Group solidarity in a hostile milieu: Immigrant experiences in a street-based drug scene

Abstract

Based Drug SceneAims: Street-based drug scenes are typically portrayed as lacking in solidarity. Studies frequently cast camaraderie as solely instrumental, highly conditional, and temporary. The aim of this paper is to explore social dynamics and group solidarity in a seemingly hostile drug scene, and demonstrate the importance of this milieu for a group of immigrant men.Methods: Data was drawn from ethnographic fieldwork in the street-based drug scene in the downtown parts of Oslo, Norway. The fieldwork included participant observation, informal conversations, and 17 interviews with street-based drug users.Findings: Drug transactions, viewed as interaction rituals, may help create group solidarity among the members of the scene. Group solidarity is displayed in social bonds that drew former members back to the scene and in the inclusion of isolated, immigrant men. Conclusions:The street-based drug scene in Oslo, with its repeated interaction rituals and bonds of group membership, provides a community for people who experience low degrees of solidarity elsewhere, as demonstrated in the case of immigrants. This paper encourages a continued and improved emphasis on contexts for drug use as socially enabling environments.

Treatment Experiences with Norwegian Health Care among Immigrant Men Living with Co-Occurring Substance Use- and Mental Health Disorders

“…Further, these closely-knit scenes may provide a community for immigrants who experience a low degree of inclusion elsewhere. 15 Moreover, it has also been documented that immigrants have lower rates of utilization of specialist mental health care services in Norway, 16 compared to the general population. This has also been documented among immigrants in Sweden, 17 and among non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands.…”

“…20 Lower treatment engagement has also been documented among immigrants, [21][22][23] resulting in challenges in providing them with targeted help. 15 Engagement is understood as the process of establishing a mutually collaborative, trusting, and respectful helping relationship. 24 Integration of principles of person-centered healthcare (PCH) in mental health and addiction services have been shown to enhance the engagement process and lead to improved outcomes.…”

Interaction rituals in an open drug scene

“…This incorporated qualification enabled them to interact in a manner available only to them. In another study from a street-based drug scene in Norway, Sandøy (2015) used the term “ritual” to describe how migrants who felt excluded from Norwegian society experienced affiliation and established a position for themselves in the drug economy. Drug transactions viewed as interaction rituals helped the migrants to create group solidarity.…”

Alene, sammen. Om former for fellesskap rundtmorgenpilsen

“…Det ble omtalt som en fin gest og satt pris på av gjestene. I tillegg oppstår det naerhet og solidaritet som baseres på sammenfall i erfaring, noe som også er funnet i studier av narkotikamiljøer (Fast, Small, Wood & Kerr 2009;Sandøy 2015). Mange av gjestene på disse pubene drikker svaert mye, og mange omtaler også seg selv som alkoholikere.…”