Conceptualizing ethnicity in alcohol and drug research: Epidemiology meets social theory

Since the 1990s, social scientists have rejected notions of ethnicity as something static and discrete, instead highlighting the context-dependent and fluid nature of multiple identities. In spite of these developments, researchers within the substance use fields continue to assess ethnic group cate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of ethnicity in substance abuse 2018-04, Vol.17 (2), p.187-198
Main Authors: Hunt, Geoffrey, Kolind, Torsten, Antin, Tamar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol
Alcohol abuse
Alcoholic beverages
Alcoholism - ethnology
Bureaucracy
Continental Population Groups - classification
Decision making
Discrimination
Drug abuse
Drug development
Drugs
Epidemiology
Epidemiology - standards
Ethnic groups
Ethnic Groups - classification
Ethnicity
Health disparities
Health problems
Humans
identity
Inequality
Minority & ethnic groups
racial & ethnic classifications
Racism
Social problems
Social scientists
Social theories
Social Theory
Substance abuse
Substance use
Substance-Related Disorders - ethnology
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Summary:Since the 1990s, social scientists have rejected notions of ethnicity as something static and discrete, instead highlighting the context-dependent and fluid nature of multiple identities. In spite of these developments, researchers within the substance use fields continue to assess ethnic group categories in ways that suggest little critical reflection in terms of the validity of the measurements themselves, nor the social, bureaucratic, and political decisions shaping standard measures of ethnicity. This paper highlights these considerations, while also acknowledging the role of socially-delineated ethnic categorizations in documenting health inequities and social injustices. We call on researchers in alcohol and drugs research to critically appraise their use of ethnic categorizations, querying how to best measure ethnicity within their own studies in ways that are justified beyond simplified explanations of social convention and that "do no harm" in terms of perpetuating racism and obscuring the roots causes of social and health problems related to alcohol and drugs.
ISSN:1533-2640
1533-2659
DOI:10.1080/15332640.2017.1316223