Odette Parry

Characteristics and consequences of prescription drug misuse among university students in the United Kingdom

Introduction: Prescription drug misuse is associated with various problems relating to physical health, psychological disorders, social relationships, as well as broader societal and economic problems. Research in the United States has shown that university students are a high-risk group for involvement in prescription drug misuse. There has been almost no research on prescription drug misuse among university students outside of the United States. Methods: The study was based on an online survey of students currently registered at a university in north Wales. Respondents completed a structured questionnaire covering topics relating to the characteristics and consequences of prescription drug misuse. The analysis was based on those students reporting prescription drug misuse. Results: The most common medications misused were prescribed pain relievers, tranquillisers and sedatives. The main motives for misuse were to obtain the therapeutic benefits of the drug, recreational purposes and mood enhancement. The main problems associated with prescription drug misuse were addiction, physiological and psychological disorders and relationships. Conclusion: The study revealed a wide range of problems experienced by students who misuse prescription drugs. More could be done to tackle prescription drug misuse among students through campus-based drug prevention programmes.

Misuse of prescription drugs on university campuses: options for prevention

There has been little research on prescription drug misuse among university students in the UK. In this paper, we report the findings of a survey of students in one university on the extent and nature of their prescription drug misuse and explore some of the prevention programmes that might reduce it. The research found that a notable proportion of students who completed our questionnaire reported that they had misused prescription drugs. The most common drugs of misuse were pain relievers and the most common forms of these were the opioid-based analgesics. Sleeping medications were also commonly misused. A review of the research literature on methods used to prevent prescription drug misuse found a wide range of innovative programmes including: web-based surveillance systems, management systems for monitoring and policing the supply of prescriptions, enforcement programmes aimed to reduce the supply of illegal internet pharmacies, screen tests for identifying students at risk, and pharmaceutical advances in the development of non-abusable drug delivery systems. The paper concludes by appealing for more research to be done to understand the nature of prescription drug misuse among university students and for further tests and evaluations of the effectiveness of programmes designed to prevent it.

Explaining prescription drug misuse among students from a widening access university: The role of techniques of neutralization

Aims: The aim of the paper is to investigate the extent to which university students misuse prescription drugs, using techniques of neutralization to understand and explain their behaviour. Methods: The study was based on an email survey of students currently registered at a university in north Wales which supports widening access and has one of the highest proportion of mature students in the UK. Just over 11% of students contacted completed the survey (69% were female and 53% were aged 28 or over; n = 558). They were asked about their prescription drug misuse and whether they thought that it was wrong. They were then invited to explain their answers. The responses were analyzed to identify and code the use of techniques of neutralization. Findings: The most common prescription drugs misused were pain relievers (66%), tranquillizers (18%), sedatives (14%), stimulants (6%) and anti-depressants (5%). The most frequently occurring neutralizations were ‘claims of biological need’, ‘claims of legitimacy in view of own prior experience’, and ‘denial of choice’. Conclusion: The paper concludes by considering the potential role of techniques of neutralization in preventing prescription drug misuse among students.

Wake-up call Achieving compliance with Youth Justice Orders

Community disposals, which are privileged over custody as a response to young offenders, incorporate both punitive and rehabilitative elements in order to punish, deter and rehabilitate. Failure to comply with them has serious implications for young people, in both the short and longer term. In the literature a clear distinction is made between short term formal compliance with requirements of community orders, and more substantive (less measurable) engagement with the spirit of the endeavour to help young people turn away from crime. The article draws on a small qualitative study of young people in receipt of community orders and YOT workers, to explore aspects of supervision of young people in receipt of community disposals. In particular it focuses on ways in which YOT workers support young people to achieve compliance, how this support is received by young people and the implications for their longer term outcomes. The article suggests that while driven by an imperative to avoid breach among young people, levels and type of support provided may not necessarily enable young people to realize the longer term objective of desistance from crime.

Mending fences: reparation and the reorientation of young people in the secure estate

The paper is informed by the findings of mixed method study of the Duke of Edinburgh intervention at selected secure estate establishments in England and Wales, drawing on the findings of an Attitude to Offending instrument (CRIME-PICS11) and accounts of young people and secure estate staff. Young people’s CRME-PICS responses are examined through qualitative data from focus groups with young people and interviews with staff delivering the intervention. The findings highlight the importance study participants placed on development of interpersonal relationships between young people, and between them and others within and outwith the secure estate. The authors suggest that, notwithstanding constraints on delivering interventions in the secure estate, reparation activities can be achieved with incarcerated young people, which may assist young offenders’ short-term strategies in managing day to day incarceration and long-term strategies of re-integration, acceptance by the community, and improved life opportunities in the future. The authors argue that while reparation activities, which do not involve face to face contact with victims, are often presented as a poor relative of restorative justice ‘proper’, they are not only more realisable in custody, but offer potential to facilitate development of fundamental social interpersonal skills which underpin young people’s rehabilitation.

Two world views: Perspectives on autistic behaviours

This article reports on a study, utilising phenomenological methodology, which used interview and video narratives to collect data from 10 young people with autism and their parents. Data analysis employed multistage, primarily ethnomethodological methods in order to interpret and understand experiences of autism. The study found that parents, arguably influenced by the medical and psychological perspectives through which ‘autism’ has evolved, problematise what children with autism do as pathological. This article juxtaposes parents’ understandings against how children with autism, themselves, account for what they do, by exploring respective accounts of children’s obsessions and ritualistic behaviours.

More sinned against than sinning? Perceptions about European migrants and crime

The article draws on perceptions of those working in professional capacities with European migrants in one area of the UK, to explore understandings about the relationship between European migrants and crime at the local level. The qualitative study informing the article involved semi-structured interviews with representatives from the criminal justice system (CJS) and community representatives. A key finding of the study was that both CJS and community representative respondent accounts were largely congruent. European migrants were more likely, in respondent accounts, to be victims, rather than perpetrators, of crime. Much of the predominantly ‘low-level’ crime associated with European migrant offending was reported to be largely a function of cultural difference and based on misunderstanding of UK law and CJS processes. The article concludes with some implications for the enculturalization and education of new migrants and the fostering of better understanding between European migrants and CJS agents and processes.

“Dangerous conversations”: a case study involving language

Purpose – Drawing on the approach of Bourdieu (1977, 1986), and using language as an exemplar, the purpose of this paper is to engage in a “dangerous conversation” to explore how and why issues of diversity were mobilised, ignored and leveraged in one particular service context. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research exploring the language choices of 25 service users who had been processed through the criminal Justice System in Wales in the last five years. Findings – The argument is made that in some service contexts, a habitus obtains that renders reflexivity about diversity issues problematic and predicates against the critical reflection necessary to promote anti-oppressive practice. Research limitations/implications – Small sample size, not generalisable. Practical implications – The authors intend the paper to encourage greater reflection on instances when diversity issues are raised and to render simplistic any attempt to invalidate claims of discrimination. Social implications – Encour...

Minority language non-use in service settings: what we know, how we know it and what we might not know

Existing research concludes that diglossia between languages is a barrier to minority language use in health, social care and criminal justice settings. In addition, it concludes that more fulsome service provision is the key for promoting greater minority language use in such settings. Using the case of Welsh speakers in Wales as an exemplar, this paper explores what is known about minority language use in service settings and how that knowledge has been acquired. It is argued that the existing research has neglected the influence of interviews on accounts of minority language use. Moreover, it is argued that an important issue in promoting minority use in service settings is recognising and addressing the diglossia that can come to exist within a minority language once its use is institutionalised in such contexts.