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Relationality and identity migration amonRelationality and identity migration amonmethamphetamine usersmethamphetamine users

An exploratory studAn exploratory stud

Paul BoshearsThe European Graduate School

Presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Georgia SociologicalAssociation, Morehouse College, Atlanta, 30 October, 2009


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That process through which individuals developproblematic use of methamphetamine is thesame mechanism by which they canovercome their problematic usage.

I mean crystal meth can take you down really, reallydark paths. And youve seen, you hear horror stories I just really dont want to be that person.

(22-year-old white male)


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Relationality

What insights might a focus upon the relational dynamics ofselfhood provide to understanding howmethamphetamine practices are negotiated throughout

the drug-use career?The interdependencies that form as methamphetamineusers pursue opportunities: to practice meth use, todisclose the consequences of their practices, and todisplay recovering identities, illustrate a fundamentally

relational character to methamphetamine use.


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Assuming the Self

Who I amWho I am is fundamentally a social event, it is not asubstance or kernel that contains my essence.

This performative self(Butler, 2005) is based upon andadjusted within my social and physical environments.

My uniqueness is determined by my performance of myroles within these environments; who I am develops withina context.

We learn from our experiences we revise in light ofexperiences

Being true to ourselves references past performances

Butler, J. (2005). Giving an account of oneself.New York: Fordham University Press.


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Based on our ethnographic study of 100 current andformer users of methamphetamine, we found that

participants in this study overwhelmingly, referencethe social pressures and theirenvironments thatinitiate, spur, and inhibit their use or cessation ofmethamphetamine and other drugs.

In privileging the social component of addiction, wecontribute to the developing literature on the socialconceptualization of addiction by interpreting ourdata in light of this model.

(Latkin, Knowlton, Hoover, & Mandell, 1999; Weinberg, 2000; May 2001;Gibson, Acquah, & Robinson, 2004; Pilkington, 2007; Graham, Young, &Wood, 2008; Adams, 2008)


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Hughes (2007, 2009) proposes a socialconceptualization of addiction emphasizingsubstance use as a set of embodied socialpractices.

Addiction is a discursive practice a narrative that

people perform. In performing this discourse thosethat practice substance use affirm and reinvigoratetheir identities as addicts.

The popular mode in which addiction is thought of

and discussed limits how we can understand druguse practices as well as how we might transform thephenomenon.

Migrating Identities


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Identity Migration

There are three stages in the identity migration:

1) Apprenticeship2) Disclosure

3) Re-covering

Hughes, K. (2007) Migrating identities: The relational constitution of drug useand addiction. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29(5), 673-691

Hughes, K., G. Valentine, & C. Kenten. (2009) The time of our lives: Towardsa space-time understanding of Internet gambling. The British Journal ofSociology(forthcoming).


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Identity MigrationIdentity Migration:1)ApprenticeshipApprenticeship methamphetamine use is a learned

behavior.

So all my dads friends were junkies....from the time Iwas twelve Id seen these dudes firing dope,shooting dope up.... But one day I come in and I

said, Let me try some of that. I poured some in aspoon, shot some water in itthe dude was trying totell my dad, You need to help him or let me help himor something. Before he had it out I had it pulled up

and fired it in my arm just like a champ. Just like Iwas a professional at it.



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Identity MigrationIdentity Migration:2) DisclosureDisclosure Problematic use as performativespeech act.

The first time I tried not to do it on the weekend Isaid, Well, uh, you got a problem.


I knew I was going to eventually lose all my childrenand everything I had if I didnt quit[....] And Im like, Idont want to be one of these people. I dont want tobe one of these people that their life has fell apart

around them and you aint got enough sense to getyour act cleaned up.(48-year-old white male)


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Identity MigrationIdentity Migration:3) Re-coveringRe-covering cessation of drug practices are nowsubstituted with recovery practices.

In order to succeed you have to surrenderand youhave to be willing to become teachable, you have tobe willing to take directions, and you have to realizethat youre [...] not in charge.


Because when youve quit doing it you have a mentalbreak. You have a mental break from your normalself[....] Youre not delusional but you have prettymuch lost your mind. You have to regroup, find yourreal mindset again.



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Conclusion & Future Studie

There is a need within the addiction science (NIDA)community to develop evocative-analytical portrayalsof substance use (Hockey & Allen-Collinson, 2009).

Future studies might investigate other substanceabusing communities and theirinter-group dynamics

Policy development which calls forgreater community

responsibility for substance use and prevalence ofuse.


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