Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Employees -- Drug testing -- United States, Drug testing -- United States, Drugs and employment -- United States
Abstract
In this research I contend that the arguments for drug-free workplaces are framed within a narrative of science that lends authenticity to the recurring themes that drug testing promotes the health, safety, and productivity of the American workforce. The sense of authenticity effectively delimits the discourse of drug testing and presents the complexities of drug abuse in binary oppositions that contribute to normalizing the behavior of all individuals, not just those who abuse drugs. I suggest that the process of normalization reproduces the delimitation of discourse and provides justifications for introducing drug testing into areas of society beyond the walls of the workplace.
I conduct a content analysis on the transcripts of the congressional hearings preceding the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1998. A Foucauldian perspective is employed to provide an understanding as to how the drug test has gained a position of dominance in American society. By challenging the narrative of science found in the transcripts I offer resistance to the reproduction of the binary oppositions surrounding drug abuse; in essence, a resistance to the power of drug testing.
Year of Submission
2001
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology
First Advisor
B. Keith Crew, Chair
Date Original
5-2001
Object Description
1 PDF file (vi, 105 leaves ; 28 cm)
Copyright
©2001 Matthew T. Lammers
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Lammers, Matthew T., "The new social discipline : a critical analysis of federal drug-free workplace legislation and employee drug testing" (2001). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1378.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1378
Comments
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