Deaths of Despair? Framing the Opioid Epidemic

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Session Description

In the US, deaths from opioids and suicide have been dubbed "deaths of despair" that are reversing decades of gains in life expectancies. In fact, these changes are likely visible indicators of longstanding disadvantage that has simply been overlooked by elites. Although typically considered a topic of public health research, the opioid epidemic and the incidence of depression are topics ripe for analysis by political scientists from different subfields to explain the policy response and the feedback effects of ill-health. Scholars on this panel approach declining health outcomes from the perspective of public opinion, Congressional voting patterns, framing effects, race, and the impact of marginalized communities on policy choices and legislative behavior.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 48: Health Politics and Policy

Individual Presentations

• Talking Smack: How Congressional Candidates Frame the Opioid Epidemic - Jack D. Collens, Siena College

• No War on Opioids? Race, Medical Missteps, and Support for Punitive Drug Policy - Lilla Orr, Yale

• The Social Construction of Opioid Addicts: Addiction, Blame, and Race - Scott E. Robinson, University of Oklahoma; Lauren Glenn Reinke, University of Oklahoma

• Opioids: How Racial and Ethnic Disparities Shape Health Outcomes and Policy - Elizabeth Perez Chiques, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas; Patricia Strach, University at Albany, SUNY; Katie Zuber, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Chair

• Lawrence D. Brown

Discussant

• Harold Pollack University of Chicago