Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Drug symbolism'

Since 1998 anti-doping policy has undergone massive change. The level of world-wide cooperation involved in establishing an international anti-doping system is unprecedented in the history of the regulation of performance enhancing substances in sport. Such cooperation and the unipartite nature of public doping discourse give the impression that anti-doping policy is clear, unproblematic and universally acceptable. However, scratching the harmonious surface of modern anti-doping approaches reveals fundamental problems and inconsistencies, the two most basic of which go to the very core of the policy. Basic issues — what constitutes doping and the reasons why we prohibit it — are still unsettled, lack clarity and give rise to many significant operational issues. For instance, the definition of ‘doping’ in doping discourse is quite different from the definition in the World Anti-Doping Code: what is thought of as ‘doping’ is very different from what is punished as ‘doping.’ Moreover, the commonly suggested anti-doping rationales do not adequately explain the present prohibition on the use of performance enhancing substances in sport. In light of this uncertainty, two questions arise: why is there so much confusion and why do we prohibit doping in sport? Desmond Manderson, in his study of the origins of illicit drug laws, has wrestled with a similar question; his conclusions are that drugs have been prohibited more for what they symbolise than their pharmacological properties. This thesis argues that, in a similar way to illicit drug policy, the symbolism of performance enhancing substances in sport has played a major role in the development of anti-doping policy. To demonstrate the influence of such symbolism, three significant time periods in anti-doping history are considered in the thesis: the 1920s, the 1960s and the 1970s. The most formative aspect of symbolism in the 1920s, when anti-doping rules were first passed, was the association between doping and illicit drug taking. The stigma attached to stereotypical images of illicit drug-users contributed to ‘doping’ being viewed as contrary to the amateur ethos and the adoption of a regulatory system modelled on illicit drug policy approaches. In the 1960s, when anti-doping policy began in earnest, illicit drug symbolism was also extremely influential. Concerns regarding drug addiction in sport fuelled fears about the health of the athlete which were prominent in doping discourse at this time. Combined with a strong belief in the power of drugs in general, illicit drug symbolism led to the expansion of the illicit drug model of regulation to include illicit drug style testing. Doping changed in the 1970s with the emergence of training drugs such as anabolic steroids. Steroids became strongly associated with ‘communist’ athletes and were viewed as extremely powerful transforming drugs. A kind of steroid hysteria was thereby created in doping discourse. Simultaneously, the continuing influence of illicit drug symbolism meant that the previously adopted illicit drug model was also applied to steroids. The conclusion of the thesis is that anti-doping policy is not fundamentally a rational system: instead it has been driven much more by emotional factors such as public opinion than rational argument. Such a basis is bound to create confusion and explains many of the problems of current anti-doping policy. The way in which symbolism has led to the regulatory decisions in anti-doping history is summarised as constituting the ‘reactive regulation model’ in the concluding section of the thesis. This pattern of regulation has produced a number of important operational difficulties in current anti-doping law, the prime example being the ‘fallacy’ of in-competition drug testing to deal with the issue of training drugs such as steroids. Finally, it is argued that in light of the reactive nature of anti-doping policy, it is unlikely that recent challenges, such as gene doping and the use of non-analytical evidence, will be treated any differently to past challenges. Anti-doping policy has always been largely driven by reactions to symbolism; there is no reason to suspect this type of approach will change.

Doctor of Philiosophy (PhD)
Since 1998 anti-doping policy has undergone massive change. The level of world-wide cooperation involved in establishing an international anti-doping system is unprecedented in the history of the regulation of performance enhancing substances in sport. Such cooperation and the unipartite nature of public doping discourse give the impression that anti-doping policy is clear, unproblematic and universally acceptable. However, scratching the harmonious surface of modern anti-doping approaches reveals fundamental problems and inconsistencies, the two most basic of which go to the very core of the policy. Basic issues — what constitutes doping and the reasons why we prohibit it — are still unsettled, lack clarity and give rise to many significant operational issues. For instance, the definition of ‘doping’ in doping discourse is quite different from the definition in the World Anti-Doping Code: what is thought of as ‘doping’ is very different from what is punished as ‘doping.’ Moreover, the commonly suggested anti-doping rationales do not adequately explain the present prohibition on the use of performance enhancing substances in sport. In light of this uncertainty, two questions arise: why is there so much confusion and why do we prohibit doping in sport? Desmond Manderson, in his study of the origins of illicit drug laws, has wrestled with a similar question; his conclusions are that drugs have been prohibited more for what they symbolise than their pharmacological properties. This thesis argues that, in a similar way to illicit drug policy, the symbolism of performance enhancing substances in sport has played a major role in the development of anti-doping policy. To demonstrate the influence of such symbolism, three significant time periods in anti-doping history are considered in the thesis: the 1920s, the 1960s and the 1970s. The most formative aspect of symbolism in the 1920s, when anti-doping rules were first passed, was the association between doping and illicit drug taking. The stigma attached to stereotypical images of illicit drug-users contributed to ‘doping’ being viewed as contrary to the amateur ethos and the adoption of a regulatory system modelled on illicit drug policy approaches. In the 1960s, when anti-doping policy began in earnest, illicit drug symbolism was also extremely influential. Concerns regarding drug addiction in sport fuelled fears about the health of the athlete which were prominent in doping discourse at this time. Combined with a strong belief in the power of drugs in general, illicit drug symbolism led to the expansion of the illicit drug model of regulation to include illicit drug style testing. Doping changed in the 1970s with the emergence of training drugs such as anabolic steroids. Steroids became strongly associated with ‘communist’ athletes and were viewed as extremely powerful transforming drugs. A kind of steroid hysteria was thereby created in doping discourse. Simultaneously, the continuing influence of illicit drug symbolism meant that the previously adopted illicit drug model was also applied to steroids. The conclusion of the thesis is that anti-doping policy is not fundamentally a rational system: instead it has been driven much more by emotional factors such as public opinion than rational argument. Such a basis is bound to create confusion and explains many of the problems of current anti-doping policy. The way in which symbolism has led to the regulatory decisions in anti-doping history is summarised as constituting the ‘reactive regulation model’ in the concluding section of the thesis. This pattern of regulation has produced a number of important operational difficulties in current anti-doping law, the prime example being the ‘fallacy’ of in-competition drug testing to deal with the issue of training drugs such as steroids. Finally, it is argued that in light of the reactive nature of anti-doping policy, it is unlikely that recent challenges, such as gene doping and the use of non-analytical evidence, will be treated any differently to past challenges. Anti-doping policy has always been largely driven by reactions to symbolism; there is no reason to suspect this type of approach will change.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka vad som karaktäriserar personer som döms för narkotikabrott på internet och hur rättssystemet beskriver de dömdas sociala situation och motiv. Uppsatsen använder en mixed-methods metodologi med både kvantitativ och kvalitativ analys. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av dokument i form av domar och förundersökningsprotokoll. Den kvantitativa analysen har bland annat undersökt 222 dömda personers demografi, tidigare brottslighet och vilka påföljder de dömts till. Den kvalitativa analysen har undersökt hur de dömdas sociala situation och motiv beskrivits av rättsväsendet. Pierre Bourdieus teori om olika kapitalformer utgör uppsatsens teoretiska utgångspunkt. Narkotikamarknader kan betraktas som olika fält som i olika utsträckning kräver symboliskt kapital. Utmärkande för narkotikamarknaden på internet är att de inte kräver symboliskt kapital. Resultatet för både den kvantitativa och kvalitativa analysen visar att de dömda köparna är en heterogen grupp utifrån rättsväsendet beskrivningar. De dömda har en stor spridning gällande bland annat ålder, geografi och valet av substanser. En del av de dömda beskrivs som vanliga människor med ordnade sociala förhållanden. Andra dömda beskrivs ha stora problem gällande psykisk ohälsa, missbruk och kriminalitet. Beskrivningarna av motiven till att köpa narkotika på internet är att få tillgång till substanser av viss kvalité, kvantitet, pris eller typ. Men också att få annan typ av relation mellan köpare och säljare av narkotika som inte baseras på personliga kontakter.
The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the characteristics of persons who are sentenced for purchasing illicit drugs on the internet, and how the legal system describes the social situation and motives of the convicted persons. The thesis uses a mixed-method methodology with both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The empirical material consists of documents in the form of judgments and preliminary investigation protocols. The quantitative analysis has examined the demography, previous criminal records and the sanctions of 222 convicted persons. The qualitative analysis has examined how the social situation and motives of the convicted persons are described by the judicial system. Pierre Bourdieu's theory of capital forms constitutes the theoretical starting point of the essay. Drug markets can be regarded as fields which, to varying degrees, require symbolic capital. The characteristic of the drug markets on the internet is that they do not require symbolic capital. The result of both the quantitative and qualitative analysis is that the convicted buyers are described as a heterogeneous group in the documents of the legal system. The convicted are a diverse group regarding age, geography and choice substances. Some of the convicted are described as ordinary people with organized social conditions. Others convicted are described as having major problems with mental illness, drug abuse and crime. The descriptions of the motives for purchasing drugs on the internet are to access substances of a certain quality, quantity, price or type. But also, to access a different kind of relationship between the buyer and the seller of drugs.

The aim of this study was to examine how "Professional Exes", individuals that have exited a drug abuse and a criminal career and further are educated to work in the addiction field, transformed their identity and which factors that were significant in the process. The result of this study are based on semi-structured interviews with five Professional Exes and shows which specific factors in the process that contributed to the transformation and what kind of difficulties and barriers that existed during the process. The study suggests that, among other things, identification with others exes and the 12 Step Program are significant factors in the process. Furthermore, the study suggests that a difficulty in the transformation is that residues from the previous identity such as a poor self-esteem occurred in some situations.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.
Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Art History and Archaeology. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Magister Social Work -MSW
Heroin usage is on the increase in the Western Cape province of South Africa owing to globalization and to increased access to the drug in this province. The goal of this study is to explore the experiences of coloured heroin users in the Metro South area of Cape Town, which stretches from Simons Town and Muizenberg to Retreat, Lavender Hill, Grassy Park, Parkwood and Wynberg. These individuals have been found to congregate in the Wynberg CBD. The overarching theoretical framework for the purpose of this research is social constructionism and symbolic interactionism, using a qualitative means of inquiry. Snowball sampling was used to recruit prospective participants and data was collected by means of in-depth interviews, with a semi structures interviewing schedule. The questions informed the subsequent themes and categories that arise from the data collection process. Snowball sampling was employed in this case, a non-probability sample, in which participants were recruited via key informants. The sample distribution included 13 participants, 10 of which were heroin users (5 female, 5 male) and the remaining 3 were key informants which contributed to triangulation of the data.

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Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Political Science

La problématique principale de cette recherche concerne la musique traditionnelle des Créoles, en Guyane. Produit d’un contexte historique, sociologique et culturel inédit, elle sert en même temps de ciment de l’identité créole sur ce territoire. Ici, la culture des premiers habitants, les Amérindiens, mais aussi celle des colons français et des esclaves africains est à l’origine de la formation de la société créole, et avec elle, de la culture et des traditions sous-jacentes, dont les musiques traditionnelles et leurs six rythmes principaux : le grajé, le léròl, le grajévals, le béliya, le kanmougwé et le kasékò qui font l’objet de mon étude. Par ce truchement, les performances vocales à travers un répertoire de chants en langue créole et les performances instrumentales par l’accompagnement principalement de tambours, montrent la réalité de la nature des rythmes fondamentaux de la musique traditionnelle créole guyanaise comme un fait social original, du reste attesté par des écrits du Révérend Père Labat dès le XVIIIe siècle. Mes observations de ce fait social m’ont permis de mettre, entre autres en exergue le rôle de l’instrument soliste (le tanbou koupé), celui des accompagnateurs, avec le tanbou foulé, guide suprême des instruments accompagnateurs du système musical créole guyanais, et le tanbou plonbé, véritable marqueur métrique. L’apprentissage de tous ces instruments et les savoir-faire qui en découlent sont transmis à la fois par les Gangan (les Anciens), par les groupes traditionnels constitués en association et par le biais des écoles de musique. Malgré les apports musicaux européens, américains et antillais, la musique traditionnelle créole guyanaise garde son authenticité, que je traite dans cette thèse, authenticité qui se renouvelle en tant qu’élément identitaire, tout en servant de base aux nouvelles compositions, dont la contribution de la jeunesse est significative aujourd’hui
The main topic of this research is the traditional music of the Creoles, in French Guiana, a product of a unique historical, sociological and cultural context, cement of the creole identity. The cultures of the first inhabitants, the Amerindians, that of the French colonists and that of the African slaves are the cement of the creole society of French Guiana, and with it, of the underlying cultures and traditions, such as the traditional music and its six main rhythms: the grajé, the léròl, the grajévals, the béliya, the kanmougwé and the kasékò. The performances, either vocal, through a repertoire of songs in creole, or instrumental, accompanied mainly by drums, show the reality of this original and social fact, attested to by writings since the eighteenth century. The researcher shows the role of the soloist tanbou koupé, the tanbou foulé supreme guide accompanying instruments, and tanbou plonbé, the metronome drum, which is taught by the Gangan (the elderly), traditional groups and music schools. Despite the European, US and Caribbean musical contributions, the traditional Creole music of French Guiana keeps its authenticity, it is renewed thanks to a young population, and it is the basis for new musical compositions

The subjects of ‘youth’, ‘substance use’ and ‘homelessness’ are interconnected, but only a relatively small number of studies have examined the relationships between all three components. Literature highlights how homeless substance users are constructed as ‘vulnerable’ – yet ‘deviant’. Furthermore, academics have examined how people manage the ascribed identities of ‘substance user’ and ‘homeless’ as well as that of ‘youth’. According to sociologists, people’s self-identities and actions develop as a consequence of interactions with their socio-spatial worlds. Therefore, it is useful to contextualise the act of substance use within these complex interactions. This thesis explores the meanings and contexts of young, homeless people’s substance use. Data were obtained through an ethnographic study conducted in a homeless hostel over a seven month period in 2013 in which twenty-two young people (aged 16-21) and twenty-seven staff members participated. The majority of data were derived from participant-observation encompassing 200-250 informal interactions with the young people and 100-120 interactions with staff along with observations of people’s actions and descriptions of events and appearances. The field-notes were supplemented by four semi-structured interviews and a focus group, involving a total of eleven young people. Drawing on theories underpinned by symbolic interactionist and phenomenological philosophies, three overarching dimensions of the young people’s experiences were identified as important to their substance use and wider lives. First, the young people engaged in ‘place-making’ actions (including substance use) to personalise spaces within the tightly controlled environment of the hostel. Secondly, substance use was interwoven with the relationships that the young people held with their families, friends and the staff. The ‘pro-drug’ voices of their friends and relatives were arguably stronger than the ‘anti-drug’ voices of the staff. Thirdly, the categories of ‘youth’ and ‘substance user’ were recognised by the participants as pertaining to them, whereas the ‘homeless’ label was relatively meaningless. The thesis concludes that to understand people’s substance use experiences, it is important to consider the socio-spatial contexts within which they are located, particularly when these are temporary.

Under de senaste åren har den mobila tekniken i stort sett helt gått över till smartphones. Smartphones är i princip mer datorer än telefoner, som vi alltid bär med oss och som innehåller allt mer känslig information. Detta medför att kraven på säkerheten kring enheten ökar. Detta arbete undersöker om det är möjligt att finna en ny metod att låta användaren autentisera sig på, som är säkrare än de som är vedertagna idag, men samtidigt har liknande nivå av användbarhet. Vår idé, som vi arbetar med under namnet Colour a Symbol, baseras på att kombinera symboler och färger i par. För att utveckla idén skapade vi en funktionell prototyp, som sedan utvärderadesmed hjälp av en mindre testgrupp. Empirin visar på att Colour a Symbol har en god användbarhet, om än något för lång inloggningstid. Idéer för att förbättra inloggningstiden presenteras. Teoretiskt sett så är Colour a Symbol säkrare än exempelvis pinkod, men testgruppen var inte tillräckligt stor för att kunna bedöma den praktiska lösenordsrymden. Utformning av symboltema påverkar även förmodligen i hög grad den praktiska lösenordsrymden. Vår slutsats är att idén har en klar potential, men att det behövs ytterligare studier för att finslipa den.
During the past years mobile technology has moved almost entirely to smartphones. Smartphones are in essence more computers than phones, which we always carry with us and that contain ever more sensitive information. This requires that the level of security around the device increases. This study strives to find a new method of authenticating users, that is more secure than those that are established today, but at the same time has a similar level of usability. Our idea, which we work with under the name Colour a Symbol, is based upon making combinations of symbols and colours in pairs. In order to develop the idea we created a functional prototype, that was evaluated by a smaller test group. The empirical data implies that Colour a Symbol has good usability, if only a little too long login time. Ideas as to shorten the login time are suggested. Theoretically, Colour a Symbol is more secure than for an example pincode, but the test group was not large enough to estimate the practical password space. Design of the symbol theme probably also affects the practical password space to a high degree. Our conclusion is that the idea has clear potential, but that further studies are needed to fine-tune it.

Cette thèse vise à clarifier ce que les sociétés contemporaines désignent par « usage de drogue » et les types d’objets, d’expériences et de pratiques sociales référés à ces usages. L’anthropologie ne fournit pas de définition opératoire et ni la sociologie de la déviance qui circonscris l’usage de drogue aux cadres normatifs (Ogien A., 1995 et 2000 ; Becker H., 2001), ni les définitions médico-pharmacologiques qui classent les psychotropes en fonction de leurs propriétés, ne suffisent à rendre compte de l’expérience à la fois individuelle et collective de « l’usage de drogue ». Si nous disposons avec la notion de « fuitage pharmaceutique » (Lovell, 2008) d’un concept pour décrire le processus qui conduit d’un médicament à l’usage de drogue, nous ne disposons pas de cadre épistémologique pour expliquer pourquoi et comment ? Il nous manque le point de vue intérieur de ceux par qui s’opère cette reconfiguration et le contexte anthropologique dans lequel celle-ci s’inscrit. En l’absence d’une compréhension des processus sémiotiques qui tiennent ensemble, les dynamiques neuropharmacologiques, l’expérience singulière du consommateur et l’inscription sociale de l’usage, il est difficile d’en comprendre le sens. L’anthropologie sémiotique (Lassègue, Rosenthal, Visetti, 2009), nous permet de comprendre comment la reconfiguration de l’usage d’un antalgique en drogue apparaît comme forme symbolique au XIXe siècle par le geste littéraire de Thomas De Quincey (Vigarello, 1991). Des outils d’analyse sémiotique, nous permettent de mettre en évidence, dans le cas du Subutex®, les liens entre contexte socio-historique, fabrique de la norme et invention d’une nouvelle drogue. Ils nous permettent d’analyser l’histoire des transformations des formes sémiotiques d’usages de drogue du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours. Dès lors, il est légitime de s’interroger si la transformation de l’usage thérapeutique en usage de drogue est la seule transformation symbolique possible dans le champ sémiotique des usages de psychotropes ? À partir de ce cadre épistémologique appliqué à différents matériaux, nous montrerons que le rapport d’Homo sapiens aux psychotropes s’organise à partir d’opérateurs de diversification sémiotique se déployant dans des activités chamaniques, religieuses, sociales, médicales, scientifiques, technologiques, artistiques, économiques, politiques, médiatiques, etc. Ce point étant acquis, nous proposerons de formaliser le rapport d’Homo sapiens aux psychotropes selon six motifs existentiels d’usages : Proesthésique, Épiphanique, Curatif, Mélioratif et anti-Mélioratif, Affiliatif. Ce système sémiotique dynamique nous fournit les bases pour construire le socle d’une anthropologie sémiotique des psychotropes
This thesis aims to clarify what contemporary societies refer to as "drug use" and the types of objects, experiences and social practices referred to these uses. Anthropology does not provide an operative definition, neither does the sociology of deviance which locates drug use in normative frameworks (Ogien A., 1995 and 2000; Becker H., 2001), nor the medical-pharmacological definitions that classify psychotropic drugs according to their properties : they are not sufficient to account for both individual and collective experience of "drug use". The concept of "pharmaceutical leakage" (Lovell, 2008) makes it possible to describe the process that leads from a medical use to a drug use but it does not provide an epistemological framework which would explain why and how. What is lacking is the inner perspective of the actors themselves in anthropological contexts. Failing to understand the semiotic processes that hold together neuropharmacological dynamics, the singular experience of the user and the social inscription of use, it becomes difficult to understand their meaning. Semiotic anthropology (Lassègue, Rosenthal, Visetti, 2009), allows us to understand the reconfiguration of an analgesic drug into a symbolic form as the literary gesture of Thomas De Quincey (Vigarello, 1991) amply shows. Tools of semiotic analysis allow us to highlight, in the case of Subutex®, the links between the socio-historical context, the construction of the norm and the invention of a new drug. They allow us to analyze the history of transformations in the semiotic forms of drug use from the 18th century to the present day. It is therefore legitimate to ask whether the transformation of a therapeutic use into a drug use is the only possible symbolic transformation in the semiotic field of psychotropic drug use. Applying the epistemological framework of semiotic anthropology to various fields, we will show that the relationship of Homo sapiens to psychotropic drugs is organized into semiotic operators that are instrumental in shamanic, religious, social, medical, scientific, technological, artistic, economic, political, etc. activities. We propose to formalize the relationship of Homo sapiens to psychotropic drugs according to six existential motifs of use : Proesthesic, Epiphanic, Curative, Meliorative and anti-Meliorative, Affiliative. This semiotic system dynamically provides us with the foundation of a semiotic anthropology of psychotropic drugs and their uses

This thesis is an ethnography of drug dealers. Working from a Chicago School Symbolic Interactionist approach (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1969), nineteen interviews were conducted with current and former drug dealers. I inquired into their careers (initial involvements, continuities, disinvolvements, reinvolvements) of participation in selling drugs. The data analysis is primarily located in three chapters – Chapters Five, Six, and Seven. Chapter Five considers people’s involvements in selling drugs as well as dealers’ interpersonal exchanges with their customers. In particular three processes are considered in Chapter Five: initial involvements in drug sales,expanding the customer base, and making sales. Chapter Six discusses dealers’ relationships with suppliers as well as dealers who become involved in supplying activities. This chapter discusses the matters of: making contacts with suppliers, working with suppliers, and becoming suppliers. Chapter Seven examines some of the identity allures and problematics of being a drug dealer as well as instances of disinvolvement and reinvolvement in drug dealing. This includes considerations of: striving for respectability, encountering regulatory agencies, and the problematics of disentanglement.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to find answers to questions connected to the symbolic construction of collective identity of the initial drug community in communist Czechoslovakia. This discourse creation of collective identity is analyzed on the basis of biographical interviews with outliving members of the then drug subculture. In the course of the terrain investigation there has been recorded a total of 34 narratives of the representatives of the two successive generations of this drug community by using the unstructured and semi-structured interview technique. For the purposes of this research, there has been analyzed 7 interviews closely connected to the beginning and the initial process of formation of drug community. By means of analysis and interpretation of the content of these biographical materials there are primarily captured the collectively shared interpretative frames of values and important identification attributes by which protagonists of the oldest generation of this community form their former collective identity. In this way is clarified how the narrators themselves re-construct and re-interpret their subjectively experienced "we" and at the same time using the symbolic resources to define borders against the non-members of this collectivity. The biographies of the...

碩士
臺北市立教育大學
藝術治療碩士學位學程
99
The purpose of this study is to understand three aspects. First, what are the fundamental characteristics of adult male drug abusers, the scores of family function, and the Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawing? Second, what are the differences between lower and higher family function groups in the Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawing? Third, what are the differences between their family function and Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawing? In this study, the assessment tools included the scale of family function and Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawing are tools for assessment. We analyze 154 valid samples obtained from the Drug Abuser Treatment Center in the southern Taiwan from April to June in 2010 by using questionnaires and drawings. Following are the main results of this study. 1. In the samples of the fundamental characteristics, most of them are junior high school graduates, single, initiation of substance use in their adolescence, and have jobs. The score of family function is 83.27. In the Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawings’ characteristics, most of them use warm colors to symbolically represent mother, and use neutral colors to symbolically represent father, higher-location of parents’ figure. 2. There are two siginificant differences in the Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawing between lower and higher family function groups. They are the colors of father figure and the size of mother figure. They use neutral color to represent father or use middle size to represent mother in higher family function group. They use cold color to represent father or use small size to represent mother in lower family function group. 3. There are two siginificant differences between the Symbolic Geometrized Family Drawing and family function. They are the colors of father figure and the size of mother figure. The scores of using the neutral colors in father figure are higher than those of using the cool colors. The scores of using the middle size in mother figure are higher than those of using the small size. In accordance with the result, this research finally proposes the discussion and suggestion to practical workers and the follow-up researchers.

Les études rhétoriques ont documenté la pertinence de la rhétorique présidentielle et le pouvoir du président de définir les enjeux publics par le discours. Cette recherche porte sur les pratiques rhétoriques par lesquelles l'ancien président mexicain Calderón a défini la lutte contre la drogue qui a caractérisé son administration. Je soutiens que Calderón a avancé une définition du problème de la drogue par des pratiques de définition telles que l'association, la dissociation et les symboles de condensation. Mon analyse 1) identifie les pratiques rhétoriques de définition qui ont caractérisé la lutte à la drogue de Calderón; 2) examine les implications de ces pratiques; et 3) aborde les limites auxquelles les politiciens font face en tentant de modifier des définitions préalablement avancées. En conclusion, j’explique comment les métaphores et les pratiques de définition de Calderón ont ouvert un espace rhétorique où les droits humains pouvaient être révoqués et la violence encouragée.
Rhetorical studies have shown the significance of presidential rhetoric and the president’s power to define public issues and policies through discourse. This research addresses how former Mexican president Felipe Calderón defined the fight against drugs that characterized his administration—and the later process of changing his definition. It argues that through the definitional practices of association, dissociation and condensation symbols, Calderón advanced a particular definition of the drug problem in Mexico. Relying on the analysis of presidential public speeches and TV spots, I 1) identify Calderon’s key rhetorical practices of definition; 2) discuss the implications of those practices and the political definitions they sustain; and 3) address the limits politicians face when attempting to change a definition they initially advanced. In conclusion, I discuss how the set of metaphors and definitional practices advanced by Calderón opened up a rhetorical space where human rights could be dismissed and violence encouraged.