Intérêts de l'étude des représentations sociales de la drogue pour un dispositif de veille sanitaire

Abstract

Part of a process to monitor health, the Trend system is used to describe changing trends in consumption of psychoactive substances in the Parisian scene. From another perspective, research on representations of drug use provides a theoretical framework and methods that may prove useful in a public health approach. The research we have conducted shows a possible application of the study of users' representations encountered during field investigations. Within this framework, 10 explanatory interviews were conducted to describe the logic of thought, action and value shared by those interviewed. The results describe the linkages between the various key concepts of the representation on three knowledge registers: descriptive, functional and evaluative. The findings provide recommendations on possible areas of intervention in the field of risk reduction.