Reflection: Substance and Family Tracy Collins Wilmington University In physical science, the term substance simply refers to a pure form of matter that contains molecules, where a combination of different molecules forms a mixture. In the context of this paper, the term substance relates to drugs and alcohol, which, when misused, bring about undesirable consequences. Drugs can be of varied categories. Addictive drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroine are usually harmful to one’s health as their consumption brings about health complications. Others such as prescription drugs are helpful to people’s health because they cure diseases, but if abused, they can equally harm an individual’s health. The present paper focuses on …show more content…
From my personal observation in my community, people may abuse drug for several reasons. I examine one of the main reasons for one to abuse drugs, which is the failure to socialize with other people around them in the right way. Such people believe that the further they are from the rest of the world, the better their life becomes. For this cause, a person separates himself/herself and quits socializing with others. Eventually, solitude takes its place in such a person, leaving them overwhelmed by loneliness and a feeling of being left out. Being emotionally distant from friends and loved ones erodes the self-confidence of that person. As time goes by, he/she resorts to drug and substance abuse as a substitute of the missing socialization. This occurs when they become confounded by the belief that smoking, drinking or sniffing drugs will set their minds free from isolation and solitude. This habit creates the wrong impression that the more they purchase drugs from their addicted peers, the more they make new friends, and hence the more they are engaging in socialization. Unfortunately, they fail to recognize that this is the wrong way of socializing. In this manner, substance abuse damages both an individual’s life and the community at large with its deleterious effects. I have to state clearly that I have never abused substances either as a child or young adult in my entire life, implying that I am not a direct victim of the effects of substance abuse.
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)
Chapter 3, “A Community of Addicted Bodies”, traces how physical and emotional dependence on heroin creates a social hierarchy within the
Soon enough when having a taste of a certain drug, the body and brain will begin to crave more because of the feeling it experienced. Although, in the article of Hari and chapter 7 of Slater’s book, both state a difference was made when surrounded by loved ones and living in a happy environment. For example, with Rat Park, the rats that were in cramped cages stopped drinking the morphine water when placed in a happier environment involved with other rats. Furthermore, in the article by Hari say that, “Human beings are connecting animals. We need to connect and love instead of living in a society where we keep cutting each other off” (pg 4.) If people connected instead of being on their phones, speak up what they feel, or seek for help when needed, no one would be addicted to drugs in the first place. Humans push each other away and the environment people live in makes it a lot worse. Constantly contacting each other through forms of social media and not knowing fully when the context of people’s messages. That’s what leads others to fall into addiction not having full confrontation of these types of
Substance abuse is a very widely known public epidemic in today's society. Many people are unfortunately plagued by this issue. According to Emedicinehealth.com (2012), “People abuse substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for varied and complicated reasons, but it is clear that our society pays a significant cost,” (para. 1). People that are affected by substance abuse includes a very different range of people. Many that abuse the substances end up having health-related problems which in turn increases the need for health care. Other people that are affected by substance abuse are the family members and friends of the abusers because they have to deal with the person abusing the substances. Things that can be abused are
Although, there are many efforts to reduce the stigma of addiction, false concepts among individuals still persist. Many individuals may describe drug addicts as “people who are morally weak and cannot control their impulses”, or simply just “people who cannot get their life together”. Such misconceptions suggesting that
Substance abuse is the harmful or dangerous use of any psychoactive substances including drugs, alcohol and even tobacco. The term ‘Substance Abuse’, as understood today was first used in 1987’s DSM-IIIR, before that social & cultural factors were not considered. Even with that change, many Americans still today consider drug and alcohol abuse to be moral weakness or character defect.
Although some people argue for the legalization of drugs, addiction to these substances has caused a huge increase in violent crimes in the home, at school, and on the street. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to create compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. This is a false and uneducated belief. Drug abuse may start as a social problem or social escape but one the addiction has taken ahold of a person
In today’s world, substance abuse is becoming more and more prevalent. Substance abuse is defined as overindulgence in or dependence on an addictive substance, especially alcohol or drugs.It is important to research whether commonly used substances have positive or negative effects on the human body. By proving negative effects of commonly overused substances, scientists help people become aware and therefore begin to control addictions. By researching effects of drugs, scientists are also able to find solutions to the problems caused by drugs.
The social model of addiction tries to recognize and repair systematic problems within society that could impact a person’s choice about substance use (Doweiko, 2015). Cultural, environmental, and family components of a person’s life are all a part of the social model. These influences can either enable the development of addiction or increase resistance against addiction. For instance, in distinct cultures and environments, the manufacture, sale, and distribution of illicit drugs are considered as acceptable behaviors for a person to prosper and gain respect (Doweiko, 2015). Social aspects such as poverty, community immersion, unemployment, and family structure either influence or guard the person from substance abuse. Identification of adverse social influences so that these concerns can be attended to will decrease the probability of the individual relapsing or the continued abuse of substances (Doweiko, 2015).
This leads to an increase in criminal activity such as neglect of familial duties, robberies to fund their dependency, and violence to defend their habits. The ‘drugee’ becomes a nuisance to society. Some become homeless and exhibit poor health habits such as malnutrition and tooth decay. Other negative effects include the transference of diseases because of needle sharing. Though drug use is a personal choice, the effects on the rest of society are undeniable. The best intentions are formulated on a personal level, but this is overcastted by its negative effects. This argument, however, is a bit one-sided because the reason for using and dependency varies between users.
Ultimately, these factors contribute to the development of methamphetamine-abuse but also provide tangible strategies to counteract addiction. Boshears et al. (2011) suggest methamphetamine-users separate from existing social networks that encourage consumption and discover new networks that support cessation of drug-use. However, many methamphetamine addicts would be forced to disassociate from immediate family or be required to terminate employment which create limitations due to the impracticality of these changes. Evidently, social determinants contribute to methamphetamine addiction, however successful treatment can only occur in conjunction with the attenuation of significant physiological and psychological factors.
Drug addiction is a complex problem in society today. Addiction is a condition that extremely affects the person’s mind and body. Addiction also has wide sweeping effects on that person’s social connection and functioning. Unfortunately, many addicts don’t realize the social influence of their addiction until much of their functioning has greatly deteriorated.
to govern much of the individual’s behavior. The most extreme case of drug use is the
Numerous individuals do not comprehend why individuals get to be dependent on drugs or how drugs can change the mind to cultivate enthusiastic drug abuse. They erroneously view drug misuse and dependence as entirely a social issue and may describe the individuals who take drugs as ethically powerless (Alving, Matyas, Torres, Jalah, & Beck, 2014). One extremely regular belief is that drugs abusers ought to have the capacity to stop taking drugs if they are willing to change their conduct and be a member of society (Alvin et al., 2014). What individuals frequently underestimate is the intricacy of drug dependence that this is
Drugs have become a big problem in today’s society especially in today’s youth. It has caused so many deaths and violence within the community that it is well known what drugs are in society and the effects of it. Even though many people know the effects and outcomes of drugs they still continue to use it and sometimes never realize their life is hitting rock bottom. Some people use drugs as a doorway to get away from stress, and or to be socially acknowledged in which then leads them to get hooked causing them to sidetrack into more crime since some need the drug so bad it makes them have to commit a crime to be able to buy the drug they need. Drug users report greater involvement with crime and are more likely for nonusers to have criminal records, persons with criminal records are much more likely to be drug users more than others, and crime rise when drugs rise (Chiaken and Chiaken, 1990).