Drug Abuse Sociology

There are many factors such as biology, environment and development that results in the persons initial introduction into the world of drugs. Drug abuse may start as a way to socially connect. More often than not people try drugs for the first time in social

The use and misuse of illicit drugs in today’s society can be blamed on both individual, and societal factors. With the use of societal factors researchers can show the effect for a larger population, and provide better information of the population. Blaming the individual for developing the addiction will not fix issues that lie in society that worked against the individual, the underlying issues of poverty and addiction, many scholarly articles mention bad neighborhoods, low income, and loose family ties with future drug use. I will be using evidence from articles involving both teen and adult drug use and addiction, as the effect on society is noticed in both age brackets. “Substance use is considered a problem by individual addicts who seek treatment, by institutions within society (such as the police or the medical system) that deal with substance use and its consequences on a day-to-day basis, and by national organizations such as governments or supranational organizations, such as the International Narcotics Control Board (a United Nations agency located in Vienna). (Adrian) I will be using scholarly articles to explain the sociological reasoning behind drug use, with theories involving low-income neighborhoods, leading to lessening of family involvement which can lead to drug use. “Drug abuse affects a community 's living conditions and economy, its youth, and the environment for crime.” (Watts)

There are at least two different aspects of sociological imagination that apply to substance abusers. First, there is the issue of how the behavior developed within the context of external social influences. For example, substance abuse rarely begins in isolation; instead, the first experiences of most drug and alcohol users is typically within the context of social relationships within a particular subcultures and the norms, values, and expectations of individuals within those subcultures.

Predominantly, the idea of addiction falls under the sociological concept of deviance. Research has identified drug use predominantly as a problem of young males, whereas prescription drug use is principally a problem of middle-aged and older women (Adrian, 2003). According to the sociological idea of conformity, individuals who are around others who misuse substances or use them illegally will eventually give in and follow the norm their social group has initiated and partake in addictive substance use. Hence, because of sociological research, it is evident that drug use and abuse and addictions are a deviant behavior that individuals have learned through the idea of conformity and following an idea popular in an individual’s culture or

Drug abuse is on the rise. While the use of drugs like cocaine and heroin is in a state of decline in certain parts of the world, prescription drugs abuse is on the rise (UNODC, 2013). Prescription drugs that were prescribed with the intention to do well are now one of the leading causes of self-harm. Drug abuse has no gender or social class, it can affect people regardless of social status and wealth, and now more than ever we need to understand the reason behind the abuse. What psychological factors could cause an individual to abuse drugs in the first place? In this research essay, I will discuss how each one of the major school of psychology perspectives could attempt to explain a

In addition to the escapism that frequent drug use may provide extremely disadvantaged individuals, the severe poverty and almost total lack of decent employment opportunity characterizing these communities has made drug dealing among the most lucrative and attractive, if locally despised, sources of employment. Despite the fact that the vast majority of all lower-class residents resist this temptation, drug sales is a form of employment in an otherwise extremely poor and opportunity-deprived environment that can provide the symbols of success so valued in society. As E. Anderson (1999) has noted on these issues,

Many people just have the desire to simply relax or relieve tension, some people like to experiment then when they get addicted you need to maintain your addiction to prevent withdrawal. Teens face struggles of being accepted by peers so when they are the only one in the group not doing drugs you soon get singled out or get made fun of, causing them to cave and try it, causing them to possibly abuse the drug later. Then the most simple cause of prescription drug abuse, just to simply get high. A more complicated cause that isn't anyones fault technically, Genetics. Drug abuse is sometimes known as a genetic problem, In which a first-degree relative struggles with addiction you are at higher risk. Not all people agree with this statement but I think it is true but not always. Children who grow up watching this and thinking its normal are more likely to think it's okay so then they follow the same path as their family member. Once one would get addicted they will soon fear the withdraws that come with stopping the drug, to prevent it they will keep doing the drug if not the same amount but

A social issue that has been around for years is drug abuse. Sociologist can apply the three major sociological perspectives to analyze how society influences people to carry out certain acts by setting up a framework for specific reasoning. The different concepts used all together gives sociologists a broader and less biased conclusion of the issue.

Substance use has always been prevalent in society ever since recorded history in one way or another someone somewhere indulged. Scripture the wine flow like water Greeks and Romans drank as well, Chinese opium dens, and the American Indians even passed the peace pipe in sweat lodge rituals. Along with substance use another thing that hasn't changed are the different views and opinions surrounding these things? The United States wages war on drugs spending billions a year meanwhile manufacturing tobacco and alcohol as if they aren't harmful or addictive. Portugal on the other hand legalized all use and possession of all substances giving the power of free will and lowering the population of their

Substance abuse is very common in today's culture. There are many different substances that are abused. The most common abused substances are illegal street drugs and alcohol followed by prescription pills and medications. Technically speaking, most anything can be abused if it is taken excessively and without caution or consideration to the suggested directions. Even over the counter medications can be abused. It usually when unseen potential for dependence or abusive behaviors arise out of the general population that the authorities step in and begin to restrict its use.

Capitalism is working as it was meant to work. Capitalism is creating wealth among the United States and the world. Yet, this wealth is concentrated and is creating many social issues such as a disappearing middle class, health and environmental destruction. In the United States, the top 400 wealthiest people in the country own half of the entire wealth of the nation (Robert Reich). We no longer have a government that is for the people, but rather a government that is for big business. Policy is made by and for the corporations of america. We are repeating history with the wealth gap that has not been seen since the last depression. As the soon to be majority demographic in this country I look forward to the position of being able to use education

Individuals abused as a child are more likely to turn to substance abuse and violence. Their environment socialized them with violence being the answer to all questions or stressed them out enough to run away as an adolescent, nurtured by gangs where they solve problems with violence (69). Some even confide in strangers where they’d be exposed to drugs and later abuses to cope with stress and mental deficiencies. Frequently they are targeted by perpetrators because their vulnerability makes them easy to manipulate and exploit, allowing them to be victimized again (73).

This article aims to study psychological and judicial feature of a subgroup of inmates with substance abuse. There were methods use to define the prisoners with substance abuse (n=312) are compared to the prisoners without substance abuse (n=591). They tested the assessment of aggression, impulsivity, depression, personality traits, hostility, resilience, and childhood trauma to understand the inmates sociodemographic and judicial data. In results, it showed that substance abusers were more likely to be incarcerated 78.8%, more juvenile conviction 60.2%, more violent behavior detention 29.8%, and a history of one or more suicide attempts 20.8%. Childhood trauma was higher number on the subscales scores then psychoticism and neuroticism, impulsivity

Drugs are on the uptrend here in America, with more than 120 people dying per day of drug overdose, according to the Penington Institute. Many people, including President Trump, have pinpointed Mexico as a source of many of the drugs consumed in the US. President Trump voiced his views in the speech in 2015 as he announced his Presidential bid: “They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime.” Mr. Trump is right about one thing: Mexicans are smuggling drugs into the US. According to a report released by US Customs and Border Protection in 2015, 99.8% of methamphetamine and 99.9% of marijuana captured by the organization were at the border shared with Mexico.

A drug is a chemical substance applied into treating, diagnosing and preventing one from disease infections or a substance that is used by a person to enhance his or her physical and mental state in the perceived effect. Drugs used for different purposes and their effect depend on which cause for usage. It causes both positive and negative consequences directly to the user and in the long-run it affects the whole society or community. Drug addiction is the activity of uncontrollable dependence on a substance by the user no matter the harm caused by its usage. It is a habit that has been in many years hard to curb especially among the youths. “We must recognize that substance abuse and addiction is a disease, not a moral failing or easily abandoned self-indulgence,” (Califano, 2008).The cases of drug abuse have been on the rise over the recent years and resulted in crimes. The cases have a great effect affected the society in general since the reliable energetic youths have turned to drug abuse. However, some measures have been initiated to mitigate, curb and treat drug addiction in the society as outlined in the essay.