Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Qualitative Methods in the Study of Psychoactive Substance Use: Origins and Contributions—Implications for Substance-Use Prevention

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Prevention of Substance Use

Part of the book series: Advances in Prevention Science ((Adv. Prevention Science))

  • 1508 Accesses

Abstract

Curiosity about how people use drugs (Specifically psychoactive substances that alter feelings, perceptions, thought processes, and/or behavior through their action on the nervous system) led to pre-ethnographic accounts of these behaviors at least as early as 500 BCE. Circumstances of contact between people of different cultural traditions led some observers to record their observations of exotic drug-use practices in distant lands, especially the New World. Eventually, after establishment of formal social and behavioral science, some observers adopted highly systematic and exacting standards for these observations. Anthropologists began to describe drug-using patterns as part of holistic studies of entire ways of life, but later proponents of ethnography focused on patterns of drug use, identifying useful principles for controlling effects of drugs on public health. The need for accurate ethnography of drug use became obvious as the United States began to encounter widespread drug use. Anthropologists and sociologists have played major roles in defining danger and identifying strategies for reducing harm related to drug-use patterns in the United States. Although there is a long history of qualitative methods used to study the epidemiology of substance use that has had a major impact on our understanding of the behavior, despite their potential utility, their application to substance-use prevention has been limited. In this chapter the history and contributions of qualitative research to our understanding of substance-using behaviors are reviewed and the potential for informing substance-use prevention is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agar, M. (1973). Ripping and running: A formal ethnography of urban heroin addicts. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, H. (1953). Becoming a marihuana user. American Journal of Sociology, 59, 235–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, H. (1963). Outsiders: Studies of the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Macmillan, The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgois, P. (1998). Just another night in a shooting gallery. Theory, Culture and Society, 15, 37–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourgois, P., Prince, B., & Moss, A. (2004). The everyday violence of hepatitis C among young women who inject drugs in San Francisco. Human Organization, 63, 253–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulmer, M. (1984). The Chicago School of Sociology: Institutionalization, diversity, and the rise of sociological research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, R. G., Siegal, H. A., & Falck, R. S. (1995). Qualitative research methods in drug and AIDS prevention research: An overview. In E. Lambert, R. S. Ashery, & R. H. Needle (Eds.), Qualitative methods in drug abuse and HIV research, NIDA research monograph #157; NIH Pub. No. 95–4025. Washington, DC: Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, R., Wang, J., Siegal, H., Falck, R., & Guo, J. (1994). An ethnographic approach to targeted sampling: problems and solutions in aids prevention research among injection drug and crack-cocaine users. Human Organization, 53(3), 279–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, W. E., Coggins, W. J., & Doughty, P. L. (1980). Cannabis in Costa Rica. Philadelphia, PA: ISHI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castro, F. G., & Coe, K. (2007). Traditions and alcohol use: A mixed methods analysis. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13, 269–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, F. G., Morera, O. F., Kellisong, J. G., & Aguirre, K. M. (2014). Mixed methods research design for prevention science: Methods, critiques, and recommendations. In Z. Sloboda & H. Petras (Eds.), Defining prevention science, advances in prevention science (pp. 452–490). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciccarone, D., & Bourgois, P. (2003). Explaining the geographical variation of HIV among injection drug users in the United States. Substance Use and Misuse, 38, 2049–2063.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coatsworth, J. D., Duncan, L. G., Pantin, J., & Szapocznik, J. (2006). Patterns of retention in a preventive intervention with ethnic minority families. Journal of Primary Prevention, 27, 171–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. W., Klassen, A. C., Plano Clark, V. L., & Smith, K. C. (2011). Best practices for mixed methods research in the health sciences. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dishion, T. J., Capaldi, D., Spracklen, K. M., & Li, F. (1995). Peer ecology of male adolescent drug use. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 803–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobkin de Rios, M. (1972). Visionary vine: Psychedelic Healing in the Peruvian Amazon. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emory, K. T., Messer, K., Vera, L., Ojeda, N., Elder, J. P., Usita, P., & Pierce, J. P. (2015). Receptivity to cigarette and tobacco control messages and adolescent smoking initiation. Tobacco Control, 24(3), 281–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ennett, S. T., Bauman, K. E., Hussong, A., Faris, R., Foshee, V. A., DuRant, R. H., & Cai, L. (2006). The peer context of adolescent substance use: Findings from social network analysis. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 28, 159–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1940). The Nuer: A description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a Nilotic People. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairchild, A. J., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2014). Using mediation and moderation analyses to enhance prevention research. In Z. Sloboda & H. Petras (Eds.), Defining prevention science (pp. 537–556). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Furst, P. T. (1972). Flesh of the Gods: The ritual use of Hallucinogens. New York: Praeger Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furst, P. T. (1976). Hallucinogens and culture. San Francisco, CA: Chandler and Sharp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath, D. (1991). Continuity and change in drinking patterns of the bolivian camba. In D. Pittman & H. White (Eds.), Society, culture and drinking patterns reexamined: Alcohol, culture and social control monograph series (pp. 78–86). New Brunswick: Rutgers Center for Alcohol Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, J. (1972). Two domains of streetwalker argot. Anthropological Linguistics, 14, 174–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, J. (1976). Prostitution and addiction: An interdisciplinary approach. Addictive Diseases: An International Journal, 2, 601–618.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • James, J. (1977). Ethnography and social problems. In R. S. Weppner (Ed.), Street ethnography: Selected studies of crime and drug use in natural settings (pp. 179–200). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagawa Singer, M., Dressler, W. W., George, S., & Elwood, W. N. (2015). The cultural framework for health: An integrative approach for research and program design and evaluation. Bethesda, MD: Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. B. (1978). Homophily, selection and socialization in adolescent friendships. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 427–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koester, S. (1994). Copping, running, and paraphernalia laws: Contextual variables and needle risk behavior among injection drug users. Human Organization, 53, 287–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koester, S., Glanz, J., & Baron, A. (2005). Drug sharing among heroin networks: Implications for HIV and hepatitis B and C prevention. AIDS and Behavior, 9, 27–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kritikos, P. G., & Papadaki, S. P. (1967). History of poppy and of opium and their expansion in antiquity in eastern Mediterranean area 2. Bulletin on Narcotics, 19, 17–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Barre, W. (1975). The Peyote cult. Hamden, CT: Archon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindesmith, A. R. (1968). Addiction and opiates. Chicago, IL: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowie, R. H. (1919). The tobacco society of the crow Indians. New York: The Trustees.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Luna, L. E., & Amaringo, P. (1999). Ayahuasca visions: The religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, M. (1979). Weekend warriors: Alcohol in a Micronesian Culture. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, M. (1983). Through a glass darkly: Beer and modernization in Papua New Guinea. Boroko: Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsiglia, F. F., Ayers, S. L., Baldwin-White, A., & Booth, J. (2016). Changing Latino adolescents’ substance use norms and behaviors: the effects of synchronized youth and parent drug use prevention interventions. Prevention Science, 17, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, M. (1928). Coming of age in Samoa. New York: Morrow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdock, G. P., Ford, C. S., Hudson, A. E., Kennedy, R., Simmons, L. W., & Whiting, J. W. M. (2016). Outline of cultural materials. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files. Retrieved from http://hraf.yale.edu/resources/reference/outline-of-cultural-materials/#outline-of-cultural-materials8211-origin-prin

    Google Scholar 

  • Ott, J. (1993). Pharmacotheon: Ethnogenic drugs, their plant sources, and history. Kennewick, WA: Natural Products Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B. (1976). Costa Rican marijuana users and the amotivational syndrome hypothesis. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B. (1980). The children of exile: Relationships between the acculturation process and drug use among Cuban youth. Youth and Society, 11, 431–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B. (1990). Streetside drug use among Cuban drug users in Miami, Florida. In R. Glick & J. Moore (Eds.), Drug use in Hispanic Communities (pp. 169–191). New Brunswick: Rutgers Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B., Chitwood, D. D., Smith, P. C., Kane, N., & McBride, D. C. (1990). Intravenous drug abuse and HIV infection in Miami. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 4(1), 56–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B., & Evans, S. (2003). Cigars, cigarillos, and youth: Emergent patterns of subcultural complexes. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 2, 63–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B., &. Salazar, J. (1999). Use of needles and syringes in Miami and Valencia: Observations of high and low availability. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 4, 413–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B., & Singer, M. (2010). Comprehending drug use: Ethnographic research at the social margins. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. B., Smith, P. C., & Kane, N. (1990). Shooting galleries, their proprietors, and implications for prevention of AIDS. Drugs and Society, 5, 69–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pantin, H., Prado, G., Lopez, B., Huang, S., Tapia, M. I., Schwartz, S. J., … Branchini, J. (2009). A randomized controlled trial of Familias Unidas for Hispanic adolescents with behavior problems. Psychosomatic Medicine, 71, 987–995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, R. E. (1915). The City: Suggestions for the investigation of behavior in the city environment. American Journal of Sociology, 20, 579–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, R. E., Burgess, E., & McKenzie, R. (1925). The City. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Power, R. (1998). The role of qualitative research in HIV/AIDS. AIDS, 12(7), 687–695.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, M. S., Szapocznik, J., Horigian, V. E., Feaster, D. J., Puccinelli, M., Jacobs, P., … Brigham, G. (2009). Brief strategic family therapy for adolescent drug abusers: A multi-site effectiveness study. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 30, 269–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, V., & Comitas, L. (1975). Ganja in Jamaica. The Hague: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Sahagún, B. (1956). Historia general de las Cosas De Nueva España (Vol. 3, p. 292). Mexico City: Editorial Porrua.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultes, R. E. (1938). The appeal of peyote (Lophophora williamsii) as a medicine. American Anthropologist, 40, 698–715.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultes, R. E. (1976). Hallucinogenic plants. New York: Golden Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M., Clair, S., Schensul, J., Huebner, C., Eiserman, J., Pino, R., & Garcia, J. (2005). Dust in the wind: The growing use of embalming fluid among youth in Hartford, CT. Substance Use and Misuse, 40, 1035–1050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M., Juvalis, J. A., & Weeks, M. (2000). High on Illy: Studying an emergent drug problem in Hartford, CT. Medical Anthropology, 18, 365–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M., Mirhej, G., Page, J. B., Hastings, E., Salaheen, H., & Prado, G. (2007). Black ‘N Mild and carcinogenic: Cigar smoking among inner city young adults in Harford, CT. Journal of Ethnicity and Substance Abuse, 6, 81–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M., & Page, J. B. (2014). The social value of drug addicts: Uses of the useless. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Society for Prevention Research. (2011). Standards of knowledge for the science of prevention. Retrieved from http://www.preventionresearch.org.

  • Spradley, J. (1970). You Owe yourself a drunk: An ethnography of Urban Nomads. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephanis, C., Dornbush, R. L., & Fink, M. (1977). Hashish: A study of long-term use. New York: Raven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, P. C., Sloboda, Z., Stephens, R. C., Teasdale, B., Grey, S. F., Hawthorne, R. D., & William, J. (2009). Universal school-based substance abuse prevention programs: Modeling targeted mediators and outcomes for adolescent cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 102, 19–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, P. C., Sloboda, Z., Grey, S., Stephens, R., Hammond, A., Hawthorne, R., … Williams, J. (2009). Is the receptivity of substance abuse prevention programming affected by students’ perceptions of the instructor? Health Education & Behavior, 36(4), 724–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • True, W. R., Krauskopf, D., Carter, W. E., & Doughty, P. L. (1980). Marijuana and user lifestyles. In W. E. Carter (Ed.), Cannabis in Costa Rica (pp. 98–115). Philadelphia: ISHI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weil, A. (1972). The natural mind: A new way of looking at drugs and the higher consciousness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilbert, J. (1990). Tobacco and shamanistic ecstasy among the Warao Indians of Venezuela. In P. T. Furst (Ed.), Flesh of the Gods: The ritual use of Hallucinogens (pp. 55–83). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, X., Alexander, T. N., Hoffman, L., Jones, C., Delahanty, J., Walker, M., … Talbert, E. (2016). Youth receptivity to FDAs the real cost tobacco prevention campaign: evidence from message pretesting. Journal of Health Communications, 21(11), 1153–1160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinberg, N., & Weil, A. (1969). Cannabis – 1st Controlled Experiment. New Society 13(329):84–86.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA

    J. Bryan Page

  2. Applied Prevention Science International, Ontario, OH, USA

    Zili Sloboda

Authors
  1. J. Bryan Page
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zili Sloboda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Bryan Page .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Prevention Science International, Ontario, OH, USA

    Zili Sloboda

  2. AIR, Washington, DC, USA

    Hanno Petras

  3. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Elizabeth Robertson

  4. Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, MD, USA

    Ralph Hingson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bryan Page, J., Sloboda, Z. (2019). Qualitative Methods in the Study of Psychoactive Substance Use: Origins and Contributions—Implications for Substance-Use Prevention. In: Sloboda, Z., Petras, H., Robertson, E., Hingson, R. (eds) Prevention of Substance Use. Advances in Prevention Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00627-3_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00627-3_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00625-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00627-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation