineffective in preventing drug-related harm but itself directly and indirectly causes incalculable harm to those who use drugs and to wider society. For policymakers to gain the mandate to rationalise drug policy, or to be held accountable if they do not, wider engagement with the electorate is required. It is hoped that this film will encourage at least a few to give pause and reflect on how drug policy might be improved.

Resisting Violence: The Construction of Tactics Among Thai Women Who Inject Drugs

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-213
Author(s):  
Niphattra Haritavorn
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Structural Violence ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Leaving Home ◽  
Thai Women ◽  
Masculinity And Femininity ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Women Who Inject Drugs ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study examines the range of tactics used by Thai women who inject drugs in their attempts to lessen the impact of gendered structural violence. Participant observation and in-depth interviews with 35 Thai women who inject drugs were conducted. The women’s tactics to cope with structural violence included leaving home, adopting masculine traits, engaging in various forms of work, and having a drug partner. These tactics are a means of balancing gender and drug use, which are complicated by living under the threat of violence, aspects of embodied experiences that are trapped in powerful conventional roles of masculinity and femininity.

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