Abstract

This study addresses moral positions taken by residents’ discourses in San Buenaventura public housing located in Ixtapaluca, State of Mexico, Mexico, in order to propose a strategy as a potential solution to stop littering in communal areas. The research design was dictated by positioning theory, a constructionist theory used more frequently in the field of discursive psychology, thereby an appropriate conceptual framework was developed to see the dynamics of the social life linked to elements that compose the theory used in this study. A qualitative approach was taken alongside an interpretative-descriptive methodology using semi-structured interviews as the data source for the discourse analysis. No mathematical analysis was used or needed at any stage of the study. Twelve individual semi-structured interviews and two focus groups (five and seven participants each) were carried out. However, only two extract samples from a focus group interview and one individual interview were presented for analytical purposes, showing the applicability of the positioning theory triangle. The results showed that there were four words that composed the storylines that helped to frame participants’ personal ideas or strategies. Keywords were found as empirical grounding associated with the conceptual framework. These elements were (a) bins, (b) residents, (c) government, and (d) campaigns. These words were used in word compounds or phrases that helped to construct a personal strategy to minimize littering. These four words were commonly used to assign threads of moral responsibility to residents themselves and the local municipality of Ixtapaluca.