Percepción institucional y comunitaria sobre comportamientos adictivos en Guayaquil

introduction: in today's world, the addictive behaviors are a serious problem for the humanity. the care of patients who consume psychoactive substances in the republic of ecuador has mainly been given on a private basis, but at present, it is recognized that addiction is a health problem to be managed by the public policies. objective: to identify the perception of addictive behaviours in the center of education and research for the human development and the good living and neighboring communities in guayaquil. methods: the study was conducted in 2011 and adopted an ethnographic design in which document analysis, observation of participants, in-depth interviews and focused group interviews were included. the key informants were selected from an intentional sampling. the gathered information underwent a content analysis. results: the study revealed perceptions limited to the clinical model in the community management, the teaching-assistance and the research dimensions. conclusions: both the center and the neighboring communities have perceptions on addictive behaviors that are limited to the clinical-assistance model, which is a kind of barrier to the positioning of the public health model.