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A Conceptual Overview of Drugging: It’s Not What You Think

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Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan

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Abstract

Drugging, defined as administering a drug or alcohol to someone without their knowledge or consent, has increasingly gained attention in recent years. Heightened public awareness of drugging stems from media reports of drugging incidents (e.g., Bill Cosby), campus-based “watch your drink” campaigns, and products, such as straws and “sip chips,” that purportedly detect the presence of drugs in beverages. Yet, despite the potentially serious harms of drugging, until recently, there was very little empirical data on the topic. This chapter reviews the state of the literature on drugging, beginning with estimates of the prevalence of drugging victimization, drug-facilitated sexual assault, and perpetration, as well as types of drugs used to drug others. Next, theoretical frameworks for drugging are presented, including the interpersonal violence, theory of coercive action, coercive control, and bodily integrity frameworks. What is known about drugging victims and their experiences are discussed next. Then, we contrast two different approaches to drugging, one taking a more skeptical view – the social constructionist approach – and the other, risk mitigation approach, arguing that drugging is real and not uncommon, particularly for young people participating in the nighttime economy of college life and the bar and party scene. We end with recommendations for intervention and prevention.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Women’s & Gender Studies Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Suzanne C. Swan & Jessica B. Pomerantz

  2. School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Bonnie S. Fisher

  3. Department of Criminology, Justice Studies & Global Security, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK, USA

    Nicole V. Lasky

Authors
  1. Suzanne C. Swan
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  2. Jessica B. Pomerantz
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  3. Bonnie S. Fisher
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  4. Nicole V. Lasky
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suzanne C. Swan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensbo, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    Sarah Cook

  2. No affiliation provided

    Tracy N. Hipp Ph.D.

  3. No affiliation provided

    Amanda Hill-Attkisson

  4. No affiliation provided

    Thema Bryant-Davis

  5. No affiliation provided

    Jacquelyn W. White Ph.D

  6. No affiliation provided

    Kevin Swartout

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Swan, S.C., Pomerantz, J.B., Fisher, B.S., Lasky, N.V. (2020). A Conceptual Overview of Drugging: It’s Not What You Think. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_311-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_311-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

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