What is substance use about? Assumptions in New York's drug policies and the perceptions of African Americans who are low-income and using drugs.
The current article uses intersectionality and standpoint theories to examine the social impact of solely relying on Eurocentric worldviews when developing drug policies that affect low-income African American communities. It is argued that low-income African Americans share a unique cultural and historical background that must be taken into account in the development and implementation of policies and interventions that effect this population. Analysis of longitudinal qualitative data will compare the assumptions informing New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws with the worldviews of drug using and low-income African Americans in New York City, New York, while examining the impact of these policies in participants' lived experiences.
Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey, School of Social Work, 536 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. lwindsor@ssw.rutgers.edu
Liliane Cambraia
LC
Windsor
Eloise
E
Dunlap
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054521:Cultural Competency; D003625:Data Collection; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D010465:Perception; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
African-Americans; culturally congruent practice; drug laws; poverty; substance use