{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T08:40:12Z","timestamp":1793781612523,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,7]],"date-time":"2023-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1696636800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000269","name":"Economic and Social Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ES\/P00069X\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ES\/P00069X\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The association between stigma and drug use has been widely researched. However, to fully understand the nuances of stigma, as experienced by people who use drugs (PWUD), it is argued that we must look at the situations within which stigma is encountered. To obtain an \u2018up close\u2019 look at situated stigma, data are drawn from two ethnographic studies\u2014one set in a homeless hostel in the South of England and the other at a substance use service in South Wales. This article explores how PWUD experience and negotiate stigma at different stages of their drug use. We identify three notable themes across these settings. Firstly, \u2018othering\u2019 occurs in two distinct ways, by othering the past self or distancing from other PWUDs. Secondly, \u2018drug exceptionalism\u2019 is used to justify an individual\u2019s drug use and express frustration at the associations between legality, social harm, and stigma. Finally, in \u2018negotiating identities\u2019, individuals present alternate identity roles to either demonstrate clashes in identity or to promote a conventionally positive sense of self. This article contributes to the existing literature on stigma, firstly, by comparing the stigma management strategies of those in active drug use and recovery and, secondly, by using this to highlight the importance of ethnography and situated stigma within this field.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph20196894","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,9]],"date-time":"2023-10-09T06:16:48Z","timestamp":1696832208000},"page":"6894","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Situating Stigma: An Ethnographic Exploration of How Stigma Arises in Interactions at Different Stages of People\u2019s Drug Use Journeys"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3166-8401","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fiona Catherine","family":"Long","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kirsty Stuart","family":"Jepsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1336","DOI":"10.1086\/228668","article-title":"Identity Work Among the Homeless: The Verbal Construction and Avowal of Personal Identities","volume":"92","author":"Snow","year":"1987","journal-title":"Am. 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