Drugs and Popular Culture

Drugs and Popular Culture PDF Author: Paul Manning
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134012187
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
The use of illegal drugs is so common that a number of commentators now refer to the 'normalisation' of drug consumption. It is surprising, then, that to date very little academic work has explored drug use as part of contemporary popular culture. This collection of readings will apply an innovatory, multi-disciplinary approach to this theme, combining some of the most recent research on 'the normalisation thesis' with fresh work on the relationship between drug use and popular culture. In drawing upon criminological, sociological and cultural studies approaches, this book will make an important contribution to the newly emerging field positioned at the intersection of these disciplines. The particular focus of the book is upon drug consumption as popular culture. It aims to provide an accessible collection of chapters and readings that will explore drug use in popular culture in a way that is relevant to undergraduates and postgraduates studying a variety of courses, including criminology, sociology, media studies, health care and social work.

The American Drug Culture

The American Drug Culture PDF Author: Thomas S. Weinberg
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1506304680
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
The American Drug Culture uses sociological and other perspectives to examine drug and alcohol use in U.S. society. The text is arranged topically rather than by drug categories and explores diverse aspects of drug use, including popular culture, sexuality, legal and criminal justice systems, other social institutions, and mental and physical health. It covers alcohol, the most widely used drug in the United States, more extensively than other texts on this subject. The authors include case studies from their own field research that give students empathetic insights into the situations of those suffering from substance and alcohol abuse.

Drugged

Drugged PDF Author: Richard J. Miller
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199957975
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

Book Description
Miller takes readers on an eye-opening tour of psychotropic drugs, describing the various kinds, how they were discovered and developed, and how they have played multiple roles in virtually every culture.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs PDF Author: Chuck Klosterman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743236010
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
Now in paperback after six hardback printings, the damn funny...wild collection of bracingly intelligent essays about topics that aren't quite as intelligent as Chuck Klosterman'(Esquire). Following the success of Fargo Rock City, Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine, is back with a hilarious and savvy manifesto for a youth gone wild on pop culture and media, taking on everything from Guns'n'Roses tribute bands to Christian fundamentalism to internet porn. 'Maddeningly smart and funny' - Washington Post'

Narcotic Culture

Narcotic Culture PDF Author: Frank Dikötter
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226149059
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Book Description
To this day, the perception persists that China was a civilization defeated by imperialist Britain's most desirable trade commodity, opium—a drug that turned the Chinese into cadaverous addicts in the iron grip of dependence. Britain, in an effort to reverse the damage caused by opium addiction, launched its own version of the "war on drugs," which lasted roughly sixty years, from 1880 to World War II and the beginning of Chinese communism. But, as Narcotic Culture brilliantly shows, the real scandal in Chinese history was not the expansion of the drug trade by Britain in the early nineteenth century, but rather the failure of the British to grasp the consequences of prohibition. In a stunning historical reversal, Frank Dikötter, Lars Laamann, and Zhou Xun tell this different story of the relationship between opium and the Chinese. They reveal that opium actually had few harmful effects on either health or longevity; in fact, it was prepared and appreciated in highly complex rituals with inbuilt constraints preventing excessive use. Opium was even used as a medicinal panacea in China before the availability of aspirin and penicillin. But as a result of the British effort to eradicate opium, the Chinese turned from the relatively benign use of that drug to heroin, morphine, cocaine, and countless other psychoactive substances. Narcotic Culture provides abundant evidence that the transition from a tolerated opium culture to a system of prohibition produced a "cure" that was far worse than the disease. Delving into a history of drugs and their abuses, Narcotic Culture is part revisionist history of imperial and twentieth-century Britain and part sobering portrait of the dangers of prohibition.

Culture, Society, and Drugs

Culture, Society, and Drugs PDF Author: Ed Knipe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 524

Book Description
This volume tackles many important aspects of drugs as they function in societies & cultures around the world & throughout history.

Drug Use for Grown-Ups

Drug Use for Grown-Ups PDF Author: Dr. Carl L. Hart
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101981660
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
“Hart’s argument that we need to drastically revise our current view of illegal drugs is both powerful and timely . . . when it comes to the legacy of this country’s war on drugs, we should all share his outrage.” —The New York Times Book Review From one of the world's foremost experts on the subject, a powerful argument that the greatest damage from drugs flows from their being illegal, and a hopeful reckoning with the possibility of their use as part of a responsible and happy life Dr. Carl L. Hart, Ziff Professor at Columbia University and former chair of the Department of Psychology, is one of the world's preeminent experts on the effects of so-called recreational drugs on the human mind and body. Dr. Hart is open about the fact that he uses drugs himself, in a happy balance with the rest of his full and productive life as a researcher and professor, husband, father, and friend. In Drug Use for Grown-Ups, he draws on decades of research and his own personal experience to argue definitively that the criminalization and demonization of drug use--not drugs themselves--have been a tremendous scourge on America, not least in reinforcing this country's enduring structural racism. Dr. Hart did not always have this view. He came of age in one of Miami's most troubled neighborhoods at a time when many ills were being laid at the door of crack cocaine. His initial work as a researcher was aimed at proving that drug use caused bad outcomes. But one problem kept cropping up: the evidence from his research did not support his hypothesis. From inside the massively well-funded research arm of the American war on drugs, he saw how the facts did not support the ideology. The truth was dismissed and distorted in order to keep fear and outrage stoked, the funds rolling in, and Black and brown bodies behind bars. Drug Use for Grown-Ups will be controversial, to be sure: the propaganda war, Dr. Hart argues, has been tremendously effective. Imagine if the only subject of any discussion about driving automobiles was fatal car crashes. Drug Use for Grown-Ups offers a radically different vision: when used responsibly, drugs can enrich and enhance our lives. We have a long way to go, but the vital conversation this book will generate is an extraordinarily important step.

Text and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll

Text and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll PDF Author: Simon Warner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441171126
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
Text and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll explores the interaction between two of the most powerful socio-cultural movements in the post-war years - the literary forces of the Beat Generation and the musical energies of rock and its attendant culture. Simon Warner examines the interweaving strands, seeded by the poet/novelists Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and others in the 1940s and 1950s, and cultivated by most of the major rock figures who emerged after 1960 - Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bowie, the Clash and Kurt Cobain, to name just a few. This fascinating cultural history delves into a wide range of issues: Was rock culture the natural heir to the activities of the Beats? Were the hippies the Beats of the 1960s? What attitude did the Beat writers have towards musical forms and particularly rock music? How did literary works shape the consciousness of leading rock music-makers and their followers? Why did Beat literature retain its cultural potency with later rock musicians who rejected hippie values? How did rock musicians use the material of Beat literature in their own work? How did Beat figures become embroiled in the process of rock creativity? These questions are addressed through a number of approaches - the influence of drugs, the relevance of politics, the effect of religious and spiritual pursuits, the rise of the counter-culture, the issue of sub-cultures and their construction, and so on. The result is a highly readable history of the innumerable links between two of the most revolutionary artistic movements of the last 60 years.

Mental Illness in Popular Culture

Mental Illness in Popular Culture PDF Author: Sharon Packer MD
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Book Description
"Being crazy" is generally a negative characterization today, yet many celebrated artists, leaders, and successful individuals have achieved greatness despite suffering from mental illness. This book explores the many different representations of mental illness that exist—and sometimes persist—in both traditional and new media across eras. Mental health professionals and advocates typically point a finger at pop culture for sensationalizing and stigmatizing mental illness, perpetuating stereotypes, and capitalizing on the increased anxiety that invariably follows mass shootings at schools, military bases, or workplaces; on public transportation; or at large public gatherings. While drugs or street gangs were once most often blamed for public violence, the upswing of psychotic perpetrators casts a harsher light on mental illness and commands media's attention. What aspects of popular culture could play a role in mental health across the nation? How accurate and influential are the various media representations of mental illness? Or are there unsung positive portrayals of mental illness? This standout work on the intersections of pop culture and mental illness brings informed perspectives and necessary context to the myriad topics within these important, timely, and controversial issues. Divided into five sections, the book covers movies; television; popular literature, encompassing novels, poetry, and memoirs; the visual arts, such as fine art, video games, comics, and graphic novels; and popular music, addressing lyrics and musicians' lives. Some of the essays reference multiple media, such as a filmic adaptation of a memoir or a video game adaptation of a story or characters that were originally in comics. With roughly 20 percent of U.S. citizens taking psychotropic prescriptions or carrying a psychiatric diagnosis, this timely topic is relevant to far more individuals than many people would admit.

Popular Culture in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Play-Based Interventions

Popular Culture in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Play-Based Interventions PDF Author: Lawrence C. Rubin, PhD, LMHC, RPT-S
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
ISBN: 0826101194
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Book Description
With a Foreword by Danny Fingeroth, former Group Editor of Marvel's Spider-Man comics line Popular culture, simply stated, is the language of a people, expressed through everything from its clothing, food choices, and religious practices to its media. The popular and predominant values, interests, and needs of a society find their way into mass consciousness through a variety of venues including literature, cinema, television, video games, sport, and music. Through the inter-related forces of mass production, global marketing and the Internet, the fruits of popular culture penetrate into stores, living rooms, and everyday experience of children, teens, and adults in the form of catchphrases, toys, iconography, celebrities, and indelible images. Psychotherapists and counselors who can tap into the powerful images, messages, and icons of popular culture have at their disposal an unlimited universe of resources for growth, change, and healing. Using real-world case examples and sound psychological theory, this book demonstrates how you can immediately start incorporating popular culture icons and images into your counseling or therapy. In this way, the authors will help elevate your ability to conduct clinical interviews with clients of all ages and all types of clinical problems.