Harm Reduction Strategies and Disinhibitors Among Women Who Use Heroin

People who use illicit drugs face significant physical risks in the acquisition, use, and aftermath of their use. This is particularly the case among those who use heroin in view of recent spikes in heroin-associated overdoses, injuries, and deaths. Using a restrictive deterrence framework, we ident...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Kerley, Kent R. (Author) ; DeShay, Rashaan A. (Author) ; Copes, Heith 1970- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
In: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
Year: 2019, Volume: 63, Issue: 8, Pages: 1289-1305
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Drug use
Drug abuse
Drug addiction
Heroin users
Women heroin users
Harm reduction
Drogenmissbrauch
Drogenabhängigkeit
Drogenabhängige Frauen
Heroinkonsumenten
Description
Summary:People who use illicit drugs face significant physical risks in the acquisition, use, and aftermath of their use. This is particularly the case among those who use heroin in view of recent spikes in heroin-associated overdoses, injuries, and deaths. Using a restrictive deterrence framework, we identify the risks that women associate with chronic heroin use and the ways they seek to manage those risks. We also examine psychological and physiological disinhibitors that contribute to women reducing use of risk reduction strategies. We find from the narratives that nearly all of the women initially engaged in specific strategies to manage risk; however, as they continued using the drug, they began to abandon even the simplest of measures. Our findings shed light on the limitations of harm reduction strategies and inform the theoretical tradition of restrictive deterrence and the importance of disinhibitors.
ISSN:1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X18818682