Substance Abuse: Clinical Research & Interventions for Social Disparities - Essay Sample

Introduction

Substance abuse is associated with several medical, psychological, spiritual, economic, social, and legal issues since it creates an essential adverse burden for victims. Moreover, according to clinical research, substance abuse is among the leading social disparities; therefore, making most of the studies conducted on the topic reflecting on the individual, group, and family interventions of solving its issues. Ideally, what most scholars and researchers are amazed at is the lack of information caregivers possess on differentiating the lines between experimentation and drug abuse. Unfortunately, most of the studies conducted have focused on the social impacts of substance abuse towards the teenagers rather than establishing means of combating youth experimentation of drug abuse. According to most research, peer pressure has been the ideal reason for peer experimentation on drugs; therefore, the purpose of the paper critically analyzes and review relevant studies conducted between 2000 and 2019 and establish if indeed peer pressure is the force between youth substance experimentation and abuse or there are deeper properties behind the social topic.

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Critical Analysis: Peer Pressure

Also, since substance abuse is a crucial public health issue, it is a social issue since it affects each community as well as family in various ways. Moreover, each year, the question of substance abuse causes millions of illnesses, injuries, and deaths among the American community as well as the world. Most of the abused drugs among teenagers are methamphetamine, anabolic steroids, club drugs, cocaine, heroin, inhalants, marijuana, and prescribed drugs such as opioids. Ideally, daily, there is news that is termed conventional since they have become part of the society, for example, drunk and driving, violence, stress, and child abuse. Moreover, substance abuse leads to homelessness, crimes, and inappropriate work ethic misconducts, family instability, and exposes unborn children to harm.

It is quite unfortunate that there are limited studies conducted to understand how teen drug addiction begins, rather most social, economic, and medical scholars provide reasons that can only be hypothetically supported such as teens do drugs to fit in. There has been much criticism on the topic of teen substance abuse, specifically when it comes to pointing fingers at the perpetrators rather than all the parties involved. First, drug abuse of experimentation is a social, economic, and health issue that affects youths regardless of class, religion, race, or social status. Ideally, one element that has been established as the pioneer of teen substance abuse is peer pressure. Also, peer pressure is a multi-directional phenomenon that can be understood in a psychological and social perspective; thus, making it one of the most dangerous properties that drive the thirst and need for substance experimentation among the youths.

Peer pressure is a complex phenomenon where teens try drugs since their friends and classmates had tried it before and did not experience any adverse effects. Moreover, advanced technology and social media have bombarded youths with massive reasons for trying out medications since there are pictorial and visual representations of kids using drugs with no adverse consequences. Additionally, such a presentation is portrayed as cool and harmless; therefore, misleading the community and the teens into practices that are corroding the fundamental roots and well-being of the society. Back to back, the context of peer pressure is quite essential since it highlights on how peers have affected their social ways of life, but what is not clear is why these researchers, scholars, news broadcasters, and media houses use such information to promote unethical social relationships within the community.

Besides, there is research channeled in illustration how substance abuse impairs the judgment of the teens, which in turn alters their behavior and how they reason; for example, a timid and shy kid automatically becomes arrogant and aggressive after experimenting of substance abuse. What sociology scholars have failed to illustrate, even with the aid of psychological information is triggers the violent reactions among these youths. Yes, the problem focuses on the behavior changes of these young adults after the use of drugs, but what is the root of the issue? According to research on social interactions among the youths by Hajizadeh (2016), on legalizing and regulating marijuana in Canada: Review of potential economic, social, health impacts illustrated that there is a growing population among the youths towards marijuana use in Canada. In simple terms, Hajizadeh (2016), is trying to prove the point that there is more to peer pressure as a trigger of adverse social relationships since cultural and environmental factors lead to the teens' influence to substance experimentation.

Also, the media and scholars need to channel a different way of addressing peer pressure; for example, how ideal friends and classmates assist in developing each other's abilities as well as social responsibility. Or instead than put the negative impacts on peer pressure, for once researchers need to focus on the positive implications of the topic since it will assist in drawing better ways of training and nurturing teens in a manner that the build the career and attributes according to the norms of the society. One way is to ignore the lousy influence and ensure to always ask experts before experimenting on any substance. Moreover, according to the (Hoeben et al. 2016), parents, schools and the federal government have made emphasis on trying and getting youths to say no to drugs, but the media platforms have contributed to the increase of substance abuse due to their drug advertising approaches as well as products that have flocked the market global market. Indeed, with the availability of products in the market and poor culture that promotes youth substance abuse; there are untouched reasons as to why peer pressure is not the leading cause of teenage experimentation (Hoebenab et al., 2016).

Ideally, substance abuse has adverse impacts on society and specifically how teens react to different situations. First, research states that substance abuse has different social implications on the youths, and by identifying this implication only will preventive and curative measures be implemented. Ideally, (Hadson et al., 2016), was right to state that narcotic addiction is a complicated multi-faceted issue that has surpassed the effects of contemporary rehabilitation treatment methods. Indeed, study's perspective analyzes the fact that since most researchers have subjected the objective of teen experimentation of drugs, there are limited studies that have assisted this age group in understanding the norms they avert if they do not give into lousy peer pressure (Hudson et al., 2016). One approach that promotes the perception and research is the identity of tribal culture towards substance abuse among teenagers. Tribal culture is an essential element towards the development of a child into adolescent and then to adulthood. It promotes the role of schools, parents, caregivers, and the federal government towards bringing up a responsible society with the ability to reason and make independent choices. In other terms, tribal cultures have the responsibility to train and educate youths on the effects of peer pressure to enable them to stop experimenting on drugs (Hudson et al., 2016).

In other words, the evolution of the world's/tribe's/community's stereotype and attitude towards drugs has made its experimentation a social norm; thus, establishing less emphasis on its impacts (Coyle et al., 2015). Back to back, the social composition of the millennial population is encouraging the testing of drugs by the youths since it has forgotten the initial traditional norms that were used to educate the community and the social responsibility of each member of the city and also establishing the age brackets allowed to use drugs and the manner to which these drugs are to be taken. Nonetheless, (Coyle et al. 2015), also fails to identify the social effects of the substance disorder among the youths since the esteemed scholar focuses on family setups; therefore, eliminating it is a social issue rather than an individual problem.

Indeed, teenage experimenting on drugs is a social problem since it has affected society in different ways. For example, marijuana is used for medicinal purposes, while at times, it is used for pleasure. First, when teens start to experimenting on marijuana their suddenly experience change in behavior, for example, they demand privacy, exercise mistrust, nervousness around family members, and prefer peers who are on the same response as them (Coyle et al., 2015). Nonetheless, these youths lack the ideal properties of motivation or concern towards physical appearances. To some extent, experimenting teenagers lack sleep and are often hungry. Ideally, these individuals have poor memory and are on the constant need for money. In other words, these youths often portray different attitude towards societal functions as well as different reactions towards family members.

Nonetheless, these are some of the trigger signs of experimenting youths that most of the caregivers need to study, and in case they are portrayed, drastic actions need to be implemented. Even after much contemplation, there are always social drives that need to be considered as a means of identifying if peer pressure is the leading cause of substance abuse among children (Coyle et al., 2015). A good example reflects that most of the children who fall prey to peer-pressure come from poor backgrounds. Their condition makes their parents lack time to train and provide their basic needs, and the only means of forgetting their problems is by experimenting on drugs or hanging around peers who are substance users (Okolia & Kodet, 2015). In such a case, poverty is the trigger towards peer pressure, which in return leads to substance abuse that will contribute to altering the behavior and character of the youth. Such circumstances draw an established link between poverty and substance abuse among teens.

The society has the power of shaping the behavior of youths as well as teenagers; therefore, eliminating the blaming hands-on giving into peer pressure as the primary cause of substance abuse. First, according to (Okolia & Kodet 2015), psychology and sociology need to work as a unit to help rule out the perception or fact of peer-pressure among youths as the leading factor to substance abuse among adolescents. It is so because psychology concerns itself with studying the human character and sociology with understanding the behavior of large groups such as families and cultures. According to the temperance mode of addiction and recovery implications, substance abuse is caused by the exposure of drugs or addictive products and activities (Koon-Magnin et al., 2016). These activities are dangerous to the entire society regardless of age, race, and culture, and the best approach is by eliminating these activities as well as these products. The most controversial component of the temperance model is on the fact that it promotes the idea that alcohol and marijuana as less threatening. Indeed, such an opinion has led to the less concern of parents and societies towards assisting youths to stay away from such drugs.

Stating the alcohol and marijuana is less threatening is more like an initiation statement where parents are encouraging their children to take these drugs since they are passing through an experimental face. It is quite unfortunate that such a system and encouragement societies are supporting the production and exposure of youths to these...