Oral Presentations: UC 330

Stigmatization: The Effect of the Montana Meth Project on People Who Use Methamphetamine

Presentation Type

Presentation

Faculty Mentor’s Full Name

Kathy Kuipers

Abstract / Artist's Statement

Virtually all Montanans are familiar with the Montana Meth Project, but few know the effects of this project on the people who actually use methamphetamine. In order to make a full report of the impacts of the Montana Meth Project, the perspectives of people who use meth need to be taken into account. Because people who use meth are stigmatized, their points of view are often considered less important than the “average” citizen. This project aims to discover the effects of the Meth Project on people who use meth through an in-depth interview process. These interviews will be conducted with people who used meth before the Project was implemented in 2005, and who used meth until at least 2008, after the brunt of the Project’s advertising took place. This will ensure that we capture perspectives before and after the Project, making estimating the effect of the Meth Project more realistic. In stigmatization literature, few papers are focused on the perspective of the stigmatized; most come from the privileged point of view of the stigmatizer. This report will be focused solely on the stigmatized, making it somewhat unique in the field. Additionally, the research conducted by the Montana Meth Project focuses entirely on the perspectives of meth use of students aged 12-17. Their research does not cover adults or actual meth users, a large gap in the literature that this project hopes to fill. This project will inform future steps that the Project takes to reduce methamphetamine use in any upcoming projects, allowing them to take the most effective, least stigmatizing method.

Category

Humanities

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Apr 15th, 10:00 AM Apr 15th, 10:20 AM

Stigmatization: The Effect of the Montana Meth Project on People Who Use Methamphetamine

Virtually all Montanans are familiar with the Montana Meth Project, but few know the effects of this project on the people who actually use methamphetamine. In order to make a full report of the impacts of the Montana Meth Project, the perspectives of people who use meth need to be taken into account. Because people who use meth are stigmatized, their points of view are often considered less important than the “average” citizen. This project aims to discover the effects of the Meth Project on people who use meth through an in-depth interview process. These interviews will be conducted with people who used meth before the Project was implemented in 2005, and who used meth until at least 2008, after the brunt of the Project’s advertising took place. This will ensure that we capture perspectives before and after the Project, making estimating the effect of the Meth Project more realistic. In stigmatization literature, few papers are focused on the perspective of the stigmatized; most come from the privileged point of view of the stigmatizer. This report will be focused solely on the stigmatized, making it somewhat unique in the field. Additionally, the research conducted by the Montana Meth Project focuses entirely on the perspectives of meth use of students aged 12-17. Their research does not cover adults or actual meth users, a large gap in the literature that this project hopes to fill. This project will inform future steps that the Project takes to reduce methamphetamine use in any upcoming projects, allowing them to take the most effective, least stigmatizing method.