Policing pain: A qualitative study of non-criminal justice approaches to managing opioid overdose during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Abstract

Opioid related drug overdose deaths are a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. While research demonstrates that where people live has a major impact on drug use and abuse, most work looks at social dynamics at the county level or under the rubric of the urban/rural divide. Only recently, scholarship has become attuned to the post-industrialized areas located on the fringes of urban cores. Data presented in here are from field research conducted in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a small river town located east of Pittsburgh. Once a thriving industrial city, it is now deteriorated and has documented high levels of overdose experience. Preliminary results suggest that McKeesport residents, even before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), practice social and physical distancing as a way of life; data indicate how the pandemic potentially exacerbates the risk of accidental opioid overdose among a population defined by both geographic and social isolation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)136-151
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community
Volume49
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology

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