TY - JOUR
T1 - The emergence of the affected adult family member in drug policy discourse
T2 - A Foucauldian perspective
AU - Devaney, Eva
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2017/7/4
Y1 - 2017/7/4
N2 - The affected adult family member has increasingly received attention in drug research, policy and practice fields; however, this development has received limited critical and theoretical examination with respect to the presuppositions underpinning its rationale. Using a Foucauldian theoretical perspective, this article traces how families have been problematised in the treatment and rehabilitation domains of Irish drug policy and considers the political implications. A post-structuralist method, Bacchi’s (2009) “What’s the Problem Represented to Be?” approach, is applied to the analysis of eight drug policy documents published in Ireland between 1971 and 2009. Families are constructed as contributing to both the problem and solution of adolescent drug use. They are imagined as a key resource in treatment of adult drug use but as needing support in this role; and, as such they are constructed as service users in their own right. Families are governed through responsibilisation. The behavioural policy solutions are individualising and preclude alternative solutions that address political, socio-economic and gender inequalities that shape the experiences of affected families. The findings may be used as a starting point for critical reflection on the assumptions and privileged forms of knowledge and expertise that are shaping policy and practices relating to affected families.
AB - The affected adult family member has increasingly received attention in drug research, policy and practice fields; however, this development has received limited critical and theoretical examination with respect to the presuppositions underpinning its rationale. Using a Foucauldian theoretical perspective, this article traces how families have been problematised in the treatment and rehabilitation domains of Irish drug policy and considers the political implications. A post-structuralist method, Bacchi’s (2009) “What’s the Problem Represented to Be?” approach, is applied to the analysis of eight drug policy documents published in Ireland between 1971 and 2009. Families are constructed as contributing to both the problem and solution of adolescent drug use. They are imagined as a key resource in treatment of adult drug use but as needing support in this role; and, as such they are constructed as service users in their own right. Families are governed through responsibilisation. The behavioural policy solutions are individualising and preclude alternative solutions that address political, socio-economic and gender inequalities that shape the experiences of affected families. The findings may be used as a starting point for critical reflection on the assumptions and privileged forms of knowledge and expertise that are shaping policy and practices relating to affected families.
KW - Drug policy
KW - families
KW - Foucault
KW - governmentality studies
KW - sociology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85022001221&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09687637.2017.1340433
DO - 10.1080/09687637.2017.1340433
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85022001221
SN - 0968-7637
VL - 24
SP - 359
EP - 367
JO - Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
JF - Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
IS - 4
ER -