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As part of an interview-based qualitative study on the life-course of people who formally used methamphetamine in Aotearoa-New Zealand, this paper uses Deleuze and Guattari's rhizomatic perspective to trace the specific effects and particular relations involved in methamphetamine use. The methamphetamine-using trajectory for the 42 former users is a multifaceted and constantly fluctuating process involving multiple entries, exists, pathways, and restarts. By amplifying and enlightening the user, methamphetamine use begins by liberating desire through sending the user "out the gate," but long-term high-dose use can end up constraining and repressing subjectivity and cyclically producing adverse psychological, emotional, interpersonal, and social effects. As a metamorphic process that produces transformative change, long-term high-dose methamphetamine use is a nonlinear rollercoaster ride that typically leads to a downward spiral whereby life stagnates, shrinks, or regresses. By undermining productive and transformative connections, the life of the long-term high-dose methamphetamine user typically—but not inevitably—involves revolving instead of evolving. Against a linear and deterministic popular media-generated narrative about methamphetamine use, a rhizomatic perspective emphasizes the potential for transformation by focusing upon the situational and interactional processes involved in users who undergo complex and varied temporary changes. From Deleuze and Guattari's perspective, disentangling from long-term high-dose methamphetamine use requires activating new relationships and possibilities for desire by forming meaningful biopsychosocial connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the first qualitative-based research on the life-course of methamphetamine users in Aotearoa/New Zealand, this paper analyses the life domains of school, friendship and work. Through application of interactional theory, this paper increases understanding of the situational contexts and interpersonal factors that influence drug use trajectories and the transition from one life domain to another by identifying the patterns within each domain and the influence school, friendship and work exerts on drug use and, conversely, how drug use impacts on school, friendship and work. The analysis discovered 20 commonly shared adverse experiences that hindered educational and employment success and contributed to drug use, including: negative school transitions, significant turning point events, weak commitment to school, poor school attitude and performance, low academic achievement, low school and work ambition, low parental expectations, and high levels of mental health issues, delinquency, delinquent peer involvement, bullying victimisation, work victimisation, unstable careers and illegal economic activities. Specifically, it was common for interviewees to 'track backwards' in high school. This study highlights the importance of the educational domain for altering drug use trajectories, especially high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first of its kind published in English, this study of desistance among male offenders in South Korea addresses the knowledge deficit regarding criminal career-based research from non-Western societies. Using arrest records from 1998 to 2009, 3102 criminal careers are traced from adolescence into adulthood. Each offender is classified either a ‘ desister ’ (74.1%), a ‘ potential-desister ’ (19.2%) or a ‘ persister ’ (6.7%). The delinquent histories of eighty-three detainees were surveyed to identify the effect home, employment, and/or friendship stability had upon desistance. Logistic regression analysis found friendship stability had the greatest effect. The study also compares the 6.7% persisters to the ‘chronic 6%’ and ‘severe 5%’ identified by Western-based studies. In response to Moffitt's ‘ temporary vs. persistent dual taxonomy ’ an alternative ‘ desistant vs. persistent tripartite taxonomy ’ is proposed. Based upon the findings, and practical experience, several policy suggestions rooted in Laub and Sampson's ‘situated choice’ view of desistance are proffered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]