Nick Gibbs
Biographic Data
| ID | 254741 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nick Gibbs |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nick |
| FAMILY NAME | Gibbs |
| SIGNATURE | GIBBS N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northumbria University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5911-721X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: How image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
Background Drug coaches are a novel extension of traditional personal trainers who play a significant role providing support and shaping drug-related behaviours for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). They constitute a critical domain for everyday risk management, where substance use, and its associated harms are influenced by social exchange. This study investigated how IPED coaches negotiate safety within the community…
Consuming ‘God Juice’: Using ‘ethnopharmacological‐connoisseurship’ to situate trenbolone use and knowledge among image and performance enhancing drug communities
The school of hard knocks: Systemic violence and the motivation to harm in boys’ youth academy football
The 'beautiful game' of football may seem to be a curious artifact of study for this scholarly collection on violence. However, this article will highlight the need to explore the boys' English youth academy (YA) football industry as a manifestation of systemic violence and, ultimately, a reflection of the pseudo-pacified neoliberal economy. Embedding our theoretical analysis within emerging literature on harm and violence, this paper will illumi…
Tracing the Impact of Media, Cultural Narratives, and Social Perceptions on Australia's Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Communities
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used for performance and image enhancement, yet their non-medical use in Australia is heavily criminalized and framed by sociocultural narratives that emphasize risk, deviance and harm. This study aimed to critically examine how people who use AAS experience these narratives, focusing on challenging their role in perpetuating stigma and reinforcing punitive responses. The study employed a peer-led approach t…
“Emerging anabolic androgenic steroid markets; the prominence of social media”
Background There have been notable shifts in the acquisition of anabolic androgenic steroids over time, with face-to-face (within gyms) and online supply (e.g. internet forums, crypto-markets/darknet, and pharmacies) being popular locations to source and acquire these drugs. Fresh evidence suggests that social media facilitates the supply of anabolic androgenic steroids, however, no study has exclusively examined this phenomenon.Aim and method Th…
The Ipeds assemblage: Tracing the entanglements of biomedicine, technology, enhancement and anti-doping policies in sport and society
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently ended their anti-doping partnership amidst controversy. We treat this decision, and the motivations underpinning it, as a means of exploring the complexities of anti-doping norms and the blurred lines between image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use in sport and wider society. Drawing ideas from assemblage thinking, we analyse the evolving power dynamics su…
I Feel Like I'm Walking the Line; One Side It's Manageable, the Other Side It's F**king prison: Exploring the Dual Nature of User-Manufacturers of Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs
This Bourdieusian study interrogates the practices of an Australian-based “user-manufacturer” of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Extending the concept of illicit drug “user-dealers”, we draw upon a case study of an IPED user-manufacturer, “Meiko”, to interrogate steroid-user habitus, the importance of reputation and community trust, and the minimization of risk through referral-only interactions and low-profile branding. Findings r…
Sponseredathlete: The marketing of image and performance enhancing drugs on Facebook and Instagram
This article sets out to investigate the marketing of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) on the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. Drawing upon a ‘connective’ ethnographic exploration of IPED use and supply, the paper first outlines a supplier typology on these platforms, before shedding light on the marketing strategies employed by sellers in order to overcome the inherent distrust of online sales and build a trustworthy b…
Dark Destinations: Crime and Contemporary Tourism
From the Alcatraz East Crime Museum and Jack the Ripper guided tours to the Phnom Penh killing fields, ‘dark tourism’ is now a multi-million-pound global industry. Even in the most pleasant tourist destinations, underlying harms are constantly perpetuated, affecting both consumers and those who work or live around such tourist hotspots. Highlighting 50 travel destinations across six continents, expert criminologists, psychologists and historians …
The Liver King Lie: Misrepresentation, justification, and public health implications
It is well-established that performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) are effective in increasing muscle mass and strength. PIEDs are unique in that, while harm may result from use, there is little evidence of widespread individual or social harm comparable with other illicit substances. However, given the rapid growth of the online health and fitness industry, the digital consumption of hardcore fitness content represents a space ripe for in…
Big business: The private sector market for image and performance enhancing drug harm reduction in the UK
This article draws on three mutually independent ethnographic studies to explore the private sector market for image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) harm reduction in the UK, specifically examining (1) steroid accessory supplements; (2) blood testing services; and (3) bloodletting services. After contextualising the work with a discussion of IPED use and harm reduction and the substantial growth of the global health and fitness industry, ea…
Post-industrial masculinities and gym culture: Graft, craft, and fraternity
This article theorizes a link between contemporary masculinity in post-industrial spaces and 'hardcore' gym culture. Over the last three decades the health and fitness industry has grown exponentially, with bodily modification and the proliferation of gymnasia, health supplements and wearable fitness trackers now a dominant means by which many construct their identities. Simultaneously, the onset of wholesale neoliberalism, which has caused large…
Planning for the future: Learning from the past
Post-industrial masculinities and gym culture: Graft, craft, and fraternity
This article theorizes a link between contemporary masculinity in post-industrial spaces and 'hardcore' gym culture. Over the last three decades the health and fitness industry has grown exponentially, with bodily modification and the proliferation of gymnasia, health supplements and wearable fitness trackers now a dominant means by which many construct their identities. Simultaneously, the onset of wholesale neoliberalism, which has caused large…
I Feel Like I'm Walking the Line; One Side It's Manageable, the Other Side It's F**king prison: Exploring the Dual Nature of User-Manufacturers of Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs
This Bourdieusian study interrogates the practices of an Australian-based “user-manufacturer” of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Extending the concept of illicit drug “user-dealers”, we draw upon a case study of an IPED user-manufacturer, “Meiko”, to interrogate steroid-user habitus, the importance of reputation and community trust, and the minimization of risk through referral-only interactions and low-profile branding. Findings r…
Planning for the future: Learning from the past
Post-industrial masculinities and gym culture: Graft, craft, and fraternity
This article theorizes a link between contemporary masculinity in post-industrial spaces and 'hardcore' gym culture. Over the last three decades the health and fitness industry has grown exponentially, with bodily modification and the proliferation of gymnasia, health supplements and wearable fitness trackers now a dominant means by which many construct their identities. Simultaneously, the onset of wholesale neoliberalism, which has caused large…
Sponseredathlete: The marketing of image and performance enhancing drugs on Facebook and Instagram
This article sets out to investigate the marketing of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) on the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. Drawing upon a ‘connective’ ethnographic exploration of IPED use and supply, the paper first outlines a supplier typology on these platforms, before shedding light on the marketing strategies employed by sellers in order to overcome the inherent distrust of online sales and build a trustworthy b…
Dark Destinations: Crime and Contemporary Tourism
From the Alcatraz East Crime Museum and Jack the Ripper guided tours to the Phnom Penh killing fields, ‘dark tourism’ is now a multi-million-pound global industry. Even in the most pleasant tourist destinations, underlying harms are constantly perpetuated, affecting both consumers and those who work or live around such tourist hotspots. Highlighting 50 travel destinations across six continents, expert criminologists, psychologists and historians …
The Liver King Lie: Misrepresentation, justification, and public health implications
It is well-established that performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) are effective in increasing muscle mass and strength. PIEDs are unique in that, while harm may result from use, there is little evidence of widespread individual or social harm comparable with other illicit substances. However, given the rapid growth of the online health and fitness industry, the digital consumption of hardcore fitness content represents a space ripe for in…
Big business: The private sector market for image and performance enhancing drug harm reduction in the UK
This article draws on three mutually independent ethnographic studies to explore the private sector market for image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) harm reduction in the UK, specifically examining (1) steroid accessory supplements; (2) blood testing services; and (3) bloodletting services. After contextualising the work with a discussion of IPED use and harm reduction and the substantial growth of the global health and fitness industry, ea…
“Emerging anabolic androgenic steroid markets; the prominence of social media”
Background There have been notable shifts in the acquisition of anabolic androgenic steroids over time, with face-to-face (within gyms) and online supply (e.g. internet forums, crypto-markets/darknet, and pharmacies) being popular locations to source and acquire these drugs. Fresh evidence suggests that social media facilitates the supply of anabolic androgenic steroids, however, no study has exclusively examined this phenomenon.Aim and method Th…
The Ipeds assemblage: Tracing the entanglements of biomedicine, technology, enhancement and anti-doping policies in sport and society
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently ended their anti-doping partnership amidst controversy. We treat this decision, and the motivations underpinning it, as a means of exploring the complexities of anti-doping norms and the blurred lines between image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use in sport and wider society. Drawing ideas from assemblage thinking, we analyse the evolving power dynamics su…
I Feel Like I'm Walking the Line; One Side It's Manageable, the Other Side It's F**king prison: Exploring the Dual Nature of User-Manufacturers of Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs
This Bourdieusian study interrogates the practices of an Australian-based “user-manufacturer” of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Extending the concept of illicit drug “user-dealers”, we draw upon a case study of an IPED user-manufacturer, “Meiko”, to interrogate steroid-user habitus, the importance of reputation and community trust, and the minimization of risk through referral-only interactions and low-profile branding. Findings r…
‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: How image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
Background Drug coaches are a novel extension of traditional personal trainers who play a significant role providing support and shaping drug-related behaviours for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). They constitute a critical domain for everyday risk management, where substance use, and its associated harms are influenced by social exchange. This study investigated how IPED coaches negotiate safety within the community…
Consuming ‘God Juice’: Using ‘ethnopharmacological‐connoisseurship’ to situate trenbolone use and knowledge among image and performance enhancing drug communities
The school of hard knocks: Systemic violence and the motivation to harm in boys’ youth academy football
The 'beautiful game' of football may seem to be a curious artifact of study for this scholarly collection on violence. However, this article will highlight the need to explore the boys' English youth academy (YA) football industry as a manifestation of systemic violence and, ultimately, a reflection of the pseudo-pacified neoliberal economy. Embedding our theoretical analysis within emerging literature on harm and violence, this paper will illumi…
Tracing the Impact of Media, Cultural Narratives, and Social Perceptions on Australia's Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Communities
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used for performance and image enhancement, yet their non-medical use in Australia is heavily criminalized and framed by sociocultural narratives that emphasize risk, deviance and harm. This study aimed to critically examine how people who use AAS experience these narratives, focusing on challenging their role in perpetuating stigma and reinforcing punitive responses. The study employed a peer-led approach t…
Medicine (10 works) · Political science (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Harm (5 works) · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Business (4 works) · Doping in Sports (4 works) · Harm reduction (4 works)