Deconstructing the Concept of “Special Populations”

• DOI: 10.1177/002204260203200306
• Date: 01 July 2002
• Author: Angela Hegamin,Mark Casanova,Gayl M. Anglin
• Published date: 01 July 2002
• Subject Matter: Article

© 2002 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES

JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/02/03 825-836

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Angela Hegamin, Ph.D., MSPH, is Assistant Professor of Health Science in the School of Nursing,

California State University, Los Angeles. Her research interests include youthful offender rehabilitation

and health services accessibility to persons with physical disabilities. Gayl M. Anglin, Ph.D. is a Project

Director at UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. Her research interests include the legal

protection of access to appropriate health care, the right to health under international human rights law,

and feminist approaches to health policy and alternative medicine. Mark Casanova is currently the

Executive Director of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, a drug treatment, health services, training

and education agency that assists homeless individuals and families. Contact: Gayl M. Anglin, Ph.D.,

UCLA/Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, 11075 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles,

California 90025, Phone: (310) 312-0500, Fax: (310) 312-0552, E-mail: ganglin@ucla.edu

DECONSTRUCTING THE CONCEPT OF “SPECIAL

POPULATIONS”

ANGELA HEGAMIN, GAYL M. ANGLIN, AND MARK CASANOVA

As part of the April 2001 “Common Ground, Common Language, Common Goals:

Bringing Substance Abuse Practice and Research Together” conference, a panel

of treatment provider experts was assembled to discuss the unique treatment needs

of “special populations.” The “Special Populations” panel was initially guided by

the assumption that clients with unique needs should be considered as distinct

homogeneous groups, outside the mainstream. However, as panel members

revealed, the heterogeneity of the substance abuse treatment client population

suggests that the concept of “special populations” may be inappropriate and that

alternative approaches to conceptualizing diversity within the substance abuse

treatment client population are needed. The present paper provides background

on the use of term “special populations” in the substance abuse field and summarizes

discussions that occurred during the “Special Populations” panel regarding the

application of this concept to clients in substance abuse treatment.

INTRODUCTION

On April 27, 2001, a panel was assembled in Los Angeles, California to discuss

issues of relevance to providing substance abuse treatment to “special populations”

as part of a Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)/Robert Wood Johnson

Foundation (RWJF)-sponsored conference entitled, “Common Ground, Common