2022 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
The Japanese Culture of Illegal Drug Control: A Q-Sort of Practitioner Values
| Project/Area Number |
19K13548
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| Research Institution | Kanazawa College of Art |
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Principal Investigator |
ブルースター デイビッド 金沢美術工芸大学, 美術工芸学部, 講師 (30814652)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | illegal drugs / policy / Q method / practitioner / Q sort / Japan / stakeholder |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The primary purpose of this project was to understand and provide an explanation of Japanese illegal drug control culture(s) through comparing the similarities and differences in practitioner perspectives. To this end, an empirical project utilising Q methodology was conducted to measure and analyse the goals of a diverse range practitioners in respect of people who use illegal drugs. The results showed that while the theme of “autonomous drug-free lives” was a common theme among all practitioners, three distinct perspectives can be distinguished, termed “recovery supporters”, “moral guardians”, and “crime bureaucrats. These results provide important evidence of how practitioners rank different policy goals, and what sorts of perspectives exist in this rapidly evolving field. In turn, this also provides empirical support for theoretical frameworks which contest the homogeneity of criminal justice policy in Japan, and instead emphasise the political competition, negotiation, and resistance involved in governance. The empirical and theoretical results of this project have been presented at several domestic and international conferences and have also been published in several international peer-reviewed journals. In addition, a report aimed towards participants and policy stakeholders was also disseminated.
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