Wasting away: Substance abuse and health risk outcomes among Dominican deportees
Item
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Title
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Wasting away: Substance abuse and health risk outcomes among Dominican deportees
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:1fe703ffd74c:11510
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identifier
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11989
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Creator
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Martin, Yolanda C.,
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Contributor
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David C. Brotherton
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Date
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2012
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Ethnic studies | Criminology | Latin American studies | Deportation | Dominican | Ethnography | Race | Substance Abuse | Transnationalism
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Abstract
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This is a mixed-methods study conducted among heroin-using deportees in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, from 2008 to 2010. The study illustrates how forced mobility in transnational groups can lead to sudden changes in cultural environment, which promote risk-seeking attitudes, such as substance abuse, in the absence of structural checks and balances on high-risk behavior. In this study I adapt Merrill Singer's Syndemics model to illustrate how social isolation, mental health issues, and substance abuse are synergistic forces that aggravate the deportee's risk for serious health conditions. Data were gathered through a combination of (a) participant observation (inside shooting galleries, private homes, and public spaces); (b) life-histories, open-ended (N= 12); and (c) semi-structured interviews (N=120). In order to obtain detailed information about the life trajectory of the returnees, I first conducted participatory observation in various marginalized neighborhoods of Santo Domingo, such as Guachupita, Capotillo, San Carlos, and Villa Juana. Qualitative data served as the foundation for the semi-structured interview protocol. These research tools were used to illustrate pre- and post-removal protective and risk factors, and the subsequent health risk outcomes in the deportee life-course. According to the findings in this study, risk factors that may encourage risk seeking behavior and substance abuse are the lack of positive social networks, lack of financial means of subsistence, lack of adequate health care services, and institutional and structural stigmatization. Additionally, deportation-related trauma heightens the returnee's likelihood to suffer from mental health conditions.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
