Morality boundary work in the making of the needle and syringe exchange program in Stockholm
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21605203 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lena Eriksson (0000-0001-7769-0706, Stockholm University, corresponding author), Eva Samuelsson (0000-0002-0508-2709, Stockholm University), Jessica Storbjörk (0000-0002-1757-9974, Stockholm University), Jukka Törrönen (0000-0003-2473-6330, Stockholm University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 369-379 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Drugs Education Prevention and Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0968-7637 • E-ISSN: 1465-3370 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09687637.2024.2425685 |
| OpenAlex | W4404141750 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 40 |
Background Drug policy is prone to build on rationales based on different moralities rather than evidence. Less is known about how moralities influence drug policy implementation in practice. The aim was to analyze expressions of moralities among local policy-makers, professionals, and drug users in the context of the Stockholm needle and syringe exchange program (NSP).Methods Using political documentation from Stockholm (2003–2016), focus group (12 NSP staff), and 32 drug user interviews, moralities concerning drug policy and harm reduction were analyzed based on moral foundations theory and boundary work.Results Three main moral dilemmas were identified concerning the subjects, aims, and orientation of drug policy: whether drug users are worthy of inclusion to society; if the general public should be prioritized or the health of drug users, and the orientation of practices as based on control or autonomy. Policy debate was driven by virtues such as purity and authority, whereas staff and drug users valued care, fairness and liberty.Conclusions The prohibitionist and abstinence-oriented Swedish drug policy has created social boundaries on the practice-level. Hence, users’ perspectives, and those who care about them, should be extensively involved in political discussions to foster a more moral and humane drug policy
Addiction · Boundary-work · Morality · Political science · Psychiatry · Social science · Sociology · Syringe · Engineering · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques
The Moral Foundations taxonomy
Moral Foundations Theory
How do drug policy makers access research evidence
Critiques of harm reduction, morality and the promise of human rights
How the harm reduction movement contrasts itself against punitive prohibition
Sameness and difference
Laws prohibiting peer distribution of injecting equipment in Australia
Take-Home Naloxone and risk management from the perspective of people who survived an opioid overdose in Stockholm — An analysis informed by drug, set and setting
The Complexity of Evidence
Survival of the Ideas that Fit
Knowledge, Values, and Needle Exchange Programs in Sweden
Debating the Drug Policy in Sweden
The Many Meanings of Research Utilization
Purity and Danger
Addiction, agency, and the politics of self-control
Boundary processes
The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism
The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |