Situating stigma: an ethnographic exploration of how stigma arises in interactions at different stages of people’s drug use journeys

Long, Fiona Catherine and Stuart Jepsen, Kirsty 2023. Situating stigma: an ethnographic exploration of how stigma arises in interactions at different stages of people’s drug use journeys. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20 (19) , 6894. 10.3390/ijerph20196894

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Abstract

The association between stigma and drug use has been widely researched. However, to fully understand the nuances of stigma, as experienced by people who use drugs (PWUD), it is argued that we must look at the situations within which stigma is encountered. To obtain an ‘up close’ look at situated stigma, data are drawn from two ethnographic studies—one set in a homeless hostel in the South of England and the other at a substance use service in South Wales. This article explores how PWUD experience and negotiate stigma at different stages of their drug use. We identify three notable themes across these settings. Firstly, ‘othering’ occurs in two distinct ways, by othering the past self or distancing from other PWUDs. Secondly, ‘drug exceptionalism’ is used to justify an individual’s drug use and express frustration at the associations between legality, social harm, and stigma. Finally, in ‘negotiating identities’, individuals present alternate identity roles to either demonstrate clashes in identity or to promote a conventionally positive sense of self. This article contributes to the existing literature on stigma, firstly, by comparing the stigma management strategies of those in active drug use and recovery and, secondly, by using this to highlight the importance of ethnography and situated stigma within this field.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	1661-7827
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 November 2023
Date of Acceptance:	5 October 2023
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2023 16:33
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163715

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