Addison Michelle
Durham University, UK.
Sociol Rev. 2023 Mar;71(2):296-314. doi: 10.1177/00380261221150080. Epub 2023 Mar 20.
This article discusses the social harms arising out of stigma experienced by people who use drugs (PWUD), and how stigmatisation compromises 'human flourishing' and constrains 'life choices'. Drawing on Wellcome Trust qualitative research using in-depth, semi-structured interview data ( = 24) with people who use heroin, crack cocaine, spice and amphetamine, this article firstly provides insight into how stigma is operationalised relationally between people via a lens of class talk and drug use predicated on normative ideas of 'valued personhood'. Secondly, it turns to how stigma is weaponised in social relations to keep people 'down', and thirdly, it shows how stigma is internalised as blame and shame and felt deeply 'under the skin' as 'ugly feelings'. Findings from the study show that stigma harms mental health, inhibits access to services, increases feelings of isolation, and corrodes a person's sense of self-worth as a valued human being. These relentless negotiations of stigma are painful, exhausting and damaging for PWUD, culminating in, as I argue, everyday acts of social harm that come to be normalised.
本文探讨了吸毒者所遭受的污名化所带来的社会危害，以及污名化如何损害“人类的繁荣”并限制“生活选择”。本文借鉴了惠康基金会的定性研究，该研究采用了对使用海洛因、快克可卡因、合成大麻素和安非他命的人群进行深入、半结构化访谈的数据（=24），首先通过“有价值的人格”这一规范性观念所构建的阶级话语和吸毒视角，深入洞察污名是如何在人与人之间通过关系层面得以体现的。其次，探讨了污名是如何在社会关系中被用作武器来压制人们的，第三，展示了污名是如何被内化为自责和羞耻，并作为“丑陋的感觉”在内心深处深切感受到的。研究结果表明，污名会损害心理健康、阻碍获得服务、增加孤独感，并侵蚀一个人作为有价值的人的自我价值感。对于吸毒者来说，这些持续不断的污名应对过程是痛苦、疲惫且具有破坏性的，最终，正如我所认为的，导致了日常社会伤害行为的常态化。
