This dissertation, "Outsiders on the Insides: Drug Use Discourse Between Social Workers and Young Party Drug Users in the Context of Hong Kong Disco and Party Scene" by Wing-yin, Cecilia, Ho, 何穎賢, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract of thesis entitled "Outsiders on the insides" Drug Use Discourse between Social Workers and Young Party Drug Users in the Context of Hong Kong Disco and Party Scene Submitted by Ho Wing Yin For the degree of Master of Philosophy At the University of Hong Kong in May 2007 Abstract Hong Kong, in recent years, has witnessed the rise of a youth rave culture that was subsequently submerged and replaced by a drug use culture in local permanent night entertainment settings. The author's frontline experience as a social worker in the field of drug use was similar to those of her social work colleagues. They shared similar feelings about the fact that they basically spoke a language different from that of their clients, who had developed their own ways of understanding and articulating drug use. This study draws from the symbolic interaction perspective to analyze the interactions between social workers and party drug users, and explains how this interaction has lead both parties to define their situations and act on them. Moreover, the postmodern critique of social work intervention provides a useful reference point for reflecting on the "incongruent dialogue" between social workers and party drug users over the issue of using party drugs. Through this qualitative study of these two sets of actors, this research shows that both social workers and party drug users had to construct their respective identities and that both had to deal with their own crisis. Social workers had to deal with a crisis over their professional identity, which stemmed from their feelings of failing to properly deal with their clients' drug related problems. They were led to question the utility and effectiveness of the conventional and dominant approach that emphasizes abstinence. Meanwhile, party drug users developed two main practices and conceptions relating to drug use: moderation of drug use and trust in recovery. These two practices and conceptions prevented novices from becoming problematic drug users. This study also found that regular interactions between social workers and party drug users facilitated a convergence in the perspective of the social workers and that of the drug users, and that the result was one dominated by the social workers' perspective on "drug abstinence." The author argues that interactions between social workers and their clients led to negotiations, which could be viewed as a form of resistance against the dominant perspectives. Although the study finds that drug use perspectives were full of contradictions and inconsistencies and varied in different contexts, both social workers and their clients tried to present varying stories of party drug use and to develop strategies to deal with everyday challenges and with identity crises. In the end, the social workers' understanding of the local party drug scene was enriched in the face of the prevailing perspective of "saying no to drugs." (420 words) 2 DOI: 10.5353/th_b3888199 Subjects: Youth - Drug use - China - Hong Kong Social work with drug addicts - China - Hong Kong Social workers - China - Hong Kong