Hannah McCall

Professor Kays

ENG 102-22

4 May 2017

What many fail to acknowledge when assessing the social pathology of drug addiction is

the etymology of the problem. Drug abuse, though once analyzed through a biological lens, after

continuous studies and polls, has been asserted to be a social problem. The myriad of agents that

aid in the socialization of a child play vital roles in indicating the choices that the child makes in

their immediate future as well as the long run. The family, which is widely acclaimed as the most

important agent of socialization, plays the most fundamental role in the socialization of the child.

Being the first encounters with human beings and the forerunners of beliefs and values, the

family, if there is a prevalence of narcotics or history with the use of narcotics to a member close

to the child, can indeed pressure children into experimenting with drugs. For this reason, children

who are exposed to drug using parents are more likely to experiment with drugs themselves as

they matriculate through their own life. In addition, children who undergo periods of domestic

violence/abuse are more prone to using drugs as a method to solving social problems. The social

transgressions that the child is surrounded by heavily influence the child and increase their

chances of perverting into a life of narcotic abuse and addiction. Aside from the family the peer

group and mass media also aid in the socialization of kids. Peer pressure and media depictions

often misconstrue the image of drugs and their potential harm, thus leading to experimentation

without full awareness of the aversive effects. Overall, due to humans nature of being a social
animal, the environment that someone finds themselves in has great influence on their

experimentation with elicits in the future.

Sociological Examination of Drug Abuse

Whether it is acknowledged or not, many typically hold true to the convention that drug abuse is

a social issue. Chances are youve heard the aphorism People are products of their

environment. This axiom reverberates the convention that drug addiction is spurred by ones

social proximity with the culture of their environment. This is why drug abuse is not only an

individual problem, but furthermore a reflection of the culture of ones environment. According

to Drug Free, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of substance abuse,

23.5 million Americans have reported addiction to alcohol and other illicit substances. To put this

number into greater perspective with regard to age, one in every ten people over the age of

twelve have reported addiction to a substance. The chronic relapse that addicted creates, aids in

the compulsive urge for drugs. Drugs that induce a euphoric state of being misconstrue their

prohibition in mundane settings, therefore addicts are more willing to use the drug around people

they care about or even be high in their presence.

Many subcultures in America have gone as far as platforming elicits as a popular wave,

forging more acceptance for these harmful substances. The hippie movement of the 1960s

embodies a counter culture revolution that aided in individuals clashing with governmental

policies. In a sense, the communal use of LSD and marijuana paved way for social growth and

bonding. The hippie peer group accepted the abuse of drugs and platformed drugs as a

revolutionary tool to combatting conservative and capitalistic legislature and propaganda. Not
only were drugs a tool, but even still in contemporary society, an easy way to garner acceptance

to a social group. The usage of drugs brought people at Woodstock closer together. Asking

someone for a joint or to join in on a smoking session was an easy way to break the ice and find

a common joy between strangers (Kent). The act of sharing a common joy, increased the social

bond and further stymied peoples knowledge of the aversive effects of drugs. In a sense, the joy

from the social experience felt from those who shared such strong sentiments of rejection of

societal norms and values compromised the recognition of the illegality and perils of drug abuse.

Economic Disparity & Drug Abuse

Economic disparity, especially in the United States, accentuates the problem with narcotics.

Typically in areas of low income, but not exclusive to these areas, children are more prone to

exploiting the use of drugs. Statistically, children from inner city settings show higher rate of

experimentation with narcotics than their more economically well off counterparts. The social

exclusion that those in poverty typically experience often guides them to a path of drug abuse.

The quintessential case that glorifies the association between poverty and The American Crack

Epidemic. Crack, a cheaper form of cocaine that was dispersed in the 1980s in urban

neighborhoods around the United States, was quickly utilized as a tool for the hood to allocate

enough money to have the necessities. Those without readily utilized the drug not only as a

method of acquiring capital, but as a way to induce a tranced state of euphoria that helped them

escape their hellish reality of poverty. Several other risk factors in poverty-stricken areas

influence ones susceptibility to using drugs. Low income neighborhoods have an affinity with

poor literacy and graduation rates. The buying, selling, and exchange of narcotics, in essence, is

as easy as adding and subtracting and allows for a speedy avenue to wealth.The potential surplus
of drugs provide an avenue for those kids who already attend underfunded, mediocre public

school-systems with historically high dropout rates.

Latchkey Children

The past thirty years of American history has been marked with alternative depictions of

the family. Fewer and fewer Americans in contemporary times are being able to accurately

proclaim their classification as a member of a nuclear family. In 1942, the term latchkey

children was coined to describe the growing trend of children who let themselves in the house

since their parents were away at work. Working class homes typically are composed of latchkey

children due to the parents need to take on extra hours to provide either for their children or to

maintain their living in a setting where the cost of living is higher than what it used to be. Due to

the lack of parental supervision and greater capacity to make adult decisions, latchkey kids, from

a sociological perspective, are more susceptible to engaging in alcohol and drug abuse.

Drugs on College Campus & The Mass Media

Drugs are typically introduced to high-school students in two ways: through the

classroom and big screen. A great deal of students participate in the consumption of illicit drugs

(typically marijuana and alcohol), primarily as a result of their distance from their parents, new

environment, new peer groups, and periods of idleness that give way for opportunity to use

drugs. College, for many, is an experience that aids in their growth as a person as well as an

experience to step out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately, many college freshmen attend

college and experiment with elicits forming unfavorable habits that become difficult to kick. The

media revamps the notion that Drugs are cool. According to the American Academy of

Pediatrics More than $25 billion per year is spent on advertising for tobacco, alcohol, and prescription
drugs, and such advertising has been shown to be effective. Contemporary television, movies, music,

and social media all work collectively as neighboring agents that influence teenagers willingness

to experiment with drugs. According to a social-science experiment in 2014 ran by a team of

medical doctors at the Washington University School of Medicine, did a study utilizing Twitter

and Instagram as a means of collecting data. After months of studies, they concluded that young

people are especially responsive to social media influences and often establish substance use

patterns during this phase of development.

Conclusion

As social animals, by nature we are inclined to mimicking the actions that we are

surrounded by. Since we assimilate to our neighborhoods culture, when drugs are proliferated in

our immediate surroundings, we become more prone to using them. For this reason, a persons

environment has a strong affinity with their susceptibility to drug abuse. Many agents of

socialization play vital roles in establishing the sentiment of drug use in our own understanding

of elicits. Economic disparity, race, class, gender, and education simultaneously work to sway

individuals choices. Our proneness to seeking for answers to social dilemmas in our cultural

values and norms incline us to either using or not using drugs.

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