Social Capital and Social Networks of Hidden Drug Abuse in Hong Kong

Gloria Hongyee Chan, T. Wing Lo, Gabriel Kwun-Wa Lee and Cherry Hau-Lin Tam
Additional contact information
Gloria Hongyee Chan: Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
T. Wing Lo: Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Gabriel Kwun-Wa Lee: Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Cherry Hau-Lin Tam: Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: Owing to the increasing prevalence of hidden drug abuse in Hong Kong, yet scarce relevant current local research, this study seeks to carry out an in-depth investigation into the experience of hidden drug abusers, paying particular attention to their relevance to social capital and social networks. Seventy-three abusers attending drug treatment programs were interviewed, and a thematic analysis was performed. The results indicate hidden drug abuse is popular in Hong Kong. Apart from the decline of public, large-scale discos and the change of the types of drugs abused to date, one important contributing factor is the drug supply and transaction networks, which are extensive and multilocused, but secretive, with high closure levels. This kind of network is supported by bonding, bridging, and linking social capital as well as by providing convenient supply modes and offering drug abusers psychological comfort and safety. These factors encourage the hidden drug abuse to prevail and allow drug abusers to remain unidentifiable.

Keywords: hidden drug abuse; drug trends; social capital; social networks; Hong Kong (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6231/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6231/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6231-:d:404948

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().