Gender, personal networks, and drug use among rural African Americans

One of the main unifying concepts of research examining gender variations in drug use behavior is the social network. Yet, research specifically focusing on how the social networks of these groups differ by gender is limited. Few studies have investigated the social networks of rural African Americans who use drugs. In this study, we compared the personal networks of 20 rural African-American men and women addicted to cocaine using social network analysis (SNA) methods. The data do not support strong assertions about gender differences in the personal networks of the study sample. However, the results of the study suggest that men tend to have more drug users in their networks than women, as well as less structurally cohesive networks. Women tend to include more men in their personal networks than men included women. Implications of the research results for network-based drug prevention intervention as well as the value of SNA methods for drug use research are discussed.