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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Singer, Merrill, author.

Contributor:

Page, J. Bryan, 1947-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drug abuse--Social aspects.

Drug abuse.

Drug addicts.

Social values.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (249 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Routledge, 2016.

Language Note:

English

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:

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

Conclusion: From the Making and Using of the Useless to Social IntegrationReferences; Index; About the Authors

Notes:

First published 2014 by Left Coast Press, Inc.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 4, 2013).

ISBN:

1-315-41715-4

1-315-41716-2

1-315-41717-0

1-61132-119-0

9781315417172

OCLC:

862613247