Discourse Analysis In Substance Abuse

Three sources have been chosen for this study;

1. RAPt Research and Policy Briefing

2. UKDPC Reducing Drug Use, Reducing Reoffending

3. Ministry of Justice Gender differences in substance misuse and mental health amongst Prisoners.

These represent two policy papers and a case study. I will be using discourse analysis (DA) as the method of analysis. ‘In the end, discourse analysis is one way to engage in a very im-portant human task. The task is this: to think more deeply about the meanings we give peo-ple 's words so as to make ourselves better, more humane people and the world a better, more humane place’ (J P Gee, 2004, pg3).

Discourse analysis covers all forms of communication (Bryman, 2012, pg528). In particular it ‘emphasises the ways

In other words: certain people and social groups create and formulate ideas about our world, which under certain conditions turn into unquestioned truths and start to seem normal’. His analysis focused on power relationships in society as expressed through, in particular, the written word. Conducting such an analysis offers a means of challenging the way the world has come to be constructed as it is and how it may be constructed differently.

For instance, the way people think about crime can vary greatly and what is viewed as socially acceptable can change over time depending on the influence that various pressure groups can have on public policy – as Florian Schneider points out, “it is a continuous negotiation process on what the “correct” view should be” Discourse the-ory helps us think about the connection between communication and politics and the

world we live in, and asks us to slowly and systematically put together the puzzle pieces that make up social relations”. (Politics East Asia, 2013).

Of course, there are differing interest groups involved in such issues as criminal justice, all with their own particular vestige interests. It is important to try and unravel these differing motivations and pressures to help determine where and to what extent policy changes might

I was worried about using primary data, as this could have caused biased answers from interviewees from drug programmes etc and I wanted to construct a honest and clear presentation of the analysis. An advantage of using secondary data is that it is cost efficient and more accessible, as this dissertation relies heavily on prison data and government practices. It would be harder to access this infor-mation on a primary basis. For my study it has proven to be the best analysis approach for this research question as the data I have analysed was accessed from the university library and internet access. When accessing the internet for certain data I have been extra cau-tious that the information has come from a reliable source, due to the data being available from a variety of government departments, I know that the information is accurate and relia-ble. Bryman also confirms this type of data is notably advantaged as ‘government depart-ments and their various representatives, collect data that are presented in statistical form and that may be usable by social scientists’. (Bryman, 2012, pg