This article explores drug taking amongst a particularly disadvantaged group of young people in Britain. It argues that as these young people make their way to adulthood, they are confronted with risks at many levels, and that these risks are further compounded by their drug use as well as by the inability of services to effectively respond to the complex needs they present. The article argues that while to some extent drug use may be understood as a consequence of, or response to, the disadvantages these young people have experienced in their lives, it can at the same time be seen to further entrench those disadvantages.
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) (1998) Drug Misuse and the Environment. London: The Stationery Office .
2.
Beinart, S. , Anderson, B. , Lee, S. & Utting, D. (2002) Youth at Risk? A National Survey of Risk Factors, Protective Factors and Problem Behaviour Among Young People in England, Scotland and Wales. London: Communities that Care .
3.
Burke, J. (2004) ‘Drugs Plan for Schools Abandoned’, The Observer, 18 January.
4.
Coles, B. (1986) ‘Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down: Towards Reconstructing the Sociology of Youth’ , Social Science Teacher15 (3), pp. 78–80 .
5.
Coles, B. & Craig, G. (1999) ‘Excluded Youth and the Growth of Begging’, in H. Dean (ed.) Begging Questions: Street Level Economic Activity and Social Policy Failure. Bristol: The Policy Press .
6.
Collison, M. (1996) ‘In Search of the High Life: Drugs, Crime, Masculinities and Consumption’ , British Journal of Criminology, 36 (3), pp. 428–444 .
7.
Craine, S. (1997) ‘The Black Magic Roundabout: Cyclical Transitions, Social Exclusion and Alternative Careers’, in R. MacDonald (ed.) Youth, ‘The Underclass’ and Social Exclusion. London: Routledge .
8.
Dean, H. (1997) ‘Underclassed or Undermined? Young People and Social Citizenship’, in R. MacDonald (ed.) Youth, ‘The Underclass’ and Social Exclusion, London: Routledge .
9.
Department of Health (DoH) (1998) Caring for Children Away from Home: Messages from Research. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons .
10.
Fransham, M. & Johnston, V. (2003) ‘Drugs, Young People and Service Provision: Findings on Needs and Services’, Research Briefing 6. London: Nacro .
11.
France, A. (1996) ‘Youth and Citizenship in the 1990s’ , Youth and Policy53, pp. 28–54 .
12.
Hammersley, R. , Marsland, L. & Reid, M. (2003) Substance Misuse by Young Offenders: The Impact of the Normalisation of Drug Use in the Early Years of the Twenty-first Century, Home Office Research Study 261. London: The Home Office .
13.
Health Advisory Service (HAS) (1996) Children and Young People: Substance Misuse Services: The Substance of Young Needs. London: HMSO .
14.
Holden, C. (1999) ‘Globalisation, Social Exclusion and Labour’s New Work Ethic’ , Critical Social Policy, Issue 61, 19 (4), pp. 529–538 .
15.
Jeffs, T. & Spence, J. (2000) ‘New Deal for Young People: Good Deal or Poor Deal?’Youth and Policy No. 66.
16.
Johnston, L. , MacDonald, R. , Mason, P. , Ridley, L. & Webster, C. (2000) Snakes and Ladders: Young People, Transitions and Social Exclusion. Bristol: The Policy Press .
17.
Jones, G. (1997) ‘Youth Homelessness and the “Underclass”’, in R. MacDonald (ed.) Youth, ‘The Underclass’ and Social Exclusion. London: Routledge .
18.
Levitas, R. (1999) ‘Defining and Measuring Social Exclusion: A Critical Overview of Current Proposals’ , Radical Statistics71, Summer.
19.
MacDonald, R. (1997) ‘Dangerous Youth and the Dangerous Class’ in R. MacDonald (ed.) Youth, ‘The Underclass’ and Social Exclusion. London: Routledge .
20.
MacDonald, R. , Mason, P. , Shildrick, T. , Webster, C. , Johnston, L. & Ridley, L. (2001) ‘Snakes and Ladders: In Defence of Studies of Youth Transition’ , Sociological Research Online, 5 (4) at: www.socresonline.org.uk/5/4/macdonald.htm
21.
Maguire, M. & Maguire, S. (1997) ‘Young People and the Labour Market’, in R. MacDonald (ed.) Youth, ‘The Underclass’ and Social Exclusion. London: Routledge .
22.
Martin, T. , Hayden, C. , Turner, D. & Ramsell, K. (1999) Out of School and Into Trouble? Exclusion from School and Persistent Young Offenders. Social Services Research and Information Unit, University of Portsmouth and Hampshire Constabulary .
23.
Measham, F. , Parker, H. & Aldridge, J. (1998) Starting, Switching, Slowing and Stopping, Report for the Drug Prevention Initiative Integrated Programme. London: The Home Office .
24.
Melrose, M. (2000a) Fixing It? Young People, Drugs and Disadvantage. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing .
25.
Melrose, M. (2000b) ‘Globalisation and Child Prostitution in Britain in the 1990s’ , paper presented at The Globalisation of Sexual Exploitation Conference, London, 10 July.
26.
Melrose, M. (2000c) ‘Ties that Bind: Young People and the Prostitution Labour Market in Britain’ , paper presented at The 4th European Feminist Research Conference, Bologna, 28 September–1 October.
27.
Melrose, M. , Barrett, D. & Brodie, I. (1999) One Way Street? Retrospectives on Childhood Prostitution. London: The Children’s Society .
28.
National Strategy For Neighbourhood Renewal (2000) Report of the Policy Action Team 12: Young People. London: Stationery Office .
29.
Office for National Statistics (2002) Social Focus in Brief: Children 2002 at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk
30.
OFSTED (1996) Exclusions from Secondary School 1995–96. London: HMSO .
31.
Parker, H. , Aldridge, J. & Measham, F. (1998) Illegal Leisure: The Normalisation of Adolescent Drug Use. London: Routledge .
32.
Parker, H. , Aldridge, J. & Egginton, R. (2001) UK Drugs Unlimited. Basingstoke: Palgrave .
33.
Pettiway, L. (1997) Workin’ It: Women Living through Drugs and Crime. Philadelphia: Temple University Press .
34.
Pitts, J. (1997) ‘Causes of Youth Prostitution’, in D. Barrett (ed.) Child Prostitution in Britain: Dilemmas and Practical Responses. London: The Children’s Society .
35.
Pitts, J. (2001) The New Politics of Youth Justice: Discipline or Solidarity. Basingstoke: Palgrave .
36.
President of the Council (1998) The Government’s Ten Year Drug Strategy, Cm 3945. London: The Stationery Office .
37.
Shiner, M. & Newburn, T. (1997) ‘Definitely, Maybe Not? The Normalisation of Recreational Drug Use amongst Young People’ , Sociology, 31 (3), pp. 511–529 .
38.
Social Exclusion Unit (1998) Truancy and School Exclusion, Cm 3957. London: The Stationery Office .
39.
South, N. (1999) ‘Debating Drugs and Everyday Life: Normalisation, Prohibition and “Otherness”’, in N. South (ed.) Drugs, Cultures, Controls and Everyday Life. London: Sage .
40.
Standing Conference on Drug Abuse (SCODA) (1997) Drug-Related Early Interventions: Developing Services for Young People and Families. London: Standing Conference on Drug Abuse .
41.
Stepney, P. , Lynch, R. & Jordan, B. (1999) ‘Poverty, Exclusion and New Labour’ , Critical Social Policy, Issue 58, 19 (1), pp. 109–127 .
42.
Theodore, N. & Peck, J. (1999) ‘Welfare-to-Work: National Problems, Local Solutions?’Critical Social Policy, Issue 61, 19 (4), pp. 485–510 .
43.
Tonge, J. (1999) ‘New Packaging, Old Deal? New Labour and Employment Policy Innovation’ , Critical Social Policy, Issue 59, 19 (2), pp. 217–232 .
44.
UK Government (2002) Updated Drug Strategy at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk
45.
Ward, J. , Henderson, Z. & Pearson, G. (2003) One Problem among Many: Drug Use among Care Leavers in Transition to Independent Living, Home Office Research Study No. 260. London: Home Office .
46.
Working Party of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of Physicians (2000) Drugs: Dilemmas and Choices. London: Gaskell, The Royal College of Psychiatrists .
