"Beauty through the eye of a needle": An online study of the practices and beliefs of people who inject performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs). In Human Enhancement Drugs. Eds Katinka van de Ven, Kyle Mulrooney and Jim McVeigh. Routledge.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

As use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) increasingly attracts clinical and research attention, knowledge with regard to the practices of individuals who use PIEDs is also increasing. However, injecting has rarely been studied as a phenomenon of interest in relation to PIEDs. This study aimed to explore and describe experiences, beliefs and values of individuals who inject PIEDs through describing and analysing dynamics in online asynchronous interactions. Data was collected from eight publicly accessible internet discussion forums and coded using NVivo software. For the purposes of this study, threads in relation to injecting practices and beliefs were extracted from the final set of records for ethnographic content analysis. This study contributes to a holistic understanding of injecting, a practice with a cultural biography of stigmatization, in the context of PIED use, and the functioning and dynamics of the online discussion forum space. Literature on the injecting use of psychoactive drugs is compared and contrasted with the practices, values and beliefs of people who inject PIEDs towards their injecting as reported in this study. Through this discussion and the identification of previously undocumented practices, this study provides a unique illustration of injecting in contemporary PIED use as described within online discussion forums.
Original languageEnglish (Ireland)
Title of host publication"Beauty through the eye of a needle"
Place of PublicationUK
PublisherRoutledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Number of pages15
EditionFirst
ISBN (Electronic)9781315148328
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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