Hunden gör som husse, skiter på systemet – eller...? : Missbrukare, subkultur och stigmatisering

• Main Author: de Alencar, Björn
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för religion och kultur 2006
• Subjects: Drug addicts; subculture; stigmatization; drugs; ethics; Missbrukare; subkultur; stigmatisering; droger; etik; Social anthropology; Socialantropologi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-6663

This essay will focus on drug addicts and the world as they see it. The essay is based on intervjues with three men and one woman and participant observation of the three men´s social life in the surroundings of Stockholm. The informants’ opinions and experiences are central as well as the observations made of them during an intensive fieldwork. The study which was of an exploring character has revealed a complex relationship between the informants and society. The concepts of subculture and stigmatization seem equally central in the social life and perception of life of these drug addicts. The intricate relationship between the two needs further study before a model of the interrelationship can be presented. In a final discussion of the results of the study with the informants they confirm that they see themselves both as part of a subculture and stigmatized by society. The study also includes some ethical reflections on the role of the investigator in relation to informants who are drug addicts.