This topic contains a solution. Click here to go to the answer

Author Question: Discuss how peer pressure is a rationale for drug use. Do you agree with this premise? Why or why ... (Read 64 times)

evelyn o bentley

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 564
Discuss how peer pressure is a rationale for drug use. Do you agree with this premise? Why or why not?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Explain social disorganization as a rationale for drug abuse. Do you agree or disagree with this theory? Why or why not?
 
  What will be an ideal response?



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
Marked as best answer by a Subject Expert

mjbamaung

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 343
Answer to Question 1

 Research shows that adolescent drug abuse is highly correlated with the behavior of best friends, especially when parental supervision is weak.
 Youths in inner-city areas where feelings of alienation run high often come in contact with drug users who teach them that drugs provide an answer to their feelings of inadequacy and stress.
 Perhaps they join with peers to learn the techniques of drug use; their friendships with other drug-dependent youths give them social support for their habit. Empirical research efforts show that a youth's association with friends who are substance abusers increases the probability of drug use.
 The relationship is reciprocal: Adolescent substance abusers seek friends who engage in these behaviors, and associating with drug abusers leads to increased levels of drug abuse.
 Peer networks may be the most significant influence on long-term substance abuse. Shared feelings and a sense of intimacy lead youths to become enmeshed in what has been described as the drug-use subculture..
 Research indicates that drug users do in fact have warm relationships with substance-abusing peers who help support their behaviors. This lifestyle provides users with a clear role, activities they enjoy, and an opportunity for attaining status among their peers.
 Student views will vary.

Answer to Question 2

 One explanation ties drug abuse to poverty, social disorganization, and hopelessness. Drug use by young minority group members has been tied to factors such as racial prejudice, low self-esteem, poor socioeconomic status, and the stress of living in a harsh urban environment.
 The association among drug use, race, and poverty has been linked to the high level of mistrust and defiance found in lower socioeconomic areas.
 Despite the long-documented association between social disorganization and drug use, and even some specific drugs like methamphetamine, the empirical data on the relationship between class and crime has been inconclusive.
 For example, the National Youth Survey (NYS), a longitudinal study of delinquent behavior conducted by Delbert Elliott and his associates, found little if any association between drug use and social class. The NYS found that drug use is higher among urban youths, but there was little evidence that minority youths or members of the lower class were more likely to abuse drugs than white youths and the more affluent.
 Research by the Rand Corporation indicates that many drug-dealing youths had legitimate jobs at the time they were arrested for drug trafficking.
 Student views will vary.





 

Did you know?

Drug abusers experience the following scenario: The pleasure given by their drug (or drugs) of choice is so strong that it is difficult to eradicate even after years of staying away from the substances involved. Certain triggers may cause a drug abuser to relapse. Research shows that long-term drug abuse results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after an individual stops using drugs. It is most important to realize that the same is true of not just illegal substances but alcohol and tobacco as well.

Did you know?

Despite claims by manufacturers, the supplement known as Ginkgo biloba was shown in a study of more than 3,000 participants to be ineffective in reducing development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in older people.

Did you know?

A seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to reduce the chances you will get seasonal influenza and spread it to others.

Did you know?

When taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors, people should avoid a variety of foods, which include alcoholic beverages, bean curd, broad (fava) bean pods, cheese, fish, ginseng, protein extracts, meat, sauerkraut, shrimp paste, soups, and yeast.

Did you know?

Hip fractures are the most serious consequences of osteoporosis. The incidence of hip fractures increases with each decade among patients in their 60s to patients in their 90s for both women and men of all populations. Men and women older than 80 years of age show the highest incidence of hip fractures.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library