lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Analyzing the Opioid Epidemic in Sociology
SOC 1001 - Introduction to Sociology
University of Cincinnati
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Beginning in the late 1990s, the opioid epidemic has claimed millions
of lives and is still thriving at an alarming rate in the United States.
What initially sparked my interest in the topic is a TV commercial
comparing the deaths caused by this epidemic to the casualties that
resulted from the 9/11 disaster in our country. So, what exactly is the
opioid epidemic? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
opioids are “a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin,
synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally
by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone
(Vicodin), codeine, morphine, and many others” (National Institutes
of Health, n.d.). This epidemic is made up of many various complex
factors. While viewing this topic through a sociological lens, it can be
seen that there are clear connections between cultural beliefs and
biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social change. These
connections are important and provide a broader understanding of the
issue at hand.
Cultural Beliefs and Biases
Cultural beliefs and biases are any predetermined feelings or views
that a person or a group of people may hold regarding an individual, a
group, or a situation. There are many various beliefs and biases when
approaching the issue of the opioid epidemic, two of those include the
economic system of capitalism and the theory of individualism.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Individualism
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
Capitalism
The opioid epidemic has a direct correlation with the economic system
of capitalism. Under capitalism, the main goal of companies,
including pharmaceutical companies, is to maximize profit. These
companies manufacture and distribute highly addictive opioids with
aggressive marketing strategies in order to gain as much profit as
possible. While viewing the relationship between capitalism and the
opioid epidemic through a sociological lens, this relationship goes
deeper than just an economic system aimed at profit. In the United
States, the banning of illegal drugs and the promotion of legal opioid
medications are components of a broader system of racial capitalism
and deregulation that are intertwined. The opioid epidemic would not
have been possible without the racial structures that have dominated
both illegal and legal consumption (Murch, 2019). The opioid
epidemic has been largely aimed at white rural communities, utilizing
aggressive marketing tactics aimed at the white communities while
ignoring the effects and impact of the drugs on communities of color.
This is one example of racial capitalism in the opioid crisis because
the companies are milking economic value from white communities
while ignoring the devastating effects on non-white communities.
Individualism
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
Individualism is a concept where people do what is best for
themselves (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Individualism relates to the opioid
epidemic because it encourages the idea of self-reliance, which can
lead to self-medication. Those who are feeling pain, whether it is
physical or emotional, may seek out opioids to self-medicate. The
relationship between individualism and the opioid epidemic is
complicated. While individualism values personal freedom and
responsibility, it can also unintentionally create an environment that
enables opioid abuse. This relationship could also be seen as positive,
though. Because individualism does promote personal responsibility
and doing what is best for oneself, addicts may be more prone to
seeking help for addiction. Or on the negative side, they may be so
wrapped up in their personal feelings and needs and have judgment
clouded by addiction, that they choose to continue unnecessary opioid
abuse as a way of self-gratification. A prime example of individualism
and the part that it plays in the opioid epidemic is the story of a
woman named Christin, a mobile phlebotomist. As posted on Yale
Medicine, Christin became addicted to opioid pain medications
following a motor vehicle accident when she was just 18 years old.
When her family doctor refused to refill her oxycontin prescription
because she had been taking the highly addictive medications for far
too long, she turned to heroin (Yale Medicine, 2017). In this example,
the theory of individualism applies to Christin because when her
family doctor refused to refill her prescription, she sought to do what
she felt was best for her at the time, handling her pain with a stronger
illicit opioid. Christin also ended up receiving help and conquering her
addiction, moving on to become a certified phlebotomist.
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
These cultural beliefs and biases help me to better understand the
social issue of the opioid epidemic because they provide useful insight
into the social factors that contribute to it. In capitalism, for example,
pharmaceutical companies' motive for profit could have caused them
to market the drugs aggressively, leading to over pre scription and
abuse in individuals. The theory of individualism can cause an
emphasis on personal responsibility that hinders further research on
systemic factors that led up to the epidemic. Understanding both
capitalism and individualism can better help not only myself but also
the United States to develop ideas to address or fix this widespread
issue.
Social Roles
Social roles are defined as a set of actions that are known or expected
from a certain position in society (Ferris & Stein, 2022). Within the
opioid epidemic, there are many roles that can be discussed and
analyzed. Whether it is on the topic of individuals, families,
communities, health care providers, or government officials, everyone
has a part to play in this crisis. The two social roles that will be
discussed are pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers.
Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies play a core part in the opioid epidemic,
standing at the helm of the issue. These companies aggressively
marketed the highly addictive opioid medications targeting millions of
Americans to generate profit. An example of this is Perdue Pharma,
the maker of Oxycontin, which was recently sued back in 2018 for
falsely advertising dangerous drugs and glorifying their usage to profit
from the suffering of Virginians (Vozzella, 2018). Although this role
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
can be seen as positive because pharmaceutical companies can help
those who are really in need of prescription opioids for pain
management, it can also be viewed as negative because the aggressive
marketing techniques utilized by the companies created a false sense
of security regarding the use of opioids. As humans we expect these
companies to take accountability for their actions and their roles in
this epidemic. We have certain expectations for them to address this
situation and help find a solution to stop the problem.
Healthcare Providers
Healthcare providers also play a key role, they are like the middleman
standing between individuals and pharmaceutical companies. Their
role can be seen as negative because they often overprescribe opioids
for pain management and may not fully understand their addictive
natures. They are also responsible for informing patients about their
benefits and risks and if fail to do so, patients may not understand the
risks and abuse the medications. This role could also be viewed as
positive. An example of this would be the situation with Christin, the
phlebotomist, that I described on page 1 in paragraph 2. Although
Christin was experiencing pain along with physical and mental
reliance on opioid medications, her physician refused to further
prescribe her any of them due to her long-term usage. This is one
expectation that we hold for healthcare providers. We as Americans
expect them to hold a sense of responsibility regarding our health and
ultimately make the best decision for our care. Much like the theory of
individualism and the economic system of capitalism, understanding
the roles of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers will
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
allow me to have insight into the factors that caused the opioid
epidemic and find a solution to stop the problem.
Social Inequalities
Social inequality is defined as an uneven apportionment of wealth,
authority, and notoriety (Ferris & Stein, 2022). It is interesting to look
at the correlation between social inequalities and the opioid epidemic.
The two specific inequalities that will be discussed are individuals
with lower socioeconomic status and racial differences within the
opioid epidemic.
Socioeconomic Status
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status often hold physically
demanding jobs, experience more financial stress leading to mental
and emotional stress and are often stigmatized and criminalized for
drug use more often than higher-income individuals. These factors
often lead individuals with this socioeconomic status to use or abuse
both licit and illicit opioid medications. According to an article in the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
workers in the fishing industry have a greater risk of developing
musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that may require the use of
opioids for pain management, which may put them at high risk for
developing opioid dependence (Walter et al., 2018). Findings from the
National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that
compared to adults in the United States who hold graduate degrees,
those who possess only High School degrees were at risk of opioid
overdose with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.48. This hazard ratio implies
that individuals having only a High School education were 2.48 times
more likely to experience an overdose from opioids compared to those
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
holding a graduate degree. The confidence interval (CI) for this
finding is [2.00, 3.06] meaning that researchers are approximately 95
percent sure that the hazard ratio lies between 2.00 and 3.06 for this
statistic (Altekruse et al., 2020). In addition, it was found that people
living beneath the poverty line held a hazard ratio of 1.36 compared to
individuals living at least five times above the poverty line. This
implies that households below the poverty line are 1.36 times, or
roughly 36 percent, more likely to experience opioid abuse and
mortality rates (Altekruse et al., 2020).
Racial Differences
Race is present in the issue of the opioid epidemic because although it
predominately affects whites, individuals of all races are ultimately
affected. Because this issue is seen as mainly affecting whites,
oftentimes African Americans experiencing opioid dependence are
overlooked and unable to receive the treatment that they need. There
are unfortunate and devastating stigmas against African American
patients held by healthcare providers. Some of those include the belief
that they will only sell their prescriptions, they are strong and can
handle pain better than other races, or that they will neglect to
properly take their medications (Murray, 2019). The National Institute
on Drug Abuse maintains that from 2018 to 2019, there was
approximately a 38 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths for
African American individuals, while the overdose rates for other
minority groups either stayed the same or decreased (NIDA, 2021).
Shockingly, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
revealed that from the years 2015 to 2017 black experienced the
greatest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
metropolitan areas involving opioids (both licit and illicit) with the
mortality rate for any opioid increasing by 103 percent and the
mortality rate for synthetic opioids increasing by 361 percent (Lippold
et al., 2019).
These social inequalities will help me to better understand the issue of
the opioid epidemic because they allow me to realize who is mainly
affected by the issue and why. Through understanding that people
with lower socioeconomic status or people of minority are more often
impacted by opioid addiction, I can also understand that it is essential
for further measures to be put into place to offer better healthcare
options and resources to be put into place for these individuals.
Existing Social Conditions
Social conditions are defined as the factors that influence a person's
standard of living, availability of prospects, and life story (Law
Insider, n.d.). For the purpose of this analysis, I have chosen child
welfare and the media as my examples of existing social conditions.
Child Welfare
Child welfare has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
More adults are being incarcerated or passing away from addiction, or
simply losing custody of their kids. Because of this, more children are
placed into foster care or placed in the care of relatives. This is
impacting child welfare in a negative way because not only does this
generate a great demand that may not be able to be met in a timely
matter, but no one wants to see a child being removed from their home
and their parents. An article published by the Tribune Content Agency
in 2017 states that Lucas County, Ohio is in a dire situation regarding
foster care. The county is running out of foster homes and unable to
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
keep up, with a recent influx of roughly 56 percent of children
needing foster homes due to opioids (“More Lucas County children
enter foster care as opioid crisis continues,” 2017). In another article
from The Washington Post, author Perry Stein states that the statistics
of children in the foster care system increased by 19 percent in the
state of Massachusetts, by 10 percent for Ohio, and over 27 percent
for North Dakota between the years of 2011 and 2015. This situation
is dire, and state budgets and social workers are overwhelmed (Stein,
2017). Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that placing
these children into foster care basically was unavoidable because most
of the extended family members of the children affected were also
addicted to opioids (Ciaramella, 2019).
Media
The opioid epidemic has been a challenging issue for the media to
cover, with some people scrutinizing the media’s coverage of
prescription opioids instead of aspects that lead to addiction. The
media has also been found to use stigmatizing language in articles and
stories about the epidemic, which has upset people and has researchers
talking. An article from the National Library of Medicine called,
“Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
epidemic: Implications for public health” found that over the course of
a 10-year research period, 49% of news stories that covered the opioid
epidemic used language that could be considered stigmatizing, with
only 2% using the less stigmatizing option (McGinty, Stone,
Kennedy-Hendricks, & Barry, 2019). The media being challenged by
the opioid epidemic can be seen as positive, negative, and strained
depending on the viewpoint. It’s positive because it spreads
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
awareness, negative because of the stigmatization previously
discussed, and strained because media coverage often involves a level
of sensationalism and focuses more on a dramatic story than the root
of the problem at hand.
Impact of Social Change
The opioid epidemic is challenging current conditions in many ways.
It is putting a strain on the healthcare system, public corrections, and
many state agencies. One could even go as far as to say that it is
straining the legal system, as since the beginning of the opioid
epidemic there have been numerous lawsuits against big pharma, such
as the lawsuit against a few of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains
including Walgreens and Walmart, who were sued for contributing to
the opioid epidemic in Ohio (Landi, 2021). The social issue of the
opioid epidemic may help to facilitate change in these systems by
implementing stricter regulations, better-enforcing laws, access to
improved healthcare programs, and increased public corrections
security measures. On the other hand, the issue may put too much
strain on these systems and cause collapse. Too much pressure on the
legal system could cause an increased financial burden for the United
States. Lack of adequate qualified help within the public corrections
systems could cause increased emotional stress and lack of
productivity. Healthcare programs may run out of resources to assist
with the issue. The strain may end up being too much for the system
to handle. There are many ways that this issue could have an impact.
In conclusion, the opioid epidemic is an extreme and dire situation for
the United States that involves both illicit and licit opioid drugs. This
epidemic has clear connections to many ideals in sociology such as
lOMoARcPSD|61746433
cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and social
change. This epidemic is changing many things in the United States
including the corrections system, healthcare programs, child welfare,
and the media.
References
Altekruse, S. F., Cosgrove, C. M., Altekruse, W. C., Jenkins, R. A., &
Blanco, C. (2020). Socioeconomic risk factors for fatal opioid
overdoses in the United States: Findings from the Mortality
Disparities in American Communities Study (MDAC). PloS one,
15(1), e0227966. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227966
America’s deadly synthetic opioid epidemic is being driven by free
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u=nhc_main&sid=ebsco&xid=e5690a9a
Ciaramella, C. J. (2019, June). THE DRUG WAR'S HIDDEN
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com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/A586357917/ITOF?
u=nhc_main&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a8d9b786
Ferris & Stein, (2022). The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology
(8th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.
Landi, H. (2021). Federal jury holds pharmacy chains CVS,
Walgreens and Walmart responsible for role in opioid crisis.
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(2019). Stigmatizing language in news media coverage of the opioid
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gale-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/A519846591/ITOF?
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Murch, D. (2019, April 9). How Race Made the Opioid Crisis. Boston
Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/donna-murch-how-race-
made-opioid-crisis/
Murray, K. (2019, October 15). Racial Disparities In Opioid
Addiction Treatment In Black And White Populations. Addiction
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opioid-addiction treatment/
National Institutes of Health (n.d.). Opioids. National Institute on
Drug Abuse. Retrieved July 1, 2023, from
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/opioids
NIDA. 2021, September 9. Disparities in opioid overdose deaths
continue to worsen for Black people, study suggests. Retrieved from
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https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2021/09/disparities-in-
opioid-overdosedeaths-continue-to-worsen-for-black-people-study-
suggests on 2023, August 8
Overcoming Opioid Addiction: A Woman Shares Her Story. (2017,
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Schnell, M., Nusslock, R., Schwandt, H., Feinglass, J., Mason, M., &
Post, L. A. (2021, June
28). The Opioid Crisis: An ‘Epidemic Within the Pandemic’. Institute
For Policy Research. Retrieved July 1, 2023, from
https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/news/2021/opioid-crisis-an-
epidemic-within-the pandemic.html#what-caused-the-opioid-crisis
Stein, P. (2017, July 1). Nation's opioid crisis overwhelms foster-care
system. Washington Post.
https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/A497514208/ITOF?
u=nhc_main&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5b496e16
Vozzella, L. (2018, June 27). Virginia attorney general sues Perdue
Pharma, maker of Oxycotin, blaming it for opioid crisis. Washington
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Walter, A. W., Morocho, C., King, L., Bartlett, J., Kelsey, D.,
DeSousa, M., Biesecker, G., & Punnett, L. (2018). Preventing opioid
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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15040648
