%0 Journal Article
%T Contextualizing the Drink
%A Corey J. Colyer
%A Karen G. Weiss
%J Criminal Justice Review
%@ 1556-3839
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0734016817747011
%X Accounts of drink tampering and subsequent sexual assault are commonly shared among students on college campuses, with more than a third of college students in one study claiming to know someone who has been drugged without their knowledge. This phenomenon has produced two schools of thought. A risk mitigation approach attempts to isolate and measure the risks of drink-spiking as a real problem, whereas a social constructionist approach treats drink-spiking as a cultural narrative, even a myth, that symbolizes broader social anxieties. This article critically assesses both arguments and proposes a theoretical middle ground that attempts to contextualize drink-spiking narratives as a site for critical inquiry. We argue that researchers are hampered by an unwillingness to see drink-spiking as both a cultural phenomenon and a problem of consequence. In our critical discussion, we propose a theoretical framework that contextualizes drink-spiking narratives that ¡°everyone knows¡± as learned, shared, and reified within select social spaces, namely, ¡°party scenes¡± rife with ambiguity and conflict. Within these contexts, narratives of drink-spiking are constructs that have both utility and consequence. As such, drink-spiking narratives present a problem worth inquiry
%K drink-spiking
%K social constructionism
%K narrative
%K party scenes
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0734016817747011