A polissemia do conceito de droga psicoativa à luz da Teoria dos Perfis Conceituais: contribuições para uma abordagem crítica no Ensino de Química

Abstract

The theory of conceptual profiles assumes that the meaning of concepts is a socially situated process, which explains the diversity of collective ways of thinking and speaking about the same concept. This diversity can be represented through a model called a conceptual profile. The study presented in this thesis proposes the use of a previously established conceptual profile as a basis for developing a new profile for a concept closely related to the original profile. Based on this premise, this work uses the conceptual profile of “substance” as a starting point to propose a conceptual profile of “psychoactive drug.” Psychoactive drug is a historically polysemous concept, which justifies the need for its modeling through a conceptual profile. In the current context, the concept of psychoactive drug is immersed in social debates involving the use and commercialization of drugs related to political, cultural, and ethical issues. These debates are anchored in distinct perspectives, such as prohibitionism (a model that results in social asymmetries and rights violations), harm reduction, and anti-prohibitionism. This thesis argues that a critical debate about drugs must contemplate all dimensions of the issue in a problematizing manner. For this reason, it supports the need for a critical approach grounded in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Education, in dialogue with the pedagogical premises of Paulo Freire. In this context, constructing a conceptual profile of psychoactive drug becomes a relevant tool for planning teaching practices and managing discourses in critical drug debates within educational actions. In light of these considerations, this thesis presents three main focuses: (1) a characterization of drug approaches in Chemistry education, analyzing their potentials and limitations to promote critical debate; (2) the construction of the conceptual profile of psychoactive drug, derived from the substance profile, which constitutes the main contribution of this study to the research program on conceptual profiles; and (3) the proposition of a set of didactic-pedagogical guidelines for the use of the proposed profile in critical drug approaches, grounded in STS Education. As results, the study reveals two most common types of drug approaches: aversive prevention and pluralistic prevention, exposing their gaps and potentials in fostering critical approaches. It also presents a proposed profile for the concept of psychoactive drug, encompassing five zones: criminalist, consequentialist, objective, logical-formal, and ethical-critical. Finally, it presents a set of didactic-pedagogical guidelines for the use of the psychoactive drug profile in critical drug approaches in Chemistry education, framed by STS Education.