Needlework: The Lifestyle of Female Drug Injectors

Abstract

Participant observation was used to study the lifestyles of female drug injectors in Glasgow. Twenty-six women were interviewed in-depth at the end of the observation period. The results reveal how women become involved in drug use, the ways in which they finance their drug use, and their relationships with friends, partners and children. The efforts the women made to give up their use of drugs is discussed along with the difficulties involved in their attempts to do so. Overall, the findings refute the stereotypical view of women drug users as inadequate individuals. The evidence provided indicates that the lifestyle which evolves from the use of drugs offers an arena in which the women are able to find a degree of independence and purpose otherwise missing from their lives and which makes their drug-using lifestyle attractive even when disadvantages become apparent.