SOC10004 Sociological foundations Student name: Student number: How relevant is the sociological imagination for understanding contemporary Australian society in regards to opioid addiction? Opioid addiction is a worrying public health issue in contemporary Australian society. According to a recent report conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2018), deaths from opioid poisoning have steadily increased over the past 10 years, showing a disturbing national trend. Yet in Australia, drug addiction is often treated through drug rehabilitation programs rather than reviewing the structures that predispose the individual to addiction in the first place. For this reason, this essay draws on Mills' (1978) sociological imagination and additional academic literature to show that opioid addiction in contemporary Australia largely results from the pervasive disadvantage experienced by the lower socioeconomic class. Furthermore, for the purpose of this essay, opioid usage will be explained in terms of medically prescribed opioid medication. Opioid medication such as Morphine, Oxycodene and Fentanyl, are a class of prescribed pharmaceutical drugs used to manage moderate to severe physical pain (Lyman 2013). They can also elicit a very relaxed or euphoric state in a very short period of time, which is one reason why some people use it for non-medical purposes (Lyman 2013). In addition, opioids are highly addictive and can cause severe withdrawal symptoms just hours after a dose, further challenging one's ability to cease usage. Hence, it could be argued that users are originally informed of its potential to cause addiction or dependence, but ultimately abuse consumption anyway. However, according to the ideas of the sociological imagination, to assume that drug addiction is a problem of the individual, disregards the structural framework that drive and perpetuate the social problem in the first place (Mills 1978). The sociological imagination is, by definition, a concept used to describe the influence
SOC10004 Sociological foundations Student name: Student number: that broader social structures have in shaping the lives of society and its members (Mills 1978). It further contends that social position is less about the ability to create personal opportunity, but rather a result of a structural framework to which society of that period creates for them. In the case of drug addiction, the sociological imagination would therefore argue that broader social structures, such as social and economic class, are more likely responsible for a person's susceptibility to opioid addiction, than a personal downfall of that individual. Socioeconomic class is a way in which society can classify groups in terms of demographic, occupation and wealth status (Kraus, Park & Tan 2017). Sheppard & Biddle (2017) argue that whilst Australia is largely an egalitarian society compared to other nations, it is certainly not classless. Mills (1978) contends that the historical period to which a particular society operates, and the characteristic nature of its men and women, are key contributors to understanding the causes of social issues. For this reason, the historical significance of class in Australia is crucial in understanding the pervasive disadvantage experienced by those from lower socioeconomic groups. For example,