Lost in transition: the two structurally distinct groups of drug addicts in contemporary China

Abstract

Despite of persistent anti-drug regulations and policies, China has encountered a large boom in narcotic drug addicts. Drug addicts can be found in distinct social groups, from the rich to the poor. Classic drug research theories have paid less attention to drug addiction issues in transitional China’s context. This study introduces a socio-structural transition perspective to explore the increasing and wide-spreading drug addiction problems in contemporary China. Based on in-depth interviews with drug addicts, social workers, and local policemen in Fujian, we collected 13 addict cases with detailed life experiences. Two structurally distinct groups were identified among the addicts. The impoverished descender addicts, struggling with much frustration in the disadvantaged situations, are associated with the class-based drug initiation patterns. Meanwhile, the affluent upstart addicts, gaining easy money with the traditional moral commitment left behind, are related to the consumer-based pathways to drug abuse. Moreover, these distinct addicts have commonalities in contemporary Chinese contexts. At the macro level, they fail to adapt themselves to the rapid structural transition process in both the material and spiritual ways, and thus are lost into the drug-related deviant social positions with weakening social controls and exposure to deviant peers. These findings further indicate the complex associations among deviant social consequences, social classes, and socio-structural changes in historical process.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We benefited from the comments from Xiaoli Tian in the 2018 Asian Conference of the International Chinese Sociological Association (ICSA). We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their excellent suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The data are extracted from Annual Report on Drug Control in China in each corresponding year. The numbers are accumulative numbers of registered drug addicts, excluding those drug users who have died or successfully detoxified.

2 According to the national bureau of statistics, the GDP of Fujian province increases from 6.64 billion yuan in 1978 to 3.58 trillion yuan in 2018.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hongzhi XU is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology Department, Tsinghua University and currently a student member of ICSA. His research interests include social inequality, deviance and delinquency.

WANG Tianfu is a professor in Sociology Department, Tsinghua University and currently the dean of the Sociology Department. His main research interests include social inequality, social stratification, marriage and family.