New York City's Struggle over Syringe Exchange: A Case Study of the Intersection of Science, Activism, and Political Change

• Published in: Journal of social issues Vol. 69; no. 4; pp. 694 - 712
• Main Authors: Barreras, Ricardo E., Torruella, Rafael A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2013
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Activism; AIDS; Case studies; Cities; Drug addiction; Drug addicts; History of medicine; HIV; Intervention; Knowledge; Needle exchange programs; New York; Policy Reform; Political Change; Political Factors; Public Health; Science; Science Policy; Social Policy; Social Problems; U.S.A; New York City New York
• ISSN: 0022-4537; 1540-4560
• DOI: 10.1111/josi.12037

This article examines one crucial period in the history of public health—the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and one extremely controversial policy—syringe exchange, in order to study the “gap” between science and policy and explore how science, policy, and activism can intersect effectively to create policy change. This article focuses on the movement to legalize syringe exchange programs during the mid 1980s and early 1990s. It seeks to further our understanding of how and when science has an impact on social policy. This discussion includes conventional notions of how science “works the gap” by providing basic knowledge about the nature of social problems and potential interventions, as well as other forms of scientific impact that are much less understood: such as strategically grounding research questions and dissemination methods within the political context of the issue, how science overlaps with activism, and how researchers themselves engage in struggles over social policy beyond producing data.