Environmental And Social Influences Of A Person 's Environment

Adolescence is a time where adolescents grow and mature at a rapid rate. It is also a time where adolescents are more vulnerable to taking risks, such as using and becoming addicted to illegal substances, due to raging hormones. Whether or not an adolescent chooses to engage in drug use and abuse depends on their home environment and those they choose to associate themselves with. Adolescents are confronted with an enormous amount of pressure to participate in risky behaviors by their peers. According to Broderick and Blewitt (2015), “risky behaviors are behaviors that constitute a departure from socially accepted norms or behaviors that pose a threat to the well-being of individuals or groups” (p. 389). One such risky behavior is drug use and addiction. Some adolescents use cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs in order to get “high”. Adolescents who engage in drug use are likely to become addicted, and thus, their addiction will negatively affect their brain development.

Teenage drug abuse is an issue that can result from a wide variety of social influences, stressful events, and mental disorders. Drug abuse among adolescents is a troubling issue because it decreases focus, increases the chance of consistency in behavior during adulthood, increases the chances of developing emotional issues, permanently damages the brain, and damages tissues in every system that can lead to death. Previous scientific research has identified that social factors, including the media and peers, play an important role in psychological development and impact the adolescent's decision to start experimenting with substances (Botvin 888). Appropriate solutions for the teenage drug abuse issue already exist, but the only remaining

When an individual believes, and expects, to have positive effects from a certain drug (e.g., drinking alcohol to reduce stress and anxiety), the likelihood that the individual will abuse the drug is extremely high. Sociocultural factors also play a vital role in how frequently a substance is used, with family and friends being the most influential. A broken family home (e.g., marital problems, parent/sibling alcohol or drug use, and legal or psychiatric problems) can have a tremendous negative effect on a child and the decisions they make. A lack of emotional support from parents is found to increase drug use, whereas the lack of parental monitoring if often associated with higher drug use (Kring, 2014). The idea of being “popular” and having a ton of friends seems to be a common goal for the majority of adolescents and young adults. Social influence is explained by the fact that having peers who drink, influences drinking behavior; however, it is also known that individuals will choose friends with drinking patterns similar to their own. While growing up, most of us have always been told to choose our friends wisely; however, they neglected to tell us how difficult this can be.

According to current statistics released by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, “In the United States in 2011, there were an estimated 25.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17. In the past year, more than one quarter of adolescents drank alcohol, approximately one fifth used an illicit drug, and almost one eighth smoked cigarettes” ("A Day in the Life of American Adolescents," 2013, para. 1). Substance abuse is major problem amongst adolescents. Some are experimenting, but some adolescents may become dependent on a particular substance. If one becomes dependent on a substance as an adolescent it could be detrimental to their future health and success as an adult. Spear (2003) stated in an article titled Alcohol’s

The question, "Is alcohol advertising the cause of underage drinking?" seems to flow through the minds of many American families. The answer to the question largely depends upon the families view on drinking in general. Some homes encourage drinking every once in a while, for social purposes; while others condemn it all together. The topic is very controversial with several factors weighing in such as religion, family background, and health. Despite the differing views, statistics have shown that underage drinking has reached a new height this past year. What is the cause of this rise in adolescent

“Alcohol is a manipulative bitch. If she was a person, I think she’d be a telemarketer or a used-car sales women who could persuade you to do just about anything(188)” ,Koren Zailckas once said in her New York Times best selling novel, Smashed: Story of a drunken girlhood, based society vs. humans. Society has captivated us with a stereotype image of who we should be; Therefore a high average of teens, seek alcoholism or drug abuse to fill the void of imperfection, such as in the case of Zailckas.

Researchers Smith, Homish, Leonard, and Cornelius admit that it is well known that a risk factor for intimate partner violence is substance use. (2012) However, we have a very limited understanding of the association between specific substance use and intimate partner violence. These researchers set out to bring about a deeper understanding of this. For the purpose of this study, researchers examined intimate partner violence in the presence of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioid use, as well as poly-substance use of alcohol and cocaine and alcohol and marijuana. (Smith, et al., 2012) Further, this study looked at substance use and intimate partner violence and differentiated between perpetration and victimization. Alcohol and cocaine use disorders were highly associated with intimate partner perpetration whereas cannabis and opioid use disorders were more highly associated with intimate partner victimization. (Smith, et al., 2012) Individuals diagnosed with both an alcohol use disorder and a cannabis use disorder were reported to have a lower likelihood of intimate partner perpetration compared to having the diagnosis of any one substance use disorder. Having a poly-substance use disorder with the combination of alcohol and cocaine increased the likelihood of an individual to perpetrate intimate partner violence. However, if you remove the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder and only have a cocaine use disorder, the

In today’s society there are many matters that there are to be concerned about such as peer pressure. Kids are being pressured into doing things that could affect their lives till death. The most common thing that people are pressured into doing is drugs and alcohol. Today it is a normal thing that teens under 21 are drinking, whether it is at a party or someone over the age 21 has given it to them. An article on

The cost of alcohol and substance abuse in the United States reaches heights of four hundred eighty four billion dollars per year (“Magnitude”). That’s about seven hundred eighty times the amount it cost to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases in the year 2000 (Chesson). The sole purpose of this is not to persuade you one way or the other on this topic. Nor is the purpose to apologize for this social issue. The purpose of this writing is to employ data showing the societal effects parental addictions have on children, to show how this data has remained relevant in society, and to show how it is affecting our future members of society.

Media has a lot to do with adolescent substance abuse. Many times in advertisement, adolescents see people drinking alcohol and having a great time. Media spends over $25 billion dollars on advertisement yearly. Many celebrities are seen smoking or drinking alcohol in movies, TV, and on commercials. This makes adolescents think that drinking, smoking, and taking drugs are cool and will make them popular. Over 5000 deaths yearly are caused by alcohol consumption. (Strasburger, 2010)

First off, alcohol addiction and abuse among teenagers today is a bigger problem than ever before. The root of the problem lies in the fact that the teens are so exposed to the culture of this day and age, leading them to where they have easy access to alcohol. For example, their parents may already be alcoholics, and it's merely a few bad decisions later which could cause the child to have a few drinks and cloud their judgement. This is a big problem because their young bodies have never encountered anything like alcohol before, so in turn, the body does not know how to process it, and therefore leads to their downfall. A publication released by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAA) suggests that by age 18, an astounding 60% of US teens would have had at least one drink. Moreover, according to the NIAA, youth between the ages of 12 and 20 will often binge drink as well.

The addiction of alcohol can lead to domestic abuse in a marriage. As empirical evidence demonstrates a strong association between alcoholism and domestic abuse (Murphy & O’Farrell). One large- scale survey of the U.S. population revealed that people with higher alcohol consumption were more likely to engage in physical aggression in their heterosexual marital and cohabiting relationships

Alcohol can be a huge factor in the prevalence of partner aggression across the world. It is important to determine if alcohol consumption can cause partner violence or if it can exacerbate the aggression of an individual. A study done by Graham, Bernards, Wilshack, and Gmel (2011) evaluated the relationship between alcohol consumption and the severity of aggression, and if these factors differ by country or by gender. They conducted this study by gathering data from 13 countries using cross-national surveys. The researchers hypothesized that alcohol and the severity of partner aggression will be different in each country and gender, and that alcohol can cause more severe aggression due to the cognitively and emotionally impact that it does to the perpetrator. They also stated that partner aggression when alcohol is involved is a public health concern, which should not get overlooked.

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

Alcohol is the number one drug problem among America’s youth. More senior high school students use alcohol than any other psychoactive drug. Family doctors, pediatricians, schoolteachers, and parents know that alcohol is overwhelmingly the drug of choice among today’s youth, although trendier substances such as cocaine are often given more attention in the headlines (Carla Felsted, p. vii). Furthermore, it is widely acknowledged that drinking alcohol is a part of the youth culture in America; it may also be understood as a culturally conditioned and socially controlled behavior.