Reconceptualizing Heroin Use in Prisons

In Western nations, prison has always been perceived as an environment populated by the “scum” of society, convicted criminals. This population is also largely categorized “at risk” for many stigmatizing illnesses and behaviours. For example, conditions such as HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and hepatitis are found in greater numbers among incarcerated persons (Seal et al., 2004). Furthermore, inmates at correctional institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom have much higher rates of drug use than the general population; one study found the prevalence of heroin use to be forty times that of the general population (Boys et al., 2002: 1558). In regards to the use of drugs, this begs the question; why such high usage? This paper will examine this question, specifically focusing on the use of heroin within the prison environment and prisoner culture. After describing the issue within sociological terms, a critical perspective will be employed, arguing for a reconceptualization of the issue as essentially anthropological and ethnomedical, in opposition to the biomedical perspective that is legitimized largely by the dominant political, economic, and cognitive structures