Charles E. Faupel

Shooting dope: career patterns of hard-core heroin users.

This book is about heroin addicts. The lives of these individuals are in most ways no different from those of their friends and neighbors who do not use heroin. Many heroin addicts work at legitimate jobs. They have families. They enjoy many of the same types of recreational activities as those of us who do not use her oin. Yet the world of heroin use is quite segregated from the day-to-day lives of most Americans. Consequently, numerous stereotypes of heroin addiction have been cultivated, many of which bear little resemblance to the experience of most addicts. In this book, I seek to portray heroin use and addiction from the perspective of those who participate in the heroin-using subculture. Heroin is part of a rather large family of drugs known as opiates or, more commonly, narcotics. Natural opiates are those drugs that derive from the poppy plant, and they include opium, morphine, and codeine. Synthetic opiates are pharmacologically similar to natural opiates but are artificially manufactured in a laboratory. The most common of these are Demerol, Darvon, and Methadone. Heroin is a partially synthetic drug, the product of treating morphine with acetic anhydride. Heroin was originally introduced into medicine as a cough suppressant by the Bayer Company in 1898. It was banned from medical use in 1924, although virtually all of the other opiates have legal medical uses in the United States today.

Disaster Education, Household Preparedness, and Stress Responses Following Hurricane Hugo

This study examines the impact of disaster education and household preparedness activities on stress responses among adults in the Charleston, South Carolina area following Hurricane Hugo. Two samples, composed of 198 adults who had participated in special disaster education workshops sponsored by the Earthquake Education Center (EEC) at Charleston Southern University, and a general sample of 511 adults in the Charleston area were interviewed by telephone. The data reveal that (a) those who had participated in disaster education programs generally (other than the EEC programs) reported higher levels of stress than did those who did not participate in such programs, although this relationship was not significant; (b) engaging in household preparedness activities resulted in higher levels of stress; and (c) controlling for other pertinent variables, the EEC workshop sample reported significantly higher levels of both physiological and psychological stress than did the general sample. Possible reasons for these unexpected findings are discussed.

Drugs-Crime Connections: Elaborations from the Life Histories of Hard-Core Heroin Addicts

Two key hypotheses about the causal relationship between heroin addiction and criminality govern current conceptions of addict criminality, approaches to treatment, strategies of law, and enforcement. They are: (1) heroin addiction promotes criminal activity by placing a heavy financial burden on the addict which cannot normally be met through legal means; and (2) connections in the criminal subculture which distribute heroin facilitate and encourage criminal solutions to the problem of financing heroin addiction. Life-history interviews with 32 heroin addicts suggest that both hypotheses are, at best, true for only certain periods in addict careers, while at other periods the assumed causal dynamics are neutralized or reversed. These findings suggest some specific refinements and alterations in treatment and enforcement strategies and complicate current theoretical speculations and empirical findings on the drugs-crime connection.

Women opiate users' perceptions of treatment services in New York City

This paper focuses on the treatment experiences of women opiate users in New York City. Historically, drug research has used male samples, and drug treatment programs have been based upon the concerns of men. Treatment counselors and administrators are typically male, and female clients are frequently outnumbered by male clients. In addition, unique needs of women are not addressed. Primary among these needs is child care, a provision that is not a standard feature of most programs. Additionally, many women opiate users may be in dysfunctional families and/or have histories of sexual victimization that may require special counselling. Using data from 208 women drug users who had been in an opiate treatment program, this paper examines their perceptions of the extent to which these programs incorporate womens distinctive concerns and the degree to which such provisions are affected by the perceived numbers of women clients in these programs.

Hazardous wastes and differing perceptions of risk in Sumter county, Alabama

Abstract Strong differences in perceptions of risk were found to exist between community leaders and the general public in Sumter County, Alabama, site of the nations largest hazardous waste landfill. This landfill has been in operation since 1978. Data were obtained from three sources: semistructured interviews with community leaders and knowledgeable individuals, a random mail survey, and a door‐to‐door survey. Community leaders identified through the reputational method were found to trust the facility operators assessment of minimal risk associated with the facility. Reasons for this acceptance by local leaders are explored. The general public was far less convinced by the companys assurances and viewed the facility with alarm. The prevailing “mill town”; atmosphere of the area discourages vocal opposition, which is limited to a small activist environmental organization.

A Comparative Analysis of Drug-Using Women With and Without Treatment Histories in New York City

Treatment histories of 459 drug-using women in New York City were examined to determine if there were any differences between women who have ever entered a treatment program and those who have not. Both bivariate and regression procedures were employed. The bivariate analysis revealed that the two groups of women differed significantly with regard to age, race, having children, age at which they began their drug-using careers, and the number of lifetime arrests. Controlling for all other variables in the regression analysis, only three variables significantly contribute to the likelihood of entering treatment: age, age at which regular drug use began, and the number of lifetime arrests. Implications of these findings for targeting younger women for treatment intervention are discussed.

Local media roles in defining hazardous waste as a social problem: The case of Sumter County, Alabama

Sumter County, Alabama is host to the nations largest commercial hazardous waste landfill. The purpose of this article is to examine how the two weekly newspapers published in Sumter County define the hazardous waste issue for local citizens. Coverage of the hazardous waste issue by these two newspapers was examined for the period 1978–1988. The starting point of this 11‐year period coincides with the opening of the landfill and continues through a period of statewide public debate concerning the facility. Virtually no coverage of the hazardous waste issue occurred during the first 3 years of the facilitys operations. The amount of space devoted to hazardous waste management increased slowly until 1988, when growing statewide attention to this issue resulted in expanded local coverage. During 1987 and 1988, the overall tone of the articles in these two newspapers became increasingly critical of the hazardous waste industry. These general patterns hold for both local papers, although differences exist an...

Heroin use and criminal careers

The relationship between heroin use and crime has been the subject of continuing debate. While the principle focus of this debate has been the causal nexus between heroin and crime, a related controversy exists regarding the nature of addict criminality. Some have argued that heroin addicts are impulsive and opportunistic criminals, while others maintain that addicts are sophisticated criminal entrepreneurs. The present study based on career history interviews with 30 “hard core” street addicts, suggests that both positions may be relevant at different times in the addicts career. These addicts clearly identified a preferred “main hustle,” but did find it necessary to deviate from their main hustle at various times in their careers. This paper seeks to identify those conditions under which addicts are likely to maintain and, conversely, deviate from established patterns of criminality.

Heroin use, crime, and the «main hustle»

The relationship between expensive drug use and criminal behavior has been the subject of continuing debate among social and behavioral scientists. One focus of this debate concerns the extent to w...

Movers and shakers and PCB takers: Hazardous waste and community power

In 1977 a large hazardous waste facility was established in Sumter County, Alabama, during a period of intense political struggle between an entrenched White establishment and leaders of the local Black population, which makes up 70% of the countys total. The facility, owned and operated by Chemical Waste Management, Inc., has attracted strenuous opposition from a small grass roots environmental organization. However, during the 15 years of its existence, hazardous wastes have yet to be an issue in local electoral campaigns. On the surface, the presence of this facility appears to have had minimal effect on community power relationships in Sumter County. The companys success at not becoming a local political issue is explained here as a function of limited local legal jurisdiction and the existence of more immediate and pressing demands associated with Black political empowerment and widespread poverty. The study is based on detailed, semistructured interviews over a 5‐year period.