TRANSITIONAL PHENOMENA: THE ACTIVATION OF REGRESSIVE SELF-EXPERIENCES THROUGH MARIJUANA USE.
Item
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Title
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TRANSITIONAL PHENOMENA: THE ACTIVATION OF REGRESSIVE SELF-EXPERIENCES THROUGH MARIJUANA USE.
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Identifier
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AAI8312350
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identifier
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8312350
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Creator
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HAUSER, LAWRENCE.
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Contributor
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Laurence Gould
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This study examines certain considerations of chronic marijuana use in a post-teenage sample of professional males. The study was developed within the theoretical framework of the object relations school of psychoanalysis. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the drug functions in the psychic economy in such a way as to regress the individual to psychological era that antedates the formation of pathological (distorted) self-system. It was further hypothesized that this auto-regressive technique is pursued in the hope that experiences sustained while the individual is high will potentiate the re-initiation of self development. The expected result from serial induction of a marijuana altered state of consciousness was that the individual would experience a positive shift in his subjective evaluation of his relationship to reality.;To demonstrate the potential validity of these hypotheses, four heavy marijuana users were administered a TAT, self-report requestionnaire, and semi-structured interview. Data was analyzed within the framework of the traditional case study.;The study, exploratory in nature, did illustrate that individuals with a characteristic self-system pathology may use marijuana to produce an altered state of consciousness functionally related to what Winnicott has termed the transitional area of experience. Further, the experiencing of a progressive "opening up" of transitional space may facilitate a significant and lasting transformation of the experience of self. Finally, the evidence indicates that experiences with marijuana are cummulative in their effect and that the progressive opening up of transitional space mirrors a natural developmental process that was originally interferred with.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
