Sociocultural conditions in the development of amotivational syndrome associated with chronic marijuana users

Abstract

The article reports on the results obtained after describing the sociocultural conditions surrounding the development of symptoms included in the definition of the amotivational syndrome (such as lack of interest and laziness) during the life course of a chronic marijuana user. Field work was conducted, which involved participant observation, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with a group of chronic marijuana users residing in the Mexico City, all of whom had smoked at least one cigarette a day for three or four decades. The main results indicate that lack of interest, laziness or neglect of personal hygiene (symptoms of amotivational syndrome) are the expression of multiple micro factors (family violence, family and school stigmatization, child labor, street culture) and macrosocial factors (migration, anomie, implementation of neoliberal economic policies, unemployment, etc.), and suggest that clinical practice should favor listening the accounts of chronic users and research on marijuana use in the context of a society governed by a narco state.