Illness or Deviance?: Drug Courts, Drug Treatment, and the Ambiguity of Addiction , Hörbuch, Digital, 1, 590min

Is drug addiction a disease that can be treated, or is it a crime that should be punished? In her probing study, Illness or Deviance?, Jennifer Murphy investigates the various perspectives on addiction, and how society has myriad ways of handling it - incarcerating some drug users while putting others in treatment. Illness or Deviance? highlights the confusion and contradictions about labeling addiction. Murphy´s fieldwork in a drug court and an outpatient drug treatment facility yields fascinating insights, such as how courts and treatment centers both enforce the ´´disease´´ label of addiction, yet their management tactics overlap treatment with ´´therapeutic punishment´´. The ´´addict´´ label is a result not just of using drugs, but also of being a part of the drug lifestyle, by selling drugs. In addition, Murphy observes that drug courts and treatment facilities benefit economically from their cooperation, creating a very powerful institutional arrangement. Murphy contextualizes her findings within theories of medical sociology as well as criminology to identify the policy implications of a medicalized view of addiction. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Colleen Patrick. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/084892/bk_acx0_084892_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.... Mehr