The Street Addict Role: A Theory of Heroin Addiction

By Richard C. Stephens

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791406202
• ISBN13: 9780791406205
• Release Date: July 1991
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher