ANTH 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Liminality, Arnold Van Gennep, Eugen Bleuler
Document Summary
Anthropology can help us understand why a substance is illegal in one time or jurisdiction while being culturally acceptable as part of healthcare in another. Heroin was first synthesized as a medical treatment for morphine addiction. It was legalized in the 1980"s in canada. Healthcare minister considered it as good for therapeutic actions. Ambros uchtenhagen studied under manfred bleuler (eugene"s son) Took special interest into those with addictions. Drug had to affect both health and social status. The study utilized a range of method including medical (side effects), social scientific(criminal justice involvement), and fiscal (treatment costs and economic benefits) Work: those receiving heroin were able to increase their permanent employment from 14% to 32% Housing: homelessness was eliminated in those that participated in the study. Social assistance: 33% of the study participants were no longer in need of social assistance (welfare) Criminal activity: there was a 60% reduction in illegal activities.
