Space, Place and Desistance from Drug Use

<p>As centres of human existence, places and spaces are vital for individuals&rsquo; understanding of themselves and who they might become. We explore these aspects of existence through a longitudinal study of 43 current and former drug users. First, we identify the differences between tho...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ben Hunter, Stephen Farrall
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2015-09-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2623569
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Summary:<p>As centres of human existence, places and spaces are vital for individuals&rsquo; understanding of themselves and who they might become. We explore these aspects of existence through a longitudinal study of 43 current and former drug users. First, we identify the differences between those who have desisted from drug use and those who continued. These differences manifested themselves in the routines that frequently governed desisters&rsquo; lives. Persisters had very little in the way of routines that served to structure their time and where they did these were more likely to be seen as a burden. Further, the places our respondents occupied served as indications of their own understandings of their self and their efforts to desist. Second, we investigate in detail one individual&rsquo;s desistance from drug use and the accompanying change in his existential geography. As Peter desisted his goals and aspirations changed, becoming less focused on avoiding drug use and directed to more positive desires. We discuss the implications of this work for desistance research.</p> <hr /><p>Como centros de la existencia humana, los lugares y los espacios son vitales para que los individuos se conozcan a s&iacute; mismos, y sepan en qui&eacute;n podr&iacute;an convertirse. Estos aspectos de la existencia se analizan a trav&eacute;s de un estudio longitudinal de 43 personas que consumen o han consumido drogas. En primer lugar, se identifican las diferencias entre los que han abandonado el consumo de drogas, y los que siguen consumi&eacute;ndolas. Estas diferencias se manifestaron en las rutinas que a menudo reg&iacute;an en las vidas de los que hab&iacute;an abandonado el consumo. Los que segu&iacute;an consumiendo ten&iacute;an pocas rutinas que sirvieran para estructurar su tiempo, y si las ten&iacute;an, se percib&iacute;an como una carga. Adem&aacute;s, los lugares que los encuestados ocupaban serv&iacute;an como indicaciones de su propia autocomprensi&oacute;n y sus esfuerzos para dejar el consumo. En segundo lugar, se investig&oacute; en detalle el abandono del consumo de droga de un individuo, y el cambio en su geograf&iacute;a existencial, que acompa&ntilde;&oacute; este proceso. Cuando Peter dej&oacute; el consumo, sus objetivos y aspiraciones cambiaron, y pasaron a estar menos centrados en impedir el consumo de drogas y dirigidos a deseos m&aacute;s positivos. Se analizan las implicaciones de este trabajo para la investigaci&oacute;n sobre el abandono del consumo.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2623569" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2623569 </a></p>
ISSN:2079-5971