Places, Spaces, and Historic Traces: An Investigation of the Systemic Arrangements Past and Present that Drive Trends in Drug-Related Mortality in Marginalized Communities

Abstract

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is burdened by another growing epidemic: addiction. Moreover, this epidemic is increasingly affecting marginalized minorities, especially Black and American Indian/Native Alaskan communities, deviating from historical precedent. This thesis takes a mixed-methods approach to investigate this shifting trend in drug mortality, implementing a three-region comparative study of the DMV, New Mexico, and North Carolina to examine the role of structural racism in drug mortality in Black and Native communities. In doing so, this work both establishes and evaluates a systemic negligence framework to understand the ways in which failure to address historical oppression produce negative health outcomes for minorities, bringing into conversation sociology, legal philosophy, public health, and quantitative social science scholarship. Moreover, by examining geospatial patterns in Black and Native drug mortality using mapping and statistical methods, this work contributes relevant methodology to the existing public health literature. Finally, this thesis provides policy interventions both to address systemic negligence and mitigate the impact of drug mortality on minority communities, addressing both policymakers and researchers.