Prostituzione femminile, consumo di sostanze psicotrope e teoria dello scambio

[Autom. eng. transl.] Prostitution and the consumption of psychotropic substances represent complex and fluid phenomena, indecipherable due to their prevalently submerged nature and known only by approximation [Lombi 2012]. Due to the high social stigma that characterizes these behaviors, they are in fact kept in the shadows [Molteni 2012]. Even in the presence of a vast national and international literature, which tries to account for the dynamics that exist between prostitution and drug use, the models that have been developed analyze the relationship between the two behaviors in the light of two prevailing interpretative paradigms: the model of dependence (subjects that prostitute themselves to cope with substance-induced craving) and the strategy of coping (drug use as a practice of self-care and clouding the evil of living connected to the condition of prostitute). The present contribution develops a reflection on the relationship between the consumption of psychotropic substances and female prostitution starting from a third reading: the exchange theory [Homans 1961; Blau 1964]. Through a study conducted through semi-structured interviews involving an empirical reference group made up of 10 young girls, we will illustrate the story of a group of teenagers involved in prostitution practices in order to obtain psychotropic substances for recreational purposes.