Reconceptualizing Sociogeographic Context forthe Study of Drug Use, Abuse, and Addiction

摘要

Problem drug use, including abuse and addiction, are public health con-cerns that have wide-ranging social consequences. Among the many social factorsidentified as relevant for illicit drug use and abuse, community context remains rel-atively understudied by comparison with individual, family, and peer risk factors.Yet, the etiology of drug abuse points to characteristics of individuals that tendto cluster within disadvantaged neighborhood contexts (e.g., poverty, single-parentfamilies, and early childhood behavioral problems). In this chapter, we proposea new conceptualization of sociogeographic context for analyzing the potentiallycomplex relationships between contextual risk factors and drug use, abuse, and ad-diction. Our conceptualization goes beyond the conventional notion of local contextas comprised of static neighborhood conditions to encompass dynamic patterns ofmovement of local residents and non-residents across time and space that affectindividual behaviors in significant ways. We suggest that some types of individualand community spatio-temporal use patterns may contribute to problematic drugbehaviors because they generate higher levels of social isolation.