Richard C. Stephens - Böcker

This book provides a new answer to the question, "Why do people use heroin and other street drugs?" Drawing upon a growing body of studies of drug users conducted by sociologists and anthropologists, it attempts to integrate their findings into a theoretically unified sociocultural explanation of heroin use. The theory, which draws heavily upon the insights of symbolic interactionist and role theory, posits that there is a street subculture of heroin users. The chief role in this subculture - the street addict role - becomes a blueprint for living for many heroin users. Addicts are heavily committed to this role and organize their behavior and self-identification around it. From this basic starting point, the theory explains how persons become and remain addicts and how they may eventually give up addictive behavior.

This book provides a new answer to the question, "Why do people use heroin and other street drugs?" Drawing upon a growing body of studies of drug users conducted by sociologists and anthropologists, it attempts to integrate their findings into a theoretically unified sociocultural explanation of heroin use. The theory, which draws heavily upon the insights of symbolic interactionist and role theory, posits that there is a street subculture of heroin users. The chief role in this subculture - the street addict role - becomes a blueprint for living for many heroin users. Addicts are heavily committed to this role and organize their behavior and self-identification around it. From this basic starting point, the theory explains how persons become and remain addicts and how they may eventually give up addictive behavior.

Evaluates drug and alcohol abuse treatment systems and their effects on individual alcohol and drug abusers.During the 1990s, in response to the multi-faceted phenomenon of substance abuse, the federal government's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment funded the Target Cities project in nineteen U.S. cities. This volume evaluates how the Target Cities project affected both treatment systems and individuals with drug and alcohol problems. In each city, programs were established to evaluate the impact of these substances on an individual's mental and physical health, housing, family relationships, and involvement with the criminal justice system. A brief summary of the evolution of national perceptions of drug and alcohol problems is followed by a description of the project, its participants, the process of entering treatment, an organizational analysis of the project's many components, participant satisfaction and adjustment, and the implications of the research findings for policy makers and treatment personnel.