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Governing Parental Drug Use in the UK: What's Hidden in "Hidden Harm?"

Whittaker, Anne; Martin, Fiona; Olsen, Anna; Wincup, Emma

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In 2003, the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs published Hidden Harm, the product of an inquiry that exposed the “problems” of parental drug use and its neglect by professionals. It outlined an extensive program of reforms designed to protect children from harm. Despite its far-reaching influence, it has rarely been subject to scrutiny, with analyses focusing on its impact instead. Drawing on Bacchi’s post-structuralist “What’s the Problem Represented to be” approach, we examine...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorWhittaker, Anne
dc.contributor.authorMartin, Fiona
dc.contributor.authorOlsen, Anna
dc.contributor.authorWincup, Emma
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-23T04:04:11Z
dc.date.available2021-02-23T04:04:11Z
dc.identifier.issn0091-4509
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/224156
dc.description.abstractIn 2003, the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs published Hidden Harm, the product of an inquiry that exposed the “problems” of parental drug use and its neglect by professionals. It outlined an extensive program of reforms designed to protect children from harm. Despite its far-reaching influence, it has rarely been subject to scrutiny, with analyses focusing on its impact instead. Drawing on Bacchi’s post-structuralist “What’s the Problem Represented to be” approach, we examine problematizations within Hidden Harm and their implications for the governance of family life. We illustrate how Hidden Harm produced a simplified version of parenting and child welfare within the context of drug use by largely equating drug use with “bad” parenting and child maltreatment and by ignoring the social determinants of health and the wider social ecology of family life. Using a tried-and-tested driver of policy change, Hidden Harm created a “scandal” about the lack of intervention by professionals that was used to justify and legitimize increased state intervention into the lives of parents who use drugs. Hidden Harm proposed simplistic “solutions” that centered on drug treatment, child protection and the responsibilization of professionals to govern “risky” parents. We argue these rationalities, subjectivities and strategies serve to marginalize and stigmatize families further and hide alternative approaches to understanding, representing and responding to the complex needs of children and families who are disproportionately affected by health and social inequalities. By uncovering what is hidden in Hidden Harm, we aim to stimulate further research and theoretically informed debate about policy and practice related to child welfare, parenting and family life within the context of drug use. We conclude with some ideas about how to reframe public discourse on parents who use drugs and their children, in tandem with collaborative responses to alleviate child poverty and inequalities.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen_AU
dc.publisherFederal Legal Publications
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2020
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.sourceContemporary Drug Problems
dc.source.urihttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0091450920941267
dc.subjectparental drug use
dc.subjectchild welfare
dc.subjectpolicy analysis
dc.subjectrisk governance
dc.subjectresponsibilization
dc.subjectsocial ecology
dc.titleGoverning Parental Drug Use in the UK: What's Hidden in "Hidden Harm?"
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume47
dc.date.issued2020
local.identifier.absfor111707 - Family Care
local.identifier.ariespublicationa383154xPUB13768
local.publisher.urlhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0091450920941267
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationWhittaker, Anne, University of Stirling
local.contributor.affiliationMartin, Fiona, Dalhousie University
local.contributor.affiliationOlsen, Anna, College of Health and Medicine, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationWincup, Emma, University of Leeds
local.bibliographicCitation.issue3
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage170
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage187
local.identifier.doi10.1177/0091450920941267
local.identifier.absseo920414 - Substance Abuse
dc.date.updated2020-11-15T07:18:58Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-85087975133
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dc.provenanceCreative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)
dc.rights.licenseCreative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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