Powerlessness in the moral self: a social cognitive perspective on drug users

ABSTRACT

Powerlessness resides in devalued self-images of drug users. This study, drawing on social and moral psychology, examined the moral functioning of drug users compared to non-drug users. Self-reported data concerning moral identity and moral judgment on drug use were assessed and compared between groups. Drug users appeared to have significantly weaker moral identity centrality and pro-drug moral judgment than non-drug users. They also showed dissociation in the relationship between moral identity and moral judgment. As a result, the study proposed a moral identity model of drug use to better approach social cognitive powerlessness in drug users’ moral self.

KEYWORDS:

• Drug user
• empowerment
• moral model
• moral psychology
• negative identity
• social identity
• social psychology
• social work
• stigma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.