The War Metaphor: A Threat to Vulnerable Populations.

Gustavsson, Nora S.

This article considers war metaphor a threat to vulnerable populations, historically served by social work. According to the author, war metaphor has gained popularity in discussing social, health, and economic problems. It could be argued that the 1960s war on poverty has become war on poor people. The 1980s witnessed a reduction in programs and funding at the federal level for programs designed to help poor people. The war on crime has resulted in exploding prison population in which people who are poor and of color are over represented. A war on acquired immune deficiency syndrome could result in the persecution and preventive detention of groups assumed to represent the greatest threat to community safety, homosexuals and intravenous users. An examination of the implicit assumptions of the war metaphor illustrates the futility of the current strategy of the latest war, the war on drugs. One objective of a war is to inflict death or disability on the enemy. The enemy in the war on drugs is people who produce, distribute, and use the chemicals. The war on drugs is being fought on two fronts. Resources are devoted to either reducing the supply of drugs or reducing the demand for drugs.

SOCIAL services; METAPHOR; SOCIAL problems; POVERTY; CRIME prevention; DRUG abuse prevention; AIDS prevention

Social Work, 1991, Vol 36, Issue 4, p277

0037-8046

Academic Journal

10.1093/sw/36.4.277