Darkness on the Edge of Town

269 Pages·2005·0.82 MB·English

Niall C. McElwee, PhD
and
GrÆinne Monaghan
Darkness
on the Edge
of Town:
An Exploratory Study of
Heroin Misuse in Athlone and Portlaoise
Darkness on the
Edge of Town:
Heroin Misuse in Athlone
and Portlaoise

Darkness on the
Edge of Town:
Heroin Misuse
in Athlone
and Portlaoise
Niall McElwee PhD
and
GrÆinne Monaghan BA
DarknessontheEdgeofTown:
HeroinMisuseinAthloneandPortlaoise
ISBN0-9523837-2-1
NiallMcElweeandGrÆinneMonaghan
Copyright'2005
PublishedbyCentreforChild&YouthCareLearning,AthloneInstituteof
Technology,andMidlandsRegionalDrugsTaskForce.
Anelectronicversionofthisbookisalsoavailable,andincludesaguestchapterfrom
CanadabyBrodieCameronandAlyssaClements,achapterdetailingpilotstudy
findingsandaquestionnaire.
Bookdesignandsetting
www.pretext.co.za
iv
For Conor and TiarnÆn

Acknowledgements
WewouldliketothanktheMidlandsRegionalDrugsTaskForcefor
fundingandsupportingthisstudy.
BillEbbitt,ActingRegionalHealthPromotionManager,Midland
HealthBoardandInterimCo-ordinatoroftheMidlandRegionalDrugs
TaskForceforhiscontinuedsupportandvaluedadvicethroughoutthe
research.
Allofourinterviewees,serviceagencypersonnel,heroinmisusers
andtheirfamiliesfortakingthetimetotellustheirstories.Weare
deeplyappreciative.
FearghalMcHugh,AthloneInstituteofTechnologyandCormac
Forkan,NationalUniversityofIrelandatGalway,fortheirquantitative
input.
RuthArmstrong,HealthPromotionProjectWorker(Substance
Misuse)attheMidlandHealthBoard,forhercontributoryworkonthis
studyandherworkshopcontributions.
TheSocialCareDegreestudentsinyearsfourandfiveoftheir
programmesofstudyatAthloneInstituteofTechnologywherewe
presentedaninterimdiscussionandobtainedusefulfeedback.The
studentsinyeartwooftheB.A.inSocialCarePracticeattheAthlone
InstituteofTechnologyforparticipatinginseveralworkshopsonheroin
misuse.
TheconferenceattendeesattheIrishAssociationofSocialCare
EducatorsannualconferenceinAthloneinOctober2004andthe
ResidentManagers(cid:146)AssociationinNovember2004whoattended
workshopsonmethodologicalaspectsofthestudyandprovidedus
withusefulfeedback.
vii
The45practitioners,supervisors,educatorsandstudentsatthe
NationalCanadianChildandYouthCareConferenceinCalgaryin
October2004forattendingourworkshopandprovidinguswitha
rangeofideas.
BrodyCameronandAlyssaClements,Child&YouthCare
Practitioners,forthecomparativechapterfromNewBrunswick,
Canada.
MargaretO(cid:146)SullivanattheNewBrunswickCommunityCollege,
Child&YouthCareProgramforassistingusinourCanadianresearch.
DrThomGarfat,EirCan,CanadaandDrDougMagnuson,
UniversityofNorthernIowa,USAforreadingandcommentingonearly
draftsofthisstudy.
ProfessorLeonFulcher,UnitedArabEmiratesUniversityforwriting
aforewordtothisstudy.
OwenRoss,HeadofDepartmentofHumanitiesattheAthlone
InstituteofTechnologyforhisflexibilityintimetablespaceand
encouragementforustoundertakethisstudy.
BrianGannonandMartinStabreyatPretextfortheirwonderful
workonthelayoutanddesignofthisstudy.
LouiseBradleyforhertranscriptionandtypingskillsonthisstudy.
viii
Foreword
Thesoundsofsniffingandimagesofayoungadultshufflinginhis
chairandperiodicallyscratchingattheinsideofhisarmswere
memoriesthatcamefloodingbackasIreadofthisexploratorystudy
aboutheroinmisuseandabuseintheseeminglyquietmidlandstowns
ofAthloneandPortlaoise. Thepersonalandfamilyaccountsshared
throughthisreportleftnoescapefromthehumanmisery,painand
sufferingassociatedwithheroinmisuseinapartofIrelandpreviously
thoughtshelteredfromtherealitiesofsocialissuestraditionally
consideredcityproblems. Theauthorsaretobecommendedfor
walkingthefinelinebetweenscienceandart,whererigoursofresearch
protocol,methodologyandsubjectleftroomforthereallifeexperiences
ofmenandwomenlivingroughorintemporaryshelters,plottinghow
to(cid:145)score(cid:146)theirnextbagofheroinwhilecontemplatingbleakfuturesand
prematuredeathsthroughrisk-takingwithneedlesorunknown(cid:145)gear(cid:146)
andmothersagonisedaboutchildrenorgrandchildrenwhilevictimsof
theftsoughthelp,restitutionorjusticefromtheGardai,theCourtsand
humanserviceagencies.
Theauthorsofthisreporthaveshownthatheroinuseandabusein
localcommunities(cid:150)aswithuseandabuseofalcohol,tobaccoandother
so-called(cid:145)soft(cid:146)or(cid:145)hard(cid:146)drugs(cid:150)isfundamentallyapersonalandfamily
issuethattouchesonthelivesoffarmorepeoplethanonemighthave
previouslythought. Fromattemptstodefineheroinuse,misuseand
abuse(cid:150)whetherbysmokingorinjection(cid:150)toanexplorationof
quantitiesusedmeasuredin(cid:145)bags(cid:146)orEuros,andhumansuffering
measuredbyhealthstatistics,prisonsentencesortears,theauthors
havesucceededinsharingastorythatshouldbeofrealinteresttolocal
peopleinIreland,publicofficials,socialandhealthserviceproviders,
studentsandteachersengagedinsocialcare/nursing/socialwork
educationandtrainingaswellasresearchersengagedinandplanning
socialresearch. Itisonethingtodoresearchandwriteaboutasubject
suchasheroinmisuseandabuse. Itisquiteanotherchallengeto
engagewithpeoplelivinginandaroundthe(cid:145)heroinmarket(cid:146),whose
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