Drug Normalization and Conventional Social Institutions: The Unusual Case of Prescription Drug Misuse

Sociological and criminological research demonstrates that involvement in conventional social institutions and having a “stake in conformity” serves as a protective factor against various forms of substance use. Yet, the normalization of prescription drug misuse raises questions about these processes. Drawing on interviews of 162 young adult prescription drug misusers, we demonstrate that the normalization of prescription drug misuse is driven by facets of the conventional social institutions of medicine, the family, school, and the workplace. These findings not only contrast the large body of research on the protective role these social institutions typically play regarding substance use, but also the subcultural context of leisure that has historically produced processes of drug normalization among young adults. Through processes of pharmaceuticalization as well as family and institutionally based peer associations, prescription drug misuse emerges as a common and contradictory way in which young adults navigate social expectations of conformity within the contexts of conventional social institutions.