Producing Alcohol or Other Drug ‘Dependence’ in an Australian Drug Court: A Victorian Case Study

Abstract

This thesis investigated the way concepts of dependence are constructed in the Drug Court of Victoria. In doing so, it explored their implications for drug court participants and public understandings of addiction. The work of Carol Bacchi (2009) was used alongside ethnographic observation, qualitative interviews and document analysis methods. I showed how dependence enactments conflict in ways that can produce harmful consequences for participants. In closing, the thesis challenges the assumed therapeutic value of these drug court practices and suggests opportunities for reform.