NCJ Number
180050
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 34 Issue: 14 Dated: 1999 Pages: 2015-2055
Date Published
1999
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This article examines the roles of Mexican-American female injecting drug users (IDUs) and suggests that ethnotheory is useful in this analysis in that it extends current theoretical models used to explain and modify female IDUs' behavior.
Abstract
Ethnotheory also provides insights useful for the development of effective intervention strategies and suggests a type of ethnographc data collection that uncovers the participant's view of reality. Information came from life histories and detailed interviews of three single head-of-household "tecatas" (the term for female Mexican-American IDUs in San Antonio, Tex.). These were representative of the total of 10 women studied. The women were all mothers, school dropouts, and unemployed. Most earned money through prostitution, shoplifting and other theft, and burglaries. Most had a male partner whom they called their common-law husband. The children of four women were living with a relative. Most of the women were on probation or parole; only one had received drug treatment. These individuals had multiple relationships and managed several relationships simultaneously. The roles they played framed the way they linked and managed relationships. The three women discussed here structured and managed their drug using, hustling, and sexual activities in relation to other life activities and beliefs. These women were IDUs, parents, parolees or probationers, relatives, and network members. Findings suggested that interventions must be culturally and linguistically relevant to the target population to be effective and also require understanding insight into underlying patterns of human thought and behavior in the target population. Glossary and 71 references (Author abstract modified)