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Becoming a Peer, Becoming a Person: Subject Formation in China’s Antidrug Social Work

Yun Chen

Social Service Review2025https://doi.org/10.1086/733973article
ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This study investigates the local reinvention of imported peer service ideas for antidrug service in contemporary mainland China through the theoretical lens of subject formation, examining the construction of peers in a context where drug use is legally prohibited, morally condemned, and socially surveilled. Based on an 18-month ethnography, the study reveals that becoming a peer in China’s antidrug field is centered on constructing a state-endorsed subject of a “returning-to-society addict.” Within the broader sociopolitical context of social work development, such a process is mediated by local adaptations of social work discourses, reproducing, rather than challenging, existing governance structures. Nevertheless, peer workers are not passive recipients of the constructed personhood. Because they recognize prevalent stigma and discrimination, they deliberately act as peers to mitigate constraints and disruptions in social relations and everyday life, albeit to a limited degree. This study contributes to growing global dialogues on peer models and critical social work scholarship.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/733973

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@article{yun2025,
  title        = {{Becoming a Peer, Becoming a Person: Subject Formation in China’s Antidrug Social Work}},
  author       = {Yun Chen},
  journal      = {Social Service Review},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/733973},
}

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Becoming a Peer, Becoming a Person: Subject Formation in China’s Antidrug Social Work

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.