While Skagboys portrays the descent into heroin addiction of young, working class Scots during the Thatcher era, shifting the analysis from a strictly human perspective to one focusing on the agency of objects opens up the novel to new readings wherein morality emerges through nonhuman actors. Welsh’s work has traditionally been hailed as Scottish working-class realism that portrays its characters unideologically, to the point that the novels, through the characters, appear without morality. Drawing upon Latour’s notion of Actor-Network Theory, ANT, reveals a Thatcherite materiality permeating the story, prescribing the moral behaviour which the characters of Skagboys repeatedly clash with as their heroin addiction and junk desperation grows. The impacts of the security camera, the smoke detector and the collection tin provide the basis for the analysis. This highlights two types of marginalization for the characters. Firstly, in the characters’ hopeless prospects with regards to employment due to Thatcher’s neoliberal politics, and secondly as objects of detection and control exerting agency in the world which the characters navigate. These objects presuppose and foil crime, effectively becoming extensions of Thatcherite morality, keeping the criminal and unemployed in check.

<p>UVOD: Egzekutivne funkcije predstavljaju integrisanu grupu mentalnih sposobnosti, uključenih u proizvodnju, monitoring i kontrolu pona&scaron;anja orijentisanih ka određenom cilju i prevashodno su zadužene za snalaženje u novim situacijama, sme&scaron;tenim izvan domena automatskih psihičkih procesa. Zloupotreba heroina tokom dužeg vremenskog perioda rezultira o&scaron;tećenjem egzekutivnih funkcija, &scaron;to se može značajno reflektovati na lično, profesionalno i socijalno funkcionisanje zavisnika. CILJ ISTRAŽIVANJA: Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitivanje uticaja zloupotrebe opijata na egzekutivne kontrolne procese, ispitivanje postojanja specifičnog odnosa eventualnih deficita egzekutivne performance opijatskih zavisnika sa dužinom ekspozicije heroinu, kao i definisanje prediktora o&scaron;tećenja egzekutivnih funkcija kod opijatskih zavisnika. MATERIJAL I METODOLOGIJA: Istraživanje je izvr&scaron;eno po tipu studije preseka, a njime je obuhvaćeno 200 ispitanika, podeljenih u dve grupe. <em>Eksperimentalnu grupu</em> činilo je 150 zavisnika od heroina, starosti 18-35 godina, koji su u apstienenciji najmanje 3 nedelje. U<em> kontrolnu grupu</em> uvr&scaron;teno je 50 zdravih subjekata, ujednačenih po polu, obrazovanju i starosti sa ispitanicima eksperimentalne grupe. Za prikupljanje podataka kori&scaron;ćeni su sledeći instrumenti: <em>op&scaron;ti strukturisani upitnik</em> posebno konstruisan za potrebe ovog istraživanja, zasnovan na samoproceni, koji se odnosi na osnovne sociodemografske karakteristike ispitanika i adiktolo&scaron;ka obeležja;<em> test za procenu psihopatije</em>, za procenu (kontrolu) eventualnog uticaja structure ličnosti zavisnika na postignuće na testovima kojima se procenjuju egzekutivne funkcije; za procenu stanja egzekutivnih funkcija:<em> test verbalne fluentnosti - segment fonemska fluentnost, Vekslerov individualni test inteligencije, test praćenja-markiranja traga, Baretova skala za procenu impulsivnosti, Viskonsin test sortiranja karata, Iowa Gambling Task</em>. REZULTATI: Kod heroinskih zavisnika beleže se signifikantni deficiti u egzekutivnim domenima: ažuriranje i monitoring sadržaja radne memorije, inhibitorna kontrola, izmena mentalnog seta i dono&scaron;enje odluka. Faktori na osnovu kojih se može predvideti o&scaron;tećenje egzekutivnih funkcija su: ukupno trajanje konzumiranja heroina, prosečna dnevna doza heroina, broj apstinencija u odnosu na ukupno trajanje heroina i uzrast pri prvom kontaktu sa psihoaktivnim supstancama. ZAKLJUČAK: Konzumiranje heroina dovodi se u vezu sa značajnim o&scaron;tećenjem sistema egzekutivnih funkcija, &scaron;to rezultira te&scaron;koćama zavisnika da prevazilaze habitualne odgovore i prilagođavaju pona&scaron;anje zahtevima koje nudi nova situacija, kao i sklono&scaron;ću da donose visoko rizične odluke, koje rezultiraju trenutnom dobiti, bez obzira na neminovne kasnije negativne posledice.</p> / <p>INTRODUCTION: Executive functions represent an integrated set of mental abilities involved in the production, monitoring and controlling of the goal-oriented behavior. Primarily, they are responsible for managing new situations which are placed outside the domain of automatic mental processes. Heroin abuse over a longer period of time results in the damage of the executive functions which significantly reflects on personal, professional and social functioning of an addict. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study is investigating the impact of substance abuse on executive control processes, testing the existence of a specific relationship between possible deficits of executive performance of opiate addicts and heroin exposure length, as well as defining the damage predictors of executive functions in opiate addicts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted by the cross-sectional study and included 200 examinees divided into two groups. <em>The experimental group </em>consisted of 150 heroin addicts, aged from 18 to 35 years, who were abstinent for at least 3 weeks. <em>The control group </em>included 50 healthy examinees of the same sex, age and educational background as the examinees in the experimental group. To collect the data, the following instruments were used: <em>a general structured questionnaire</em> &ndash; specifically designed for the purposes of this study, based on self-assessment, which refers to the basic socio-demographic characteristics and addictological features of examinees; <em>Psychopathy Assessment Questionnaire</em> for evaluation (control) of the possible impact of personality structure of addicts on achievement on tests used to assess executive functions; for the assessment of condition of executive functions: Verbal Fluency Task - phonemic fluency, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Trail Making Test, Barratt impulsiveness Scale, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Iowa Gambling Task Iowa Gambling Task. RESULTS: In heroin addicts significant deficits in executive domains were recorded: updating, inhibition, shiffring and decision making. The damage of executive functions can be predicted on the basis of the following factors: total length of heroin abuse, the average daily dose of heroin, number of&nbsp; abstinence compared to the total duration of heroin abuse and age of addicts at their first contact with psychoactive substances. CONCLUSION: The consumption of heroin is associated with significant impairment of the system of executive functions. This results in addicts having difficulties to overcome habitual responses and adjust behavior to the requirements imposed by new situations, as well as in the tendency to make high-risk decisions that result in current gain, regardless of inevitable later negative consequences.</p>

The main objective of thesis ''Narcoterrorism: Crossroads between drug trade and political violence'' is to describe and analyze the phenomenon of narcoterrorism, a concept that combines in its core the politically-motivated violence, the illicit drug trade, and the use of terrorist methods. The goal will be to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework for the various types of narcoterrorism and the different supportive types that may occur between the politically-motivated or ideological groups, and the drug-trafficking criminal groups. This framework will be later primarily tested on the case of Colombia, where various warring ideological and criminal groups will be observed and analyzed. Other cases that will be secondarily used to further prove the established assumptions, will be focusing on other countries which seen in recent history a surge of political or criminal violence, and are either manufacturing or trafficking illegal drugs. These will include Peru, Mexico, and Afghanistan. In the final section of the thesis, the theoretical framework will be assigned to real historical cases, and a question of the prerequisites of narcoterrorist emergence will be discussed.

No description available.

No description available.

Studien syftar till att undersöka hur det går till att sluta använda heroin utan att byta till användning av andra opioidpreparat och utan att erhålla substitutionsbehandling med opioidpreparaten metadon eller buprenorfin. Forskningsgenomgången visar att det är möjligt att sluta med heroin utan substitutionsbehandling, men att det är svårt att leda i bevis att vissa specifika behandlingsmetoder skapar detta resultat. Det empiriska materialet består av djupintervjuer med tio personer som delar erfarenheten av att ha varit heroinberoende och av att ha slutat använda heroin utan att erhålla substitutionsbehandling. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt används en syntes av flera sociologiska och socialpsykologiska teorier och analysbegrepp som syftar till att förklara relationen mellan mänskliga betenden och de sociala sammanhang som människan ingår i och relaterar till. Studien visar att en framgångsrik återhämtning från heroinberoende innebär en sekundär socialisering in i sociala gemenskaper organiserade kring andra företeelser än heroinanvändning, vilket möjliggör för den före detta heroinanvändaren att avhålla sig från heroin- och annan opioidanvändning. Studien visar även att en viktig komponent i återhämtningen är att, framförallt under den första tiden i återhämtningsprocessen, utveckla ett överväldigande engagemang i någon typ av sysselsättning, samt att personer som under tiden de använde heroin saknade ett överbryggande socialt kapital, har möjlighet att skapa ett sådant efter att de slutat använda heroin. / The study aims to investigate how to stop using heroin without replacing heroin with use of other opioid preparations and without receiving substitution treatment with the opioid preparations methadone or buprenorphine. The research review shows that it is possible to quit heroin addiction without substitution treatment, but it is difficult to prove that certain specific treatment methods create this result. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with ten people who share the experience of being addicted to heroin and having stopped using heroin without receiving substitution therapy. As a theoretical point of view, a synthesis of several sociological and social psychological theories and concepts of analysis is used to explain the relationship between human behavior and the social context in which human beings belong and relate. The study shows that a successful recovery from heroin addiction involves secondary socialization into social communities organized around phenomenas other than heroin use, which enables the former heroin user to refrain from heroin and other opioid use. The study also shows that an important component of the recovery process is, especially during the first phase of the recovery process, developing an overwhelming involvement to some type of pursuit, and that people who when they used heroin lacked any sort of bridging social capital, are able to create such after they stopped using heroin.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how a problem-determined system developed around a case of drug addiction within the context of a system of relatedness. The epistemological framework informing this qualitative study was constructivism. The six participants who took part in the study represent the most prominent role players in the particular context of living. The individual battling with drug addiction, his parents, older sister, maternal grandmother and maternal aunt were interviewed. The methods of data collection employed were semi-structured interviews, a family-chronological event chart, genograms, and an eco-map. The interviews were interpreted using the hermeneutic approach. The different themes that emerged from each participant’s story were integrated in relation to each other and with respect to the collaborative sources of data. The most dominant themes extracted within this study are the initial reactions to Andrew’s drug addiction, life changes experienced due to Andrew’s drug addiction, support, as well as the meanings attributed to Andrew’s drug addiction. Further research into problem-determined systems in different cultures is recommended. / Psychology / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) Psychology

by Chung Yee-ha, Ida. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 313-326). / Abstract and questionnaire also in Chinese. / Acknowledgments --- p.i / Abstract (English version) --- p.ii-iii / Abstract (Chinese version) --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1-9 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- The Addiction Profile in Hong Kong --- p.10-28 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Literature Review --- p.29-94 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Research Questions and Hypotheses --- p.95-104 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Methodology --- p.105-119 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Results --- p.120-185 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Discussion --- p.186-238 / Chapter Chapter 8: --- Summary and Conclusions --- p.239-250 / Appendix A: A Summary of the Local Studies on Adolescent Drug Abuse 251 - --- p.268 / Appendix B: Questionnaire (Chinese version) --- p.269-289 / Appendix C: Revised Reasons Scale (Chinese version) --- p.290-292 / Appendix D: Questionnaire (English version) --- p.293-310 / Appendix E: Revised Reasons Scale (English version) --- p.311-312 / References --- p.313-326

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how a problem-determined system developed around a case of drug addiction within the context of a system of relatedness. The epistemological framework informing this qualitative study was constructivism. The six participants who took part in the study represent the most prominent role players in the particular context of living. The individual battling with drug addiction, his parents, older sister, maternal grandmother and maternal aunt were interviewed. The methods of data collection employed were semi-structured interviews, a family-chronological event chart, genograms, and an eco-map. The interviews were interpreted using the hermeneutic approach. The different themes that emerged from each participant’s story were integrated in relation to each other and with respect to the collaborative sources of data. The most dominant themes extracted within this study are the initial reactions to Andrew’s drug addiction, life changes experienced due to Andrew’s drug addiction, support, as well as the meanings attributed to Andrew’s drug addiction. Further research into problem-determined systems in different cultures is recommended. / Psychology / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) Psychology