NCJ Number
68155
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: (SPRING 1980) Pages: 165-201
Date Published
1980
Length
37 pages
Annotation
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HANDLING OF ADDICTED PERSONS ARE COMPARED FOR THREE LARGE-SCALE NATION STATES--RUSSIA, CHINA, AND THE U.S.
Abstract
ALL THREE NATIONS HAVE DEFINED ALCOHOLISM, OPIATE ADDICTION, OR BOTH AS SERIOUS SOCIAL PROBLEMS CALLING FOR SOCIAL CONTROL, AND PERSONS WHO ABUSE SUCH SUBSTANCES AS DEVIANTS. IMPLICATED IN THESE NATIONS' FRAMEWORKS FOR CLASSIFICATION OF DEVIANTS ARE FUNDAMENTAL CULTURAL IMAGES OF HUMAN NATURE, AND UNDERLYING THESE ARE NOTIONS OF ORDER AND DISORDER IN HUMAN EXISTENCE. COGNITIVE MAPPING OF THE TERRITORY OF DISORDER IN MANY CULTURES, INCLUDING THESE THREE, DRAWS AN IMPORTANT BOUNDARY BETWEEN 'DISORDERED' AND 'DISORDERLY' BEHAVIOR. DISORDERED PERSONS ARE SICK, HENCE BLAMELESS, AND IN NEED OF HELP, WHILE DISORDERLY PERSONS ARE CRIMINALS, OR EVILDOERS, HENCE CULPABLE AND REQUIRING PUNISHMENT. THEY FALL, CONSEQUENTLY, UNDER THE DOMINION OF DIFFERENT SORTS OF AGENTS OF SOCIAL CONTROL. THOUGH THE 'TOPOGRAPHY' OF THE TERRITORY OF DISORDER (I.E., FEATURES SPECIFYING THE LOCUS OF THE PROBLEM, GIVEN THE NATURE OF MAN AS A SPECIES) REMAINS RATHER STABLE WITHIN EACH CULTURAL TRADITION, THE 'POLITICAL' BOUNDARIES WHEREBY DEVIANTS ARE ASSIGNED TO VARIOUS AGENTS OF SOCIAL CONTROL (SUCH AS POLICE OR PHYSICIANS) RESPOND MORE READILY TO OTHER SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CHANGES. THE ADDICTIONS OCCUPY AN AMBIGUOUS POSITION ON THE SOCIOCULTURAL MAPS OF ALL THREE CULTURES, WITH ADDICTS ON THE BORDERLINE OF BOTH SICK AND CRIMINAL TERRITORIES. ONE FUNCTION OF MODERNIZATION, ESPECIALLY IN THE U.S., SEEMS TO BE TO ENLARGE THE POPULATION WITHIN THE REGION INHABITED BY THE SICK AS OPPOSED TO THE CRIMINAL. THIS TREND IS FAR LESS ADVANCED IN THE U.S.S.R. AND VIRTUALLY ABSENT IN CHINA. EXTENSIVE NOTES, APPROXIMATELY 80 REFERENCES, AND DIAGRAMS ARE SUPPLIED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)