The social value of drug addicts : the uses of the useless / Merrill Singer and J. Bryan Page.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Singer, Merrill.

Contributor:

• Page, J. Bryan, 1947-
• Lipman Criminology Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Drug addicts.
• Social values.
• Drug abuse--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

248 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Walnut Creek, California : Left Coast Press, [2014]

Summary:

"Drug users are typically portrayed as worthless slackers, burdens on society, and just plain useless--culturally, morally, and economically. By contrast, this book argues that the social construction of some people as useless is in fact extremely useful to other people. Leading medical anthropologists Merrill Singer and J. Bryan Page analyze media representations, drug policy, and underlying social structures to show what industries and social sectors benefit from the criminalization, demonization, and even popular glamorization of addicts. Synthesizing a broad range of key literature and advancing innovative arguments about the social construction of drug users and their role in contemporary society, this book is an important contribution to public health, medical anthropology, popular culture, and related fields"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

• Chapter 1 Drugs, Race, and Gender in the Social Construction of Drug Consumers: Recognizing the Origins of Othering 25
• Chapter 2 Drug Users through the Ages: When Did We Decide Addicts Were a Separate Category? 53
• Chapter 3 Representations of Addicts and the Construction of Prohibitions 71
• Chapter 4 Imagine That: Drug Users and Literature 88
• Chapter 5 Picture This: Pictorial Construction of Drug Users in the World of Film 121
• Chapter 6 The Legal Construction of Drug Users: Policy, the Courts, Incarcerating Institutions, Police Practice, and the War on Drugs 153
• Chapter 7 Drug Users in Social Science: The Others We've Made 181.

Notes:

• Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Machine generated contents note: IntroductionChapter 1. The Social Construction of Drug ConsumersChapter 2. Drug Users through the Ages: When Did Addicts Become a Separate Category?Chapter 3. Representations of Addicts and the Construction of ProhibitionsChapter 4. Imagine That: Drug Users and LiteratureChapter 5. Picture This: Pictorial Construction of Drug Users in the World of FilmChapter 6. The Legal Construction of Drug Users:Policy, the Courts, Incarcerating Institutions, Police Practice, and the War on DrugsChapter 7. Drug Users in Social Science: The Others We've MadeConclusionReferencesIndexAbout the Authors.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Lipman Criminology Library Fund.

ISBN:

• 1611321182
• 9781611321173
• 1611321174
• 9781611321180
• 9781611321197
• 1611321190

OCLC:

852222377

Publisher Number:

99956833849

Online:

The Lipman Criminology Library Fund Home Page