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The Influence of Family and Peer Risk Networks on Drug Use Practices and Other Risks among Mexican American Noninjecting Heroin Users

University of Houston, Texas

Alan Neaigus

Institute for International Research on Youth at Risk, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., Columbia University, New York

Charles D. Kaplan

Maastricht University, the Netherlands

Noninjecting heroin use (NIU) is spreading among social networks of young Mexican American polydrug users. This article examines the influence of family and peer networks on NIU behavior and other drug practices and risks. This study delineates the extent to which a culturally relevant modification of the "network facilitation" theoretical approach can increase both a theoretical and practical understanding of drug use and related risk behaviors. Using the methods of analytic ethnography, it identifies, describes, and explains variations in the social networks among this marginalized population and how specific aspects of Mexican American culture (familismo, and collectivismo) affects risk behaviors.

Key Words: Mexican Americans • noninjecting heroin • social networks • risk behaviors • family and peers

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 37, No. 1, 79-107 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0891241607309476


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