Drug Use

07/29/03 Grade: A

Drug Use

Drug abuse is a symptom of stress, and role problems do generate stress in the individual.
Particular roles are especially likely to create problems, people who occupy those roles will be particularly vulnerable to stress and perhaps to using drugs to deal with stress.
Drug use has been associated with patterns of family use of drugs, with broken homes, and with problematic family relationships.
Drug abusers are more likely to come from homes where other members of the family are abusers.
A pattern of drug use in a family influences the behavior of any particular member of the family.
Parental conflict and alienation between youth and their parents are likely to lead to both drug use and drug abuse.
Heroin users reported an unhappy parental marriage, parental coldness, and conflict with parents.
A young person first uses drugs because of his or her group’s norm and then becomes alienated for his or her parents, that alienation is likely to perpetuate drug use.
People living in a metropolitan area where there is a high rate of addiction are more likely to become victims of crime and to have their freedom of movement restricted by fear and he threat of victimization.
The fact that drugs are illegal raises the cost of maintaining the drug habit, deeply involves criminals in the drug traffic, strains the criminal justice system, and leads the addict to undesirable behavior.
Not all drug addicts turn to crime, but only a small part of the funds needed come from legal sources.

Coleman and Kerbo. "Social Problems" Prentice Hall, Eighth Edition. 2002

Paper written by Christina Kaufmann.