U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Drugs and British Society: Responses to a Social Problem in the Eighties

NCJ Number
124945
Editor(s)
S MacGregor
Date Published
1989
Length
235 pages
Annotation
These 11 papers examine recent research and experience regarding current perceptions of drug abuse in the United Kingdom and explain the responses to the problem, ranging from rhetoric to innovative programs and changes in activities.
Abstract
The essays reflect the perspectives of several disciplines, including sociology, policy analysis epidemiology, history, anthropology, feminism, community work, and social psychiatry. Individual papers consider the way that the problem has been debated in the media and by political parties. Additional papers review the implications of historical and international trends and epidemiological evidence and describe the patterns of drug use in one local area. Further papers describe one community's response to the problem, critically examine the issue in relation to women, argue for changes in the correctional system and inmate treatment, and analyze the use of the media for prevention campaigns. Further chapters examine the effort of one regional health agency to develop a multidisciplinary system of health care provision and trace policy developments during the 1980s. Figures, tables, index, and 302 references.