“They just don’t care about us!”: Police custody experiences for young men with histories of injecting drug use
| Author | Mark Stoové,Shelley Walker,Mandy Wilson,Peter Higgs |
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865819868004 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
“They just don’t care
about us!”: Police custody
experiences for young men
with histories of injecting
drug use
Shelley Walker
National Drug Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia
Burnet Institute, Victoria, Australia
Peter Higgs
Burnet Institute, Victoria, Australia
Department of Public Health, La Trobe University,
Victoria, Australia
Mark Stoove
´
Burnet Institute, Victoria, Australia
School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University,
Victoria, Australia
Mandy Wilson
National Drug Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia
Abstract
Young men (aged 18–24) represent a quarter of all episodes of police custody detention for
adult males in Victoria, Australia. Despite this, little is known about their experience. Using
Bacchi’s Foucauldian-influenced “What’s the problem represented to be?” approach and data
from interviews with 28 young men with histories of injecting drug use who were detained in
police custody prior to adult prison, we aim to address this gap in the literature. We highlight
Corresponding author:
Shelley Walker, National Drug Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO, Box U1987,
Perth, Western Australia, 6845. Australia.
Email: shelley.walker@burnet.edu.au
Australian & New Zealand Journal of
Criminology
2020, Vol. 53(1) 102–120
!The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865819868004
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how dividing practices of discrimination made possible their subjectification as “dangerous
violent Others” and how unruly behaviour and self-harm were simultaneous mechanisms for
voicing their despair and frustration, for gaining power in a place in which they had very little
control and for resisting dominant truths imposed upon them as worthless subjects. It is
such positioning we argue, that allowed the forfeiting of their rights to basic health care,
fair treatment and respect, and at the same time produced and exacerbated a range of
psychological, physical and social harms. Our analysis raises important questions about
police custody, notably its role in the production of inequality and further marginalisation
of vulnerable groups.
Keywords
Australia, human rights, injecting drug use, police custody, “What’s the problem represented
to be?” framework, young adult prisoners
Date received: 13 March 2019; accepted: 15 July 2019
Introduction
Young men (aged 18–24 years) account for over a quarter of all episodes of police
custody detention for adult males in the state of Victoria, Australia (Victoria Police,
2018). For many of these young men, police custody is the first stop on the journey to
prison. Little is known about their experience of adult prison (see Halsey & Deegan,
2012, 2014, 2015; Walker, Higgs, Stoove
´, & Wilson, 2018; Walker, Lancaster, Stoove,
Higgs, & Wilson, 2018), but even less is known about their experience of police custody.
One in six adult male prisoners in Australia are aged under 25. They are amongst the
most vulnerable prisoners, typically characterised by socio-economic disadvantage,
poor educational and employment histories, and a complex combination of substance
use and mental health issues. They are more likely to have been be detained as juveniles
and to return to prison (and therefore police custody) than any other age group
(Ombudsman, 2014; van Dooren, Kinner, & Butler, 2010). Three-quarters report his-
tories of illicit drug use, a rate higher than for older prisoners, and those who inject
drugs are amongst the most marginalised of these, experiencing an even greater likeli-
hood of reincarceration and a return to police custody than their non-injecting peers
(Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2018; Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, 2015). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are disproportionately over-
represented, accounting for almost a third of these young male prisoners (ABS,
2018), a phenomenon recognised as stemming from colonisation, past policies of dis-
possession (of land, children and culture) and racist practices within society (Cunneen &
Tauri, 2016; White, 2015).
For young male prisoners, police custody represents the first point of detention in the
criminal justice process after their arrest. At this time, untreated health issues and
unmet needs in the social and welfare domains are common and may be exacerbated
by the psychological distress of arrest and/or drug intoxication and withdrawal
(Coghlan, Gannoni, Goldsmid, Patterson, & Willis, 2015; Ogloff, Warren, Tye,
Walker et al. 103
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