Women on Ice
2013 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Methamphetamine (ice, speed, crystal, shard) has been called epidemic in the United States. Yet few communities were ready for increased use of methamphetamine by suburban women. Women on Ice is the first book to study exclusively the lives of women who use the drug and its effects on their families.
In-depth interviews with women in the suburban counties of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. chronicle the details of their initiation into methamphetamine, the turning points into problematic drug use, and for a few, their escape from lives veering out of control. Their life course and drug careers are analyzed in relation to the intersecting influences of social roles, relationships, social/political structures, and political trends. Examining the effects of punitive drug policy, inadequate social services, and looming public health risks, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, the book gives voice to women silenced by shame.
Boeri introduces new and developing concepts in the field of addiction studies and proposes policy changes to more broadly implement initiatives that address the problems these women face. She asserts that if we are concerned that the war on drugs is a war on drug users, this book will alert us that it is also a war on suburban families.
The insights in Miriam Boeri’s compelling page-turner make an eloquent case for implementing social policy that cares for its most vulnerable mothers and children.
In Women on Ice, Boeri sets out to study an almost invisible group of women and provides a well-written but gut-wrenching portrait of the America produced by suburbanization, patriarchy, and class division.
In this unique book, Boeri studies hidden women living in and near suburbs, a group that to date has never been studied as a subgroup of drug users. The many gripping in-depth interviews are captivating and unforgettable, making the book difficult to put down. A very highly recommended must read for anyone looking to hear the clear voices of women who are ensnared by methamphetamine addiction. Essential.
This is an extremely difficult book to read—not because it is poorly written, but precisely because it is written so well. The stories of these women are gut-wrenching. What emerges from this candid, engaged, and detailed study is a picture of how a marginalized population is produced by the convergence of [suburbanization, patriarchy, and social class division].
MIRIAM BOERI is a professor of sociology. She is the author or coauthor of numerous journal articles and a contributor to Drugs and the American Dream.
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Methamphetamine: The Perfect Drug for Suburban Women
2. Ethnographic Research: Exploring Methamphetamine Use in the Suburbs
3. The Gendered Drug Career: Initiation and Progression in Methamphetamine Use
4. Gendered Lives: Combining Work and Family with Drug-Using Roles
5. Gendered Risks: Health and Infectious Diseases
6. Gendered Risks: Violence and Crime
7. The Revolving Door: Treatment, Recovery, and Relapse
8. Policy Implications
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Index
