An Anthropological View of the Street Addict's World

Weppner, Robert S.

doi:10.17730/humo.32.2.yv4644275w343k38

Cited by 21 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Their methods were informed by an interest in the socially situated nature of human action and the necessity of comprehending the participants' "definition of the situation." Later sociologists continued the focus on subcultural ethnography and symbolic interactionism, producing a number of key drug studies (e.g., Agar 1973, Becker 1953, Finestone 1957, Johnson 1973, Preble and Casey 1969, Sutter 1966, Sutter 1972, Weppner 1973. Theoretically, there was a shift from seeing subcultures as "closed and relatively cohesive systems of social organization" (Gordon 1947, cited in Thornton 1997a to a view of subcultures as "lifestyles, action systems and social worlds which are not fixed to any group" (Thornton 1997a:14).…”

Section: Reviewing Subculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond “Subculture” in the Ethnography of Illicit Drug Use

Moore¹

2004

Contemporary Drug Problems

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“Subculture” has been an important conceptual and methodological tool in the ethnographic study of drug use and drug-related harm, particularly heavy drug use among marginalized populations. When researching those whose drug use is less all-consuming, however, this concept does not serve us so well. What term or terms might provide a better framework for the investigation of more intermittent drug use? I explore this question through attention to material gathered during three years of ethnographic research with drug users in Perth, Western Australia. I characterize my units of analysis as social “scenes” oriented around sets of practices. These scenes are located on urban “pathways.” Drug ethnographers need to reorient themselves, no longer seeking to describe and analyze normative subcultural values, beliefs and behaviors but rather focusing on the diverse nature of some drug scenes and their constitutive practices. It may be time to retire “subculture” in the study of certain contexts of drug use.

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Section: Reviewing Subculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond “Subculture” in the Ethnography of Illicit Drug Use

Moore¹

2004

Contemporary Drug Problems

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“…Rather than viewing the addict as an individual from another culture who may subscribe completely to its values (Weppner, 1973), treatment professionals regard the street addict as a deviant. He has forsaken the moral imperatives of the larger society against illicit drug use.…”

Section: Professional Therapistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was within this context that some anthropologists on the research staff of the Hospital realized that attempts must be made to research the addict's world to report what that world consisted of to the treatment staff. It was then that Agar (1971,1973), Rosensteil and Freeland (1973) and Weppner (1973and Weppner ( , 1976 started to do ethnographic studies in this institutional context. Agar and Weppner spent periods of time as &dquo;patients&dquo; on the hospital wards as well as conducting other research throughout the hospital.…”

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confidence: 99%

Status and Role Among Narcotic Addicts: Implications for Treatment Personnel

Weppner¹

1981

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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“…Conducting ethnographic research with drug users often involves complex ethical issues (Bourgois, 1998; Maher, 2000), and numerous legal issues related to the conduct of ethnographic work among individuals engaged in illegal activities have been examined in the literature (Carey, 1972; Librett & Perrone, 2010; Weppner, 1973). Being present within drug scenes may lead ethnographers to have interactions with the police, face the possibility of arrest, or encounter threats to their own safety in the field (Librett & Perrone, 2010; Williams et al, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional ethical review and ethnographic research involving injection drug users: A case study

Small

Maher²

2014

Social Science & Medicine

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Ethnographic research among people who inject drugs (PWID) involves complex ethical issues. While ethical review frameworks have been critiqued by social scientists, there is a lack of social science research examining institutional ethical review processes, particularly in relation to ethnographic work. This case study describes the institutional ethical review of an ethnographic research project using observational fieldwork and in-depth interviews to examine injection drug use. The review process and the salient concerns of the review committee are recounted, and the investigators’ responses to the committee’s concerns and requests are described to illustrate how key issues were resolved. The review committee expressed concerns regarding researcher safety when conducting fieldwork and the investigators were asked to liaise with the police regarding the proposed research. An ongoing dialogue with the institutional review committee regarding researcher safety and autonomy from police involvement, as well as formal consultation with a local drug user group and solicitation of opinions from external experts, helped to resolve these issues. This case study suggests that ethical review processes can be particularly challenging for ethnographic projects focused on illegal behaviours, and that while some challenges could be mediated by modifying existing ethical review procedures, there is a need for legislation that provides legal protection of research data and participant confidentiality.

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An Anthropological View of the Street Addict's World

Cited by 21 publications

References 16 publications

Beyond “Subculture” in the Ethnography of Illicit Drug Use

Beyond “Subculture” in the Ethnography of Illicit Drug Use

Status and Role Among Narcotic Addicts: Implications for Treatment Personnel

Institutional ethical review and ethnographic research involving injection drug users: A case study

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