Habitus and Drug Using Environments

Reviews / Votes

'Parkin's detailed ethnographies provide a glimpse of the renewal of drug policy in an age of entrenched economic and social inequality. This literate book confirms that a more radical vision of place? is central to this task. Engaging throughout, Parkin reveals much of the everyday experience of injection drug use, and the urgency of renewed efforts to reduce the harms associated with it.' Cameron Duff, Monash University, Australia 'In this thought-provoking text, Parkin displays a sophisticated understanding of social theory, in-depth knowledge of the harm reduction literature and a refined appreciation of qualitative methodology. Furthermore, he has generated a fascinating dataset on drug injecting in public places which is meticulously analysed with reference to the theories and constructs of Pierre Bourdieu. The result is a unique contribution to public health sociology.' Joanne Neale, Oxford Brookes University, UK '... an important book. Research within this tradition has tended to either emphasize the perspective of 'the system' (the dominant approach) or the perspective of the drug users (naturalistic ethnography). Parkin manages to balance these two and offers a comprehensive picture of the population of street-based injecting drug users, their drug scenes and the society that surrounds them. Few contemporary studies can match the magnitude of data presented. It also offers a much welcome theoretical approach to the street drug literature and an illuminating introduction of space to Bourdieu's theoretical universe.' British Journal of Criminology 'This empirically rich and theoretically situated work will appeal to a range of audiences. It is a useful introduction to harm reduction and public injecting practices for undergraduate students and an excellent example of both qualitative and ethnographic work for postgraduates. It will also be of interest to scholars with an interest in Bourdieu's work, spatial analyses of drug use and e