부산대학교 도서관

In the article the authors analyze the condition of hustlers, good citizens and lost souls with the context to the model of adaptation to the termination of the supplemental security income (SSI) and the social security disability income (SSDI). On December 31, 1996, the U.S. Congress officially ended its funding of the Social Security Administration's program of SSI and SSDI cash and Medicaid benefits for drug addiction and alcoholism (DA&A). This social policy change is part of the U.S. Congress welfare reform, which will impact more than 26,000 Illinois residents, thousands in Cook County alone. The study seeks to illuminate the meaning of these benefits to a group of approximately 40 former Cook County recipients. The authors explored the utility and meaning of the cash and Medicaid benefits to at least three types of recipients, Good Citizens, Hustlers and Lost Souls that emerged from a series of focus groups. The article studies the differences between the three types of recipients in their use of cash as for example, from paying for housing and living essentials to purchasing drugs and Medicaid, like medications and drug treatment benefits. Findings and conclusions also generate important insights into how recent social policy changes impact the drug-using community and produce new health and social problems for both the former recipients and society-at-large.