Adolescent Drug Use in Cross-Cultural Perspective

In three tribal societies—Australian Aboriginal males, Tshogana Tsonga females, and Chumash youth—adolescents ingest hallucinogenic plants during initiation rituals as part of a managed, short-term socialization process led by elders for religious and pedagogical purposes. This contrasts with abusive drug patterns among American adolescents. The analysis highlights hypersuggestibility as a cultural technique used to normalize youth in these societies, in contrast to the pathological drug ingestion patterns seen among American adolescents.

Study at a glance

Abstract

An analysis is made of adolescent hallucinogenic plant ingestion during initiation rituals among Australian Aboriginal males, Tshogana Tsonga females and among Chumash youth of Southern California. This use pattern contrasts with abusive patterns of drug abuse found among American adolescents. Findings indicate the existence of managed altered states of consciousness in the tribal societies studied, where plant hallucinogens are given by elders to youth as part of an intensive, short-term socialization for religious and pedagogical purposes. The use of hypersuggestibility as a cultural technique to “normalize” youth in the tribal societies under study is analyzed in contrast to the role of pathology of drug ingestion patterns among American adolescents.