Creating visual differences: Methamphetamine users perceptions of anti-meth campaigns

Background: Because of increased law enforcement and subsequent media attention, methamphetamine users appear in the public's imagination as diseased, zombie-like White trash. We explore methamphetamine users' perceptions about whether the images, people, and situations in anti-methamphetamine campaigns reflect their own lives and experiences using meth. Methods: To explore these perceptions, we used photo-elicitation interviews with 47 people who used methamphetamine (30 former and 17 active). Specifically, we presented participants with images from the Faces of Meth and the Montana Meth Project campaigns to stimulate discussion. Results: We found that participants believed these ads did not reflect their personal experiences and consequently were ineffective at curtailing their own methamphetamine use. They believed that the ads represented a certain type of methamphetamine user, particularly those they defined as dysfunctional users. They created symbolic boundaries between themselves and those portrayed in the ads to show how they differed, which allowed them to believe that the ads were not relevant to their experiences. Conclusions: Findings suggest that there are unintended consequences to inauthentic/dramatic imagery. Participants did not believe they were like those in the ads thus saw no reason to quit or seek help. Consequently, overly stigmatizing portraits of users may act as barriers to desistence. The findings have implications for designing anti-methamphetamine campaigns. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.