Exploring the Nature of the Relationship Between Poverty and Substance Abuse

Knowns and Unknowns

Bibliographic Data

ID2429048
AuthorsNancy J Smyth (0000-0002-8131-8402), Kathleen A Kost
Year1998
Volume1
Issue1
Pages67-82
Publication date1998-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1091-1359 • E-ISSN: 1540-3556
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j137v01n01_05
OpenAlexW1734188204
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited15

Poverty and substance abuse are two serious social problems that are often assumed to be interrelated. This article explores what is currently known about the relationship between these two problems. Four possible models for describing the interrelationship are identified: causal, risk factor, exacerbation, and spurious. The theoretical explanations from both the substance and poverty literature are discussed in light of their implications for these types of models. The public health perspective is selected from the substance abuse theoretical literature as the model that best subsumes and directs thinking about the relationship between poverty and substance abuse, because its focus on agent, host, and environment draws attention to the range of factors that can influence both problems, as well as the ways in which they come together. Findings from the research literature are then discussed within the framework of the public health model. The article concludes by outlining the gaps in knowledge and an agenda for future research

Criminology · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Poverty · Psychiatry · Public health · Sociology · Spurious relationship · Substance abuse · Community Health and Development · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes · Social Work · Social Psychology

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