H is for joy; Sociological analysis, part 1

The following program is produced as a public service feature by the radio division of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. With cooperation from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the Illinois division of narcotic control. WE PRESENT. H is for joy with. The nature of addiction. This was the general topic of ages for joy on programs 2 through 7. If you'll remember the first three programs centered about discussions of the opiate such as morphine and heroin the marijuana plant and cocaine in programs 5 6 and 7 you heard the addict tell about his own addiction its pleasures and the unforseen pain of withdrawal.

This is program number 8. Today we begin a second major consideration. The status of addiction. This program in the next two will attempt a sociological analysis of the problem. In looking at the topic of drug addiction we immediately see that many causative factors are involved in viewing the problem using a sociological approach we are concerned with the effects of group life social attitudes and group patterns of behavior. Included also is the influence of social status. The role the individual plays. His conception of this role and various other types of social relationships. Relative to the sociological approach is the social approach. This is a consideration of educational religious recreational occupational and other factors. Very simply then all this really means is the study of the forms institutions and functions of human groups. In

this case a group addicted to drugs in one thousand fifty one thousand nine hundred fifty six in Chicago Illinois sociologists worked on what was perhaps one of the most puzzling questions in the area of drug addiction. What manner of man is the young drug addict. This investigation was supported by a research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Public Health Service. Clifford R. Shaw and Solomon Coburn directed the research in July 1957 the magazine's social problems printed the results of this study under the title cats kicks and color by Harold Fein St.. Later in this and the next two programs you'll hear special tape recorded interviews with Mr. fine stone and Mr. Coburn. But first what kind of questions did this study undertake to answer questions such as What is the drug addict like personally in dress talk and actions. What kind of economic situation does he come from.

What is his cultural racial or ethnic background. What does he think of himself of others. Does he have goals ambitions. Is he a criminal first then an addict or is he an addict then a criminal. Those are only a few questions and only one person was able to answer them. The addict. But before you hear what manner of man the an addict was found to be a word of caution. Drug addiction is not a static problem. It keeps moving perhaps forward we hope backward. Nevertheless it moves and fluctuates constantly. With this in mind we say that this study may not be as accurate a picture of the problem today as it was in 1954 55 or 56. So please remember that what may have been true then may not be completely true known. For example the study found that from about one thousand fifty to 55 the majority of known drug addicts were members of a minority ethnic group such as Negroes

or Puerto Ricans. These groups constitute about 75 percent of all known drug addiction. This was a common factor in most centers of drug addiction. New York City Chicago Detroit. Recently it was estimated that even today in Chicago at least 75 percent of the known addicts are Negro. If this is true it seems as if the picture in the Chicago area has changed very little in degrees and the publication of cats kicks and color. But one of New York City the nation's center of drug addiction has the problem change there. The following ethnic group classification figures were compiled by Riverside Hospital in 1952 to nine hundred fifty eight. In 1952 and 53 negro admissions to Riverside were highest of the three classification groups White Negro and Puerto Rican. This corresponds to the Chicago study of the same years and its findings. But Riverside in

1954 admitted a majority of Puerto Ricans while in 1955 more white drug addicts were admitted. Then in 1956 out of a total of 260 first time admissions only 50 were negro. The figures again changed in one thousand fifty seven in one thousand fifty eight to show an almost equal number of White Negro and Puerto Rican Addicks. To summarize from 1952 to nine hundred fifty eight The total number of addicts admitted to Riverside Hospital for the first time was one thousand six hundred seventeen of this total five hundred six were white. Six hundred eight negro 503 Puerto Rican. Their average age slightly over 16 years old. Dr. Jim saw the hospital's director has this comment about New York City's current problem of drug addiction. No one has the actual statistics and how difficult it is to know when you're dealing with something which people must hide and of which they are ashamed of in any case.

Our opinion is that it is a growing thing. This is based upon the fact that we are receiving patients from parts of study which had not been set up as patients previously. More so each year so that there is reason to believe that drug use is probably increasing in these areas which previously had been so-called free of drug use. Now whether they are actually increasing or whether we the hospitals see more acceptance the point where people come to support me. For me might not have come to us. We don't know but our impression based upon just seeing patients as that it probably is a crime problem. So like the waves of a great ocean the picture of drug addiction alternately swells and subsides but never comes to rest. But let's return to Cat's kicks and color. Mr. fine stone describes an addict this way. The young drug user was a creature of contrasts playing the role of the fugitive as he was inevitably forced to do. He turned

up for interviews and he uniformly ragged and dirty condition. And yet he talked with an air of superiority derived from his identification with an elite group the society of cats. He came from what were externally the drab most most overcrowded and physically deteriorated sections of the city and yet discussed his pattern of living as though it were a consciously cultivated work of art. The cat places a great deal of emphasis upon clothing and exercises his sartorial talons upon a skeletal base of suit sports shirt and hat. The suit itself must be conservative in color. Gay as he is introduced through the selection of the sports shirt and the various accessories also chosen and harmonized as to reveal an exquisite sense of taste. When the cat was not talking about getting his clothes out of pawn he talked about getting them out of the cleaners. This nonchalant pride

one drug user had insisted that the most expensive sports shirts and hats in the city of Chicago were sold in a certain haberdashery on the south side. The ideal cat would always appear in public impeccably dressed and be able to sport a complete change of outfit several times a day. The Chicago study linked the Addicks concern for precise dress to his desire to make every part of his day to day life a gracious work of art. Every act every value must contribute to his cultivated approach to living with his addiction. He became any man's equal. In fact he felt himself superior to most men. This seemed reminiscent of a newer group commonly called beatniks. And we asked Mr. Coburn if the beach presented any problems in drug addiction and not so far as his kids generally know there's some indication that

in some of the so-called beatnik circles there's a there may be some use of the relatively milder forms of drugs bullets like alcohol and possibly marijuana. But there is no substantial evidence that there's a beatnik group that is at all interested in the use of heroin. We'll be hearing more from Mr. Coburn. Now let's get back to the cat. Mr. Fine Stone reported that most cats dislike work especially physical labor. He says part of the cat's sense of superiority comes from his aristocratic disdain for work and the idea that he must be subordinate to a superior. But then we are all in some ways subordinate to someone else in the American culture. At this point we'd like to add a comment of our own. It is not our intention an H is for joy to insult hurt or otherwise offend any

group minority or majority. But neither is it our intention to mince words or distort the facts so that we don't hurt anyone's feelings. We are aware that in our daily individual lives there are many cold and painful facts we must face and recognize for what they are represent to hurt to offend. This is not our intention to face the reality of a problem to learn about it fight it and perchance to conquer it. This and this alone is the basis of our motivation. Please remember this. The American Negro has long been exploited and subordinated both in the past and sad to say in the present. How is this related to drug addiction like this. The study which we've been talking about used as its sample group of addicts 50 young Negro males addicted to heroin.

Might this indicate that those in charge of the study were racially prejudiced. We don't think so. Why. Here's Mr. Fein Stone's explanation of what might seem to be at first a prejudiced point of view. And we quote one of the distinctive properties of the distribution of drug use as a social problem at least in Chicago is it's high degree of both spatial and racial concentration. In fact it is a problem which in this city can be pinpointed with great accuracy as having its incidence preponderantly among the young male colored persons in a comparatively few local community areas unquote prejudiced. We think not for it's not unreasonable to suppose that oppression of any ethnic group on false grounds may make them ready targets for those who would profit by their narcotic enslavement. It's possible that given the equality implied by democracy these

persons would not attempt so serious a method of a scape from reality. It is not beyond reason to hope that sometime in the future it will be obvious to all people that in no way can h ever symbolize true joy or happiness. And no matter how we may try to escape it is in facing the painful realistic facts of everyday life that they are overcome. Next week via tape recording Harold finds St. and Solomon Coburn will discuss a narcotic addiction and how it's linked to crime. Also they will talk about a new and insidious danger. The misuse of sleeping pill. On h is for joy. Her. Play.

Play. Is transcribed program was written by Edwin at Hood and produced by Bill Oberg. This is Ted Seeley speaking. The preceding program was made available to this station by the National Association of educational broadcasters. This is the end E.B. Radio Network.