Drug use among non-student youth.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K A Wadud.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The underground nature of drug abuse is a major cross-national barrier to the collection of sound epidemiological data. The authors examine some common patterns of secrecy developed by drug abusers to avoid social disapproval or punishment in different socio-cultural settings. Assurances of anonymity and confidentiality may not be sufficient to make the majority of heavy drug abusers "visible" to the researcher. One way to overcome this barrier is to train field staff to recognize certain ethnographic signs i.e. the specific appearance and behaviour of drug abusers that can facilitate identification of target populations.
To overcome the blanket of secrecy developed by many drug-abusing populations, special strategies have been used to generate more reliable and valid data on the extent and nature of the problem. The epidemiological rationale for eight strategies to identify cases of drug abuse are reviewed along with their limitations and examples of their application. The choice of strategies in any given setting will depend upon the drug-use patterns and legal framework of the particular society, the form of social organization developed by drug abusers and the types of contact they have with formal institutions such as law enforcement and treatment agencies.