ABSTRACT

This study utilizes data initially collected by evaluators at Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services to create a secondary data analysis to investigate the opioid use and misuse among Black residents of Dane County. Sociologist Eric Klinenberg defines the term social infrastructure as the physical places and organizations that shape the way people interact. This study analyzes conversations of Black women, men, and youth throughout Dane County as they discuss the role of social infrastructure, specifically Third Spaces, as a contributing factor to drug abuse. Using a phenomenological design to analyze eleven focus groups and interview transcripts, this study helps fill the gap in scholarly literature of first-hand accounts from Black residents who have been impacted by the opioid crisis. Interviewees reveal that opioid use in Black communities throughout Dane County is exceptionally complex and involves multiple systems and structures that reach far beyond individuals’ choices and behaviors, which are often alluded to as the root of drug abuse. The first-hand accounts depict the impact of being denied access to spaces and how the absence of social infrastructure has impacted their lives. The results of this study help support arguments for easily accessible social, economic, and political resources in Black communities to reduce opioid abuse.

摘要

本研究利用威斯康星州卫生服务部的评估人员最初收集的数据进行二次数据分析，以调查戴恩县黑人居民中阿片类药物的使用和滥用情况。社会学家 Eric Klinenberg 将术语社会基础设施定义为塑造人们互动方式的物理场所和组织。本研究分析了戴恩县的黑人女性、男性和青年在讨论社会基础设施（特别是第三空间）作为药物滥用的促成因素时的对话。本研究使用现象学设计分析 11 个焦点小组和采访记录，有助于填补受阿片类药物危机影响的黑人居民的第一手资料的学术文献空白。受访者透露，戴恩县黑人社区的阿片类药物使用异常复杂，涉及多个系统和结构，远远超出了个人的选择和行为，而这通常被认为是药物滥用的根源。第一手资料描述了被拒绝进入空间的影响以及缺乏社会基础设施如何影响他们的生活。这项研究的结果有助于支持在黑人社区中容易获得社会、经济和政治资源以减少阿片类药物滥用的论点。第一手资料描述了被拒绝进入空间的影响以及缺乏社会基础设施如何影响他们的生活。这项研究的结果有助于支持在黑人社区中容易获得社会、经济和政治资源以减少阿片类药物滥用的论点。第一手资料描述了被拒绝进入空间的影响以及缺乏社会基础设施如何影响他们的生活。这项研究的结果有助于支持在黑人社区中容易获得社会、经济和政治资源以减少阿片类药物滥用的论点。