Navigating Custodial Environments: Novel Psychoactive Substance Users Experiences of Stigma

Stockdale, Kelly, Addison, Michelle and Ramm, Georgia (2022) Navigating Custodial Environments: Novel Psychoactive Substance Users Experiences of Stigma. In: Drugs, Identity and Stigma. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 147-172. ISBN 9783030982850, 9783030982867

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Abstract

This chapter explores the everyday experiences of people who use substances in different custodial settings: a busy city centre police custody suite and a Category C prison. We discuss the stigma associated with substance use, particularly the way Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use is recognised, understood, and managed by staff. We explore the mechanisms of stigma within custodial settings and argue that the stigma attached to NPS use is particularly wounding in the current social context because (i) people who use NPS tend to be already highly vulnerable, experiencing marginalisation, minoritisation and multiple co-occurring stressors, (ii) NPS is perceived as a low-status drug, located at the bottom of a moral economy of drug use (Wakeman in Critical Criminology 24:363–377, 2006).

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