Women on Ice: Methamphetamine Use Among Suburban Women (Critical Issues in Crime and Society)

Methamphetamine (ice, speed, crystal, shard) has been called epidemic in the United States. Yet few communities were ready for increased use of methamphetamine by suburban women. Women on Ice is the first book to study exclusively the lives of women who use the drug and its effects on their families.

In-depth interviews with women in the suburban counties of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. chronicle the details of their initiation into methamphetamine, the turning points into problematic drug use, and for a few, their escape from lives veering out of control. Their life course and drug careers are analyzed in relation to the intersecting influences of social roles, relationships, social/political structures, and political trends. Examining the effects of punitive drug policy, inadequate social services, and looming public health risks, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, the book gives voice to women silenced by shame.

Boeri introduces new and developing concepts in the field of addiction studies and proposes policy changes to more broadly implement initiatives that address the problems these women face. She asserts that if we are concerned that the war on drugs is a war on drug users, this book will alert us that it is also a war on suburban families.

Women on Ice is the first book to study exclusively the lives of women who use methamphetamine (ice, speed, crystal, shards) and the effects of its use on their families. In-depth interviews of women in the suburban counties of Atlanta, the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern U.S, illustrate the divergent pathways taken and the details of their initiation into meth and the turning points into problematic use of the drug. Their lives and drug careers are analyzed in relation to the intersecting influences of social roles, relationships, social/political structures, and historical trends.

Women on Ice is the first book to study exclusively the lives of women who use methamphetamine (ice, speed, crystal, shards) and the effects of its use on their families. In-depth interviews with women in the suburban counties of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. chronicle the details of their initiation into methamphetamine, the turning points into problematic drug use, and, for a few, their escape from lives veering out of control.

MIRIAM BOERI is a professor of sociology. She is the author or coauthor of numerous journal articles and a contributor to Drugs and the American Dream.

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Methamphetamine: The Perfect Drug for Suburban Women

2. Ethnographic Research: Exploring Methamphetamine Use in the Suburbs

3. The Gendered Drug Career: Initiation and Progression in Methamphetamine Use

4. Gendered Lives: Combining Work and Family with Drug-Using Roles

5. Gendered Risks: Health and Infectious Diseases

6. Gendered Risks: Violence and Crime

7. The Revolving Door: Treatment, Recovery, and Relapse

8. Policy Implications

Appendix A

Appendix B

References

Index