Social Production and Drugs Addiction Management among the Young Manual Workers in Northern Benin

Abstract

The social production energized by drugs addiction as analyzed in this paper highlights social and family dynamics through the induced social behavior. Drugs addiction is no longer presented as a conscious and voluntary construct, but rather through its drawbacks effects on family production patterns. This reality can be observed in some social groups. As a matter of fact, the management of material resources generated by the production in some families constantly requires the definition of adaptive strategies. The family, in the African context, stands as the economic institution both in terms of production and consumption (Adepoju, 1999). As such, families adopt many strategies in order to mobilize and raise those resources needed for the survival of its whole members. The social distribution of the production work load is part and parcel of how to organize resources generation. In such a context, one can understand the outbreak of child labor (Imorou, 2006) along the strong pressure put on the youth so as to ensure the fulfillment of their commitment to support to migrate from other family members. Moreover, some young men are even encouraged to migrate in order to get resources they cannot raise at local level (Adepoju, 1999).