Methamphetamine, Symbolic Boundaries, and Using Status

ABSTRACT

Meth users construct symbolic boundaries by depicting themselves as functional users, while portraying other meth users as dysfunctional. Here, we compare the symbolic boundaries of women meth users who are in treatment to those who are not in treatment to determine if boundaries differ as a function of treatment status. We find that their accounts revealed mostly shared boundaries. However, we found differences in their boundaries related to using other drugs and their views of the morality of meth use. These findings indicate that people seek to distance themselves from stigmatized others, regardless of their current use status.

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Notes on contributors

Megan Webb

MEGAN WEBB is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. She earned her M.S. in Criminal Justice and her M.P.A. degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research interests include criminal justice policy, criminal identity, corrections, and drug use.

Jessica Deitzer

JESSICA DEITZER is a doctoral student in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. She received an M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research interests include offender decision making and criminal justice policy.

Heith Copes

HEITH COPES is a Professor in the Department of Justice Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research involves using qualitative methods to explore criminal decision making and identity construction.