Imagen social de las personas con consumo problemático de drogas desde el enfoque de género y clase social

The representations of a social fact usually do not match with the proper features of the same. Nevertheless, the importance of the social representations, in the identification and understanding of the social phenomenon, are unquestionable. In the specific case of drug addiction, it is not enough to know objectively the phenomenon itself, but the necessity to unravel the combination of social representations that configure it. In this way the prejudice and stereotypes that surround the problem itself emerge, allowing looking into the psychosocial and cultural aspects of drugs, the problematic use and the reality of those who use drugs. It is essential to carry out this task from an integral view that takes in account theinequality factors that the western society goes through, in general, and in particular the Spanish society (such as social class, ethnicity, place of origin or sex/gender). This study identifies the social representation of those who have a problematic use ofdrugs considering the processes related with gender socialization and social class. This is supported by information obtained from press reports and workshops based onphotographic images. The results show, on one hand, that the popular consciousness of drug addicts coincides with a man with a heroin problematic use. On the other hand, this social representation varies substantially depending on gender and social class, being more stereotyped and negative in the case of women and underprivileged people.