NCJ Number
169223
Journal
Sociological Spectrum Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (April-June 1996) Pages: 183-207
Date Published
1996
Length
25 pages
Annotation
A theoretical model is presented to explain the reasons for changes in drug use and in the moral assessments of drug users and is analyzed using data on rates of drug use in the United States between 1880 and 1990.
Abstract
The model tracks changes in the structure of deviance, explains when a boundary crisis will develop, clarifies how the amplification of deviance eventually ends, and explains how deviant behaviors sometimes become acceptable. The historical data support the explanation that changing moral definitions and rates of behavior depend on demographic and economic changes in society. The two drug epidemics that occurred in the United States since 1880 occurred when structural change expanded pluralism. Contrary to the common view, moral panics were waged after these epidemics began to subside rather than during them. In fact, the findings indicate that the rates of deviance as a socially constructed definition vary inversely with the objective number of persons engaging in the particular behavior. Figure, footnotes, and 91 references (Author abstract modified)