The following study was conducted in post 2000 and made up a large part of my degree in Criminology. In the third year of study each student was asked to complete a 10,000 word dissertation on a subject of your choice. Heroin use was prevalent in my home town at this time, and given its relevance to criminology I felt it an ideal subject to concentrate on. I therefore came up with the following hypothesis.....

'....by applying Howard Becker's moral crisis production model to a contemporary crime epidemic I will demonstrate the existence of a moral panic which exceeds the real problem, that of heroin use.....'

The findings of the study, and indeed the methodology adopted, offer some very interesting issues. It also offers the contemporary student the opportunity of reviewing the content and methods employed within a dissertation.

ENTER HEROIN STUDY