Makin’ It Happen Course: Addressing the Stigma Around Substance Use Disorders
Substance use disorders are one of the most highly stigmatized health conditions worldwide. Stigma creates barriers to early intervention, screening, treatment, and effective recovery, particularly in healthcare and criminal justice settings.
This free course offers an introduction to the latest research and innovations in addressing stigma at the intersection of addiction and criminal justice involvement. Participants will learn about the social processes that drive stigma and how it manifests at both the individual and structural levels through institutional policies, practices, cultural norms, and personal attitudes and interactions. Participants will also learn actionable strategies to reduce stigma, including person-first, recovery-oriented language and multi-level interventions that shift both attitudes and institutional practices.
- Different types of stigma, the social construct of stigma, and strategies to address stigma.
- Explain how substance use disorders impact brain structures and functions related to reward, memory, mood regulation, and self-control.
- Identify and differentiate between types of stigma—including structural, individual, internalized, enacted, and anticipated stigma—and explain how they intersect with substance use disorders and criminal justice involvement.
- Summarize empirical findings on how stigma—especially within the criminal justice system—affects physical and mental health, healthcare access, and health behaviors.
- Recognize and eliminate stigmatizing terminology in professional and everyday communication to improve outcomes for people with substance use disorders.
Different types of stigma, the social construct of stigma, and strategies to address stigma.
This course is open to all community members and professionals who are interested in learning more about substance use disorders and stigma.
This course is sponsored by the Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN), an initiative funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Addiction Policy Forum & Makin’ It Happen. (2025). Makin’ It Happen Course: Addressing the Stigma Around Substance Use Disorders. Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network Coordination and Translation Center. https://www.jcoinctc.org/courses/makin-it-happen-course-addressing-the-stigma-around-substance-use-disorders/
