Social analysis edit
Some researchers have attempted to explain heroin use and the culture that surrounds it through the use of sociological theories. In Righteous Dopefiend, Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg use anomie theory to explain why people begin using heroin. By analyzing a community in San Francisco, they demonstrated that heroin use was caused in part due to internal and external factors such as violent homes and parental neglect. This lack of emotional, social, and financial support causes strain and influences individuals to engage in deviant acts, including heroin usage.[1] They further found that heroin users practiced "retreatism", a behavior first described by Howard Abadinsky, in which those who suffer from such strain reject society's goals and institutionalized means of achieving them.[2]
Subculture edit
Philippe Bourgeois & Jeff Schonberg’s ethnography “Righteous Dopefiend” indicates the social structure of the heroin users subculture. Within the heroin users’ subculture is a hierarchical social order among the users. Individuals with the most money and power are at the head of their internal structure. Success and power in the community is based upon materialistic properties such as the amount of drugs they possess, ability to afford shelter,, or personal ownership of materialistic norms such as cars. The most “successful” users are viewed with respect by the lesser, in hopes of one day becoming their running partner or receiving “gifts” of leftover heroin. There is a continuous struggle for power and achievement just as there is in any existing society or subculture. Although a struggle for power exists among the heroin users, there is a familial bond between them. Users are frequently found to be victims of symbolic violence due to personal history with physical, emotional, sexual or economic burdens from their past. Such hardships are often found to be the catalyst for their initiation into the drug culture. Many users also suffer from severe alcoholism. Because of these common hardships, the groups form bonds, take care of each other, and share hits of heroin, which they refer to as “gifts.”. [2]
Social Controls edit
Formal social controls affect the lives of heroin users . Constantly in fear of the law and its enforcement, users revert to shooting up in unsanitary locations and sharing needles to avoid carrying paraphernalia. This risky behavior leads to the rampant spread of AIDS and Hepatitis C in the users’ community. Because of the high rate of illiteracy among users, social programs aimed at educating users about the disease risks does little to restructure shooting habits to healthier methods. [2]
[1] Abadinsky, Howard. Organized Crime. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007. Print. [2] Bourgois, P., & Schonberg, J. (2009). Righteous Dopefiend. Berkley: University of California Press. [3] Thio, Alex. "A Critical Look at Merton's Anomie Theory." The Pacific Sociological Review18.2 (1975): 139-58. JSTOR. Web. 16 Mar. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1388629>. [4] "Deviant Behavior." Psychology Wiki. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. <http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Deviant_behavior>.