Converging on Institutional Logics: The Expansion of Syringe Service Programs in a Midwest State

Abstract

ABSTRACT Institutional logics are theoretical constructs that describe how organizations and other actors make sense of, and organize their everyday practices. This paper describes how syringe service programs (SSPs) have incorporated disparate institutional logics in efforts to meet the needs of a stigmatized population. SSPs are a type of human service organization that allows intravenous drug users (IDUs) to obtain unused needles, stemming the spread of bloodborne infections. Using qualitative interviews with 26 SSP employees at 22 SSP programs in a Midwestern US state, we reveal how these individuals understand how their organizations adapt to different logics (community, state, and professional) during changes in the field. We use Skelcher and Smith’s (2015) types of organizational hybridity to describe how SSPs incorporate different institutional logics into their work. Implications for understanding what happens at the organizational and field level as external pressures shape organizational activity and logic adoption are discussed.