Subproject C8
Ritual Dynamics and Salutogenesis in the Use and Abuse of Psychoactive Substances
Department and Research Field: Medical Psychology, Youth Research, Drug Research, Prevention Research, Social and Developmental Psychology
Subproject Management
Prof. Dr. med., Dipl. Psych. Rolf Verres
Rolf_Verres@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Dr. Henrik Jungaberle
Henrik_Jungaberle@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Institute of Medical Psychology
University Hospitals Heidelberg
Bergheimer Str. 20
69115 Heidelberg
Phone: +49 (0) 6221 - 56 81 50
Fax: +49 (0) 6221 - 56 53 03
>> Website Subproject C8 (German)
Staff
Dr. Dipl. Psych. Jan Weinhold
Jan_Weinhold@med.uni-heidelberg.de
From Oct. 01. 2002 till June 30. 2009 in the subproject C8, since July 01, 2009 in the subproject C11!
Beatriz Labete
resigned Oct. 15, 2011
Dipl.-Psych. Christina Wippermann
Christina.Wippermann@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Dipl.-Psych. Jens Ullrich
Jens_Ullrich@med.uni-heidelberg.de
resigned Jan. 31, 2012
Prof. Dr. Fletcher DuBois
FDuBois@nl.edu
Project Program
In summer 2002, we designed a prospective longitudinal research project to collect data over a ten-year period. The focus of this subproject is to investigate the origin and the dynamics of ritualizations in the use of legal and illegal psychoactive substances and their significance to Developmental Psychology.
In addition to 320 students, whose biographic development is being monitored by methodologically integrative means, we are examining a random sample of 50 adults drawn from heterogeneous subcultural contexts in longitudinal section.
These contexts represent examples of ritual transfer, invention and transformation in the field of a globalized economy of drugs and rituals. They allow the comparative analysis of the complete spectrum between rudimentary and complex ritualization in the consumption of drugs. In addition to people who belong to a party scene, we have chosen participants of groups that are geared to religious examples (the Peyote religion, Ayahuasca shamanism, or European Santo Daime churches).
The study combines participatory observation and subject-oriented psychological methods to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
In the second project phase, the aspects retraditionalization and syncretistic adaptation styles will complement our central set of questions about risk and protection factors of ritualizations. Videographic data will play a central part in the analysis of the participatory observation.
Based on the already developed dimensional matrix (DIMAX), we will expand the systematization of field observation as a socio-scientific method.
Main Topics
Contrastive description of ritualizations developed in drug consumption
Evaluation of the protective and risk-reducing potential of rituals (best practice), viz. evaluation of effectiveness based on random samples
Investigation of ritual transfer and invention of rituals and their stability
Comparative biographical analysis of drug consumption patterns in different generations in modern and retraditionalization contexts (e.g. subculture vs. Santo Daime church, research participants aged between 20 and 65 years). Description of ritual competence acquisition (learning during and through the ritual)