Critical criteria for the reality of societal perceptions towards drug addicts

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the negative perceptions of society towards recovering drug addicts, and to identify the extent to which society views them as deviants, mentally ill, and a stigma on themselves and society. The study raised the general question: To what extent does society view recovering drug addicts negatively? The following questions branched out from it: 1- Does society view recovering drug addicts as deviant? 2- Does society view recovering drug addicts as mentally ill? 3- Does society view recovering drug addicts as a stigma? The study answers the following hypotheses: 1- Society perceives recovering drug addicts as highly deviant. 2- Society perceives recovering drug addicts as highly mentally ill. 3- Society perceives recovering drug addicts as highly stigmatized. The researchers used the descriptive analytical approach on a sample of 25 professors specializing in psychology at Mohamed Boudiaf University in M'Sila, who were chosen intentionally,. The study tool was a survey questionnaire consisting of three questions, answered according to three alternatives: (highly 3, medium 2, weakly 1). After using appropriate statistical methods, the study reached the following results: - Society perceives that a person recovering from drug addiction is highly deviant. - Society perceives that a person recovering from drug addiction is highly mentally ill. - Society perceives that a person recovering from drug addiction is highly stigmatized. Thus, the study hypotheses were confirmed, and society actually holds negative perceptions of those recovering from drug addiction (drug stigma).