In 2019 the DruGS team completed work on a qualitative interview-based research project on stigma, conducted with South Western Sydney Drug Health Services. Two journal articles were written from the project and have now been published. The first article was recently accepted for publication in Sociology of Health and Illness. Entitled ‘Exclusion and hospitality: The…
What is an opioid overdose? How do people manage and respond to them? What is take-home naloxone? What is it like to respond to overdoses with and without naloxone? A ground breaking new website sheds light on the stories of people affected by overdose and explores the different ways people who consume drugs manage overdose.…
In 2013 SSAC program leader Professor Suzanne Fraser began a program of research funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship. Initially focused on concepts of addiction in Australian and Canadian policy making and service provision, the program quickly grew to include a Swedish arm, and expanded, with the aid of additional funding support…
SSAC team members Dr Kate Seear and Professor Suzanne Fraser were recently invited to present their research findings to a major review of crime compensation laws currently being undertaken by the Victorian Law Reform Commission. The Commission is conducting a comprehensive review into Victoria’s Victims of Crime Assistance Act, which is the state’s major legislative mechanism…
In June the International Journal of Drug Policy (IJDP) will publish a special section entitled Social Studies of Addiction Concepts, edited by Professor Suzanne Fraser, head of Curtin University’s Social Studies of Addiction Concepts (SSAC) program, and Associate Professor Helen Keane, based at ANU. The articles in this issue will be drawn from the Social…
SSAC’s Social and Legal Studies of Addiction Concepts research symposium (held on Friday October 7th) reported on the many research projects currently underway in the program. The symposium was hosted by Associate Professor Helen Keane, who is based at the Australian National University, and was divided into three sessions: presentations by program research students, presentations by program staff…
What are mandated medico-legal interventions and how can they affect people diagnosed as alcohol or other drug dependent? SSAC adjunct Dr Kate Seear addressed these questions recently in a presentation that formed part of a group of events on mandated medico-legal interventions in Australia. The events were part of a program of work being undertaken by…
A groundbreaking new website was launched in Melbourne on Friday the 7th of October with the help of writer Kate Holden and harm reduction pioneer Jenny Kelsall. Lives of Substance is Australia’s first dedicated website presenting carefully researched personal stories of alcohol or other drug addiction, dependence or habit. Based on an innovative ARC-funded project, the website’s aim is to generate and present much-needed new…
How is addiction constituted in Australian law, and how does this compare with Canadian law? This is the focus of Dr Kate Seear’s Australian Research Council DECRA fellowship, which is entitled ‘Addiction in the Australian legal system: A sociological analysis’. A SSAC Adjunct Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Law at Monash University, Kate has recently arrived in…
Having just completed data collection, SSAC PhD candidate Liz Normand is looking forward to tackling the next phase of her project: data analysis. A qualitative study supervised by Dr Robyn Dwyer and Professor Suzanne Fraser, the project’s key research questions are: How do marginalised young people in contact with alcohol and other drug (AOD) services understand their AOD…
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