Criminal Justice Students’ Stigma Toward Individuals With Opioid Addiction: A Vignette-Based Study

Abstract

Previous research has shown that race and sex influence perceptions of social stigma among individuals with opioid addiction. However, few studies have explored multiple dimensions of stigma using vignette-based experimental designs. The current study used a vignette survey experiment to assess the association between the vignette character’s race and sex and four measures of stigma: perceived dangerousness, fatalism, social distance, and blame. Our findings indicated that participants were more likely to hold fatalistic views—believing the individual would never achieve sobriety and would remain dependent for life—when the vignette character was White compared to Black. Our study highlights the need for further research on fatalism.