The Transformative Nature of Altered States of Consciousness in Youth Subculture

There are transformative experiences of altered states of consciousness common to the human condition that exist across cultures, belief systems and appear in both religious and secular literature. These experiences can hold profound meaning to the individuals that hold them and cause tremendous shifts in perspective, connection to the self or others and awakening. Psychoactive substances are a route to such experiences. This PhD project is concerned with exploring the concept of transformative altered states of consciousness facilitated by psychoactive substances. Through the lens of transpersonal psychology, social psychology and cultural psychology, the project explores the Rap and Hip-Hop culture as a rich ground of consciousness exploring psychoactive drug use. The project is a mixed method design – first exploring the culture quantitatively to compare experiences of ASC to those studied by transpersonal literature. Then to capture the subjective meaning that such profound transformative experiences may hold for participants through an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study. And finally, to interrogate subculture artefacts of interviews and rap lyrics to explore how these experiences are presented in the culture. The thesis shows that the rap and hip-hop culture is indeed a missed fertile ground for transformative experiences that alter and shift perception, behaviour and our understanding of the world around us.