Social attitudes towards drug users in the context of perceptions of other marginalised social groups, based on the NSAPH 2019 Survey

Purpose, research questions: Both national and international studies indicate that in the context of other social groups, the least social group is quite stably drug users. In some cases, the rejection of other social groups has eased over the last 15 years in Hungary, but no significant change in the social perception of drug users has been observed. The presentation, will try to answer the question: what kind of changes have taken place in social attitudes towards drug users and other marginalised groups over the recent years in Hungary and what is the European context of these changes.

Method: The survey was based on a nationally representative sample of 1,800 gross and 1,385 net respondents aged 18-64 in Hungary. The sample was stratified by region, settlement size and age. Data collection was carried out in the format of a 'face-to-face interview' in the Spring of 2019, using a mixed method, with face-to-face and self-completion elements. Attitudes were assessed using the neighbourhood relatedness question of the Bogardus scale. The European comparison was carried out by using publicly available data sets of the European Value Study (EVS) and Eurobarometer.

Results: Hungarian data are conclusive that social attitudes towards substance users and substance use are negative and, in most cases, undifferentiated. In past 4 years (2015-2019) the level of rejection of stigmatised groups, has generally increased, but this increase is not evident for drug users.

Conclusions: In a European comparison, Hungary does not follow a unique path in terms of either the rate of rejection or the change in the perception of drug users. However, if we look at the perception of drug users in the context of other mostly stigmatised social groups, we can observe increasing levels and trends of intolerance and rejection in Hungary compared to the European average.