Understanding and identifying psychosocial factors of subcultures related to drug use; a grounded theory study

Research has shown that the conditions and characteristics of subcultures can be one of the causes of addiction and drug use, and the study of psychosocial factors in any society can clarify the characteristics of that culture and provide clues about its problems. Society is especially addicted; therefore, this study seeks to understand and identify the psychosocial factors of subcultures related to drug use.

Methods and Materials: 

The study is qualitative and grounded in theory. The city of Isfahan was selected as a research pilot. Variables and categories were extracted from 32 interviews that were validated by professors and subject matter experts. Out of 18 pivotal categories, 5 main categories including causal conditions, contextual conditions, interventionist conditions, strategies and consequences were identified.

Substance abuse is associated with "practical-emotional dependence", "social exclusion" and "deviant subculture". People in their addictive lifestyle suffer from a kind of separation from society. Continuity of membership in the deviant subculture is considered as the only capital of the addicted person and provides the ground for the formation of more deviant and deviant behaviors. Consequences will include: persistence of addiction, psychosocial decline, formation of new negative values, subculture of discrete support and trust in the face of intergroup distrust.

According to the results, it seems that social and emotional support of addicts and helping them to quit drugs prevents them from being absorbed into aggressive and delinquent subcultures. However, in order to increase the external credibility of the research, it is suggested that similar research be conducted in other societies.