Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Following China’s economic reform and an open-door policy in 1978, illicit drug use emerged in the mid-1980s and gradually developed into a serious social problem in the country. Heroin is the dominant illicit drug used in China. In an effort to improve the understanding of law enforcement's responses to heroin use in China, the study chose Kunming – the capital city of Yunnan Province – as the research site because of its severe heroin abuse problems. Women heroin users (N=90) were interviewed in the local communities by using theoretical sampling and snow-ball sampling strategies. The findings indicate that the incarceration rate of women heroin users (86%) was very high; most of them had been incarcerated either in compulsory drug rehabilitation centers or re- education-through labor (or both). The recidivism rate was extremely high; none of women heroin users reported that they had quit using heroin due to incarceration. The findings indicate that harsh narcotics control policies practiced by Chinese law enforcement have largely failed to curb women’s heroin use. In response to women’s heroin use effectively, China should alter its narcotics control policies from a focus on imposing harsh punishment to providing a broad range of social services.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Based on face-to-face interviews with 27 heroin users and 28 heroin dealers in Kunming, China, the authors explore the social organization and social processes of street-level heroin sales in the capital of Yunnan Province. Yunnan is located in southwest China and it is adjacent to the Golden Triangle. Kunming City is considered to be the “heroin capital” of China. We focus on the individual characteristics of heroin users and dealers, the causes and processes of the transformation from drug use to drug sales, and the modus operandi of street-level heroin sales in Kunming. We also compare and contrast street-level drug distribution in China and the United States.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The purpose of this presentation is to: (1) Estimate the prevalence of violent victimization in a 30 day period among heroin users; (2) Identify the risk factors for violent victimization among this drug group; (3) Examine two specific types of violent victimization (robbed and injured). Two theoretical perspectives are integrated to develop a conceptual framework: Routine Activity Theory and Street Addict Role Theory. The combination of these two theoretical perspectives creates a single conceptual framework that focuses on four domains: Sociodemographics, Drug Use History, Lifestyle, and Social Networks. A stratified network based tri-ethnic sample of 900 non-Hispanic white, African American, and Hispanic men and women who were active heroin users, was recruited in South Florida. The Modified AIDS Risk Behavior Questionnaire was administered and included demographic information, drug use history, social networks, lifestyle, and criminal victimization history. Logistic regression was employed to examine the overall violent victimization and the different types of victimization by the four domains: Sociodemographics; Drug use history; Lifestyle; and Social networks. The prevalence of violent victimization among this group is high. Approximately 23 percent- of the respondents indicated some type of violent victimization, 11 percent- indicated that they had been robbed, and 8 percent- indicated they had been injured with a weapon or beaten up. Each final model represents and supports all four domains for each dependent measure. However, significant risk factors vary when separating the violent victimization measure into specific types.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines the social networks characteristics of two different groups of heroin users—sniffers and injectors—and their influence on their drug-using and other HIV-related risk behaviors. A stratified network based sample of 600 heroin users was recruited from communities in Miami-Dade County which were known for high drug use. Two sub-samples of active heroin users were recruited for inclusion into the study: (1) new injection drug users who had initiated injection in the prior four years and (2) heroin sniffers who had never injected a drug but were sniffing heroin. In comparing the social networks of these two types of heroin users, this paper uses the last 30 days prior to interview for sniffers and the 30 days prior to first injection for injectors. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to examine the main characteristics of a respondent’s social network.
Results indicate that the social networks of the heroin users in the study are characterized by their limited size as indicated by the fact that almost 69 percent- of the sample feature social networks with no more than five members. Males constitute a majority (about 60 percent-) of a heroin user’s social network regardless their gender. In the 30 days prior to their first injection experience, most heroin injectors in the study were hanging out with drug users (96 percent-) and almost 75 percent- of those were drug injectors. On the other hand, less than 20 percent- of the people a heroin sniffer was hanging out with during the last 30 days prior to interview were drug injectors.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Hannah Durstan was a seventeenth century New England woman who was kidnapped by Indians and,in escaping,killed and also scalped her captors. Cotton Mather declared her a heroine. In the nineteenth century she was vilified. Today discussion is avoided. This is a true story which illuminates larger issues. These include: when is violence committed for a "good cause" to be honored? Always? Does it make a difference whether a woman or a man does the violence? Whether it is done on individual initiative or with governmentalsanction? Why is the same deed judged differently at different times apparently within the same culture?