‘Scripting’ risk: Young people and the construction of drug journeys

Abstract

The concept of risk, and its centrality to social life, is theoretically much discussed within late modernity. This paper examines young people's drug use and their drug transitions within a framework of risk drawing on findings from a longitudinal ethnographic study of drug use among young people in a Dublin inner-city community. Fifty-seven young people aged between 15 and 19 years, including non-users, recreational, and problematic drug users, were recruited into the study in 1998. Contact was re-established with 42 of the study's participants in 2001. Individual interviews and focus group discussions, supported by prolonged participation within the study site, were the primary methods of data collection. Drawing on the young people's situated accounts of their drug-taking events, routines, and practices across time, the findings highlight the complex social negotiations involved in the construction of drug journeys. Analyses of change in drug use behaviour over the study period demonstrate that drug transitions unfold alongside dynamic and changing perceptions of safety and risk. Responses to 'risk' within youth drug scenes were contextually shaped, open to situational revision over time, and, in many instances, drug taking was habitual, not calculated. Put differently, young people 'script' risk as they gain experience in the world. The type of calculus involved in the making of drug journeys is fluid and relational, socially contingent rather than static, and subject, at times, to constrained agency linked to social and economic marginalization. It is argued that models of risk that rely on individualistic and rationalistic assumptions struggle to accommodate the fluidity and contradiction that characterizes much drug use. Implications for strategies and initiatives aimed at reducing drug-related harm are discussed.

The experience of initiating injection drug use and its social context: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis

“…Different types of social interactions shaped injection initiation. Some studies referenced the idea of ‘exposure’ to drug injecting behaviors within particular social networks and locations (e.g., street drug scenes) (44, 61, 70, 72). More precise conceptualizations identified witnessing or observing others injecting (38, 47, 50, 52, 55, 70), which can generate awareness and curiosity (44, 52): “He would sit in the back [of the car] and start shooting himself.…”

“It’s not easy but it's still possible to be an abstainer here”: Non-Drug Use Among Young Men in a Slum Area in Makassar, Indonesia

“…We have presented the experiences of non-drug users in the lorong, including the social context and protective factors that enable them to abstain from drugs and to refuse drug offers in a drug riskenvironment (Dillon et al, 2007;Hawkins, et al, 1992;Hunt, 2006;Kim & Zane, 2002;Mayock, 2005). In line with the sociological concept of manifest and latent functions of employment, as well as the concepts of economic, symbolic, cultural and social capital, we argue that young men's employment and educational attainment may play an essential role in facilitating incentives for them to refuse drug offers, to abstain from drug taking and to distance themselves from deeper participation in street culture and risk-takin g practices.…”

“…Buchanan, 2004;Hunt, Moloney, & Evans, 2010;Mayock, 2005;Nasir & Rosenthal, 2009a, 2009bNasir, Rosenthal & More, 2011;Spooner, 2005;Stevens, 2009). Most studies focus on young people who are drug dependent and those who take drugs regularly, thus omitting the experience of young people who abstain from drug consumption.…”

“What goes up must go down”: An exploration of the relationship between drug-related pleasure and harm experienced by a sample of regular “party drug” users

“…Most considered their progression from tobacco, alcohol and cannabis to other drugs as inevitable and unexceptional (Mayock, 2005). All participants reported previous use of ecstasy and methamphetamine powder 1 , with most reporting previous cannabis and cocaine use, but only half reporting previous ketamine use.…”