Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction

Stephen Parkin is a qualitative researcher at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Services, University of Oxford, UK and author of An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction.

• List of Boxes, Tables and Figures, Acknowledgements, Part I. Review, Introduction, 1. Considering an Applied Visual Sociology?, 2. Harm Reduction and Injecting Drug Use, Part II. Empiricism, 3. Methodology and Methods, 4. Analysis, 5. Drug Using Environments as a ‘Continuum of Descending Safety’, 6. Drug Related Litter as Visual Data, 7. The Management of Drug Related Litter in UK Settings, Part III. An applied visual sociology, 8. The Value of Applied Visual Data in ‘Real World’ Settings, 9. Towards an Applied Visual Sociology, 10. Practical Exercises in Applied Visual Sociology, References, Appendix I: A Harm Reduction Response to Media Reports of Needlestick Injury/Drug Related Litter, Appendix II: Frontline: A Photo-Ethnography of Drug-Using Environments, Index

’Parkin’s latest book makes for essential reading for researchers thinking of using visual methods in the social sciences and for harm-reduction practitioners working with the consequences of public drug use. The ethical, methodological and practical issues discussed in An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction will resonate across a broad spectrum of readers and be an eye-opener for others.’ Alasdair Forsyth, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK 'A nuanced discussion of drug use is no simple task. Ever-growing bodies of literature from a variety of academic disciplines continue to produce a wide range of content with regards to drug use. Nor is it easy to effectively introduce and implement research methods that both satisfy academic pursuits and hold relevance for non-academic interventions. An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction manages to not only contribute to research on injecting drug use and harm reduction through the detailed description of Stephen Parkin’s original research, but also develops a convincing defence for the usefulness of visual methods in general and applied visual sociology in particular. ... For those already engaged in either visual methods or harm reduction (or both, like the author of this review), Picturing Harm Reduction is a decidedly useful and relevant book which significantly enhances the understanding and application of such research and practice.' Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy