A qualitative feminist analysis of college women and how they used drugs and rationalized that use.
According to the findings of this study, college women do not typically use drugs simply for the sake of taking drugs. Drug use was viewed as a part of relationships, and for some of these women, a very important part. Within their relationships, these women socially constructed drugs in traditional (i.e., using discourses of morality, legality, and health/personal safety) ways. They also tended to arrange drugs hierarchically—they created what the author labels an individualized drug acceptability ranking that helped them determine their drug using limits.
This study suggests that the decisions to use drugs are more complicated than previous literature has suggested. Studies attempting to find correlations between college student drug use, personality traits of drug abusers, gender differences, racial differences, parental influences and educational influences continue to dominate the literature on college student drug use. This book provides a starting point and an invitation to listen to more voices to determine other factors that influence one's drug using decisions.
Preface
Introduction:The College Drug Tales of 73 Women
Relationships with Other Women
Drug Use and Finding Like-Using Female Friends
Drug Use and Keeping Female Friends
Drug Use and Separating From Friends
Drug Use and Romantic Relationships
Drug Use and Finding Boyfriends
Drug Use and Keeping Boyfriends
Losing or Separating from Male Friends and Boyfriends
The Social Construction and Ranking of Drugs Within Relationships
The Social Construction of Drugs
The Individualized Drug Acceptability Ranking
Conclusions and Implications
Appendix A: Selected Text From the Report of the Results from the University's Core Alcohol and Drug Survey Spring 1996
Appendix B: Informed Consent Letter
Appendix C: The Drug Acceptability Ranking Composite
Appendix D: An Example of an Individual Drug Acceptability Ranking
Appendix E: An Example of an Individual Drug Acceptabiltiy Ranking
References
Index
Reviews
In this unique study, Williams uses focused in-depth interviews and personal journals to explore how a particular group of women living in the environment of a large, northeastern, private university view their drug use and social relationships.... The book is interesting, insightful, and instructive. Recommended for readers interested in feminist research dealing with substance use and/or abuse.—Choice
