Sociology

Karen Joe-Laidler and Kate Lowe

Chapter 12 in Research Handbook on Drugs and Society, 2026, pp 136-152 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter provides an overview of the distinctive contributions of the discipline of sociology to our understandings of drug use, addiction, and drug policy. Key concepts such as risk, pleasure, and stigma have generated important insights. More recently, efforts to decolonise the discipline, particularly sociological criminology, have led to new questions and directions for research. Qualitative methods have been particularly useful for sociologists exploring drugs and drug use, but methodological innovation continues to evolve. The chapter concludes by arguing that it is sociology's theoretical and methodological flexibility, as well as its porous disciplinary boundaries, that make it very well suited to the study of the increasingly complex global drug situation.

Keywords: Drug use; Sociology; Addiction; Risk; Pleasure; Stigma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802209136
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