Turning On, Turning Off, and Relapse: Social Psychological Determinants of Status Change in Cannabis Use

Drug Abuse and Identity: Linking Micro and Macro Factors

“…Drugs, drug-related friends, and a drug lifestyle were the means by which respondents could alleviate their "ego identity discomfort," regain control over defining an identity for themselves, and deal with external factors that caused them to feel this way. These findings are supported by Sadava and Forsyth (1977) and Ray (1968), who also found that the status passage from non-drug use to drug use was influenced by negative feelings about oneself. The following statements illustrate the relationship between these micro phenomena in the composition and transformation of identities.…”

“…Personal factors include negative feelings about the present identity, such as dissatisfaction, alienation, and depression (Ray 1968;Sadava and Forsyth 1977;Pearson 1987;Metzger 1988;Denzin 1987;Shover 1983;Biernacki 1986), personal motivations to change, lack of interest in the deviant lifestyle (Ray 1968;Adler and Adler 1983;Shover 1983;Meisenhelder 1977), and degree of selfacceptance (Metzger 1988;Denzin 1987). Social factors include status changes, level of support from others, relationship changes with significant others, membership in nondeviant groups, and cultivation of non-deviant friendships (Ray 1968;Sadava and Forsyth 1977;Pearson 1987;Denzin 1987;Meisenhelder 1977;Adler and Adler 1983;Shover 1983;Biernacki 1986;Waldorf, Reinarman and Murphy 1991). Legal interventions, such as being arrested, are also factors in identity transformation processes (Ray 1968;Meisenhelder 1977;Pearson 1987;Metzger 1988).…”

Drunk Driving and the Prediction of Analogous Behavior: A Longitudinal Test of Social Learning and Self-Control Theories

“…Indeed, social learning constructs have provided a means of distinguishing among drug users, nonusers, and former users (Lanza-Kaduce, Akers, Krohn, & Radosevich, 1982;Winfree, Sellers, & Clason, 1993; see too Brown, Glaser, Waxer, & Geis, 1974;Goodstadt, Sheppard, & Chan, 1984;Sadava & Forsyth, 1977). Even when users quit using illicit drugs, they still can exhibit prodrug orientations, unlike abstainers who show no such inclination (Winfree et al, 1993).…”

Drug abuse and the American adolescent

“…The strength of peer influence, direct and indirect, on marijuana use, as reported by Kandel, has considerable support in the literature. Considering marijuana use specifically, peer modeling effects appear to be substantial (Jessor 1976;Jessor 1975, 1977;Hochman 1972;Stone et al 1979;Goode 1969Goode , 1970Griffin and Griffin 1978;Krohn 1974;Tec 1970Tec , 1972aTec ,b,c, 1974aSadava 1973a,b;Sadava and Forsyth 1977;Suchman 1968;Gorsuch and Witler 1976;Burkett and Jensen 1975;Burkett 1977;O'Donnell et al 1976;Huba and Bentler, in press;Huba et al, in press).…”