Addiction Frameworks and Support for Expanding Treatment for Drug Offenders

Abstract

This study examined how a respondent's addiction framework (i.e., whether they conceptualized addiction as a medical-social or a moral problem) was associated with their attitudes toward expanding treatment for drug offenders via funding for California's Proposition 36. Using a 2012 California Field Poll, the author created scales to assess an individual's addiction framework. Logistic regression was used to assess how well the addiction frameworks correlated with support for expanding Proposition 36. Results showed that those who held a stronger medical-social framework for conceptualizing addiction were more likely to support the expansion of Proposition 36, while those who perceived addiction as a moral problem were less likely to support the expansion of Proposition 36. Addiction frameworks were strongly related to policy attitudes even after controlling for many other factors, including race and political ideology. How one conceptualizes addiction is a key factor for understanding their views on drug policy.

Stigma Reduction through Addiction and Naloxone Education

“…Previous research conducted by Murphy (2017) and others (Murphy & Russell, 2020; has demonstrated stigma-influenced attitudes in law enforcement, the public, and students enrolled in criminal justice and nursing. Thirteen items were chosen from previous research to assess drug use stigma in the current study.…”

“…This scale is comprised of 4 items designed to measure endorsement of the medical/ disease model of addiction. Items were based on previous research (see Murphy, 2017). All items were measured on a 5-point scale where 1 ¼ strongly disagree to 5 ¼ strongly agree.…”

“…Social stigma has been measured as perceived dangerousness, social distance, and blame toward people who use drugs (Corrigan, Morris, Michaels, Rafacz, & R€ usch, 2012;Link, Struening, Rahav, Phelan, & Nuttbrock, 1997). Even when people endorse a disease view of addiction, they can hold moralistic and negative views of people who use drugs (Carroll, 2006;Murphy, 2017). National polls, and studies using smaller samples, have shown that alcohol and drug addiction are more stigmatized than other mental health problems (Barry, McGinty, Pescosolido, & Goldman, 2014;Corrigan, Kuwabara, & O'Shaughnessy, 2009).…”

Addiction Frameworks, Social Stigma, and NIMBY Syndrome: Examining Barriers to Responding to the Opioid Crisis

“…Building on this literature base, the primary objective of the current study was to empirically examine the relationship between addiction frameworks, opioid-related stigma, and policy-related attitudes (i.e., NIMBY syndrome, support for punitive treatment of OUD, support for employment discrimination against individuals prescribed MOUD). Given findings from previous studies (see Kruis et al, 2022;Murphy, 2017;Murphy & Russell, 2021), we hypothesized that there would be a significant direct positive relationship between opioid-related stigma and expressions of NIMBY syndrome for OUD treatment. We also hypothesized that there would be a significant direct negative relationship between support for the disease model of addiction and NIMBY syndrome found in baseline models that did not control for opioid-related stigma.…”

“…The main independent measure of inquiry in this study was support for the disease model of addiction. This variable, a measure of one's addiction framework, was conceptualized as a respondent's endorsement of opioid addiction being a medical problem (Murphy, 2017). To capture this variable, participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the following statement: "Opioid addiction is a medical illness like diabetes, arthritis, or heart disease."…”