Transcript Bakersfield CRJU 340 Drugs in America Dr. Abu

Department of Criminal Justice
California State University - Bakersfield
CRJU 340
Drugs in America
Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali
Theories of Drug Use
Biological Theories:
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Genetic Factors:
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Predisposition to drug use?
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Genetic influences and level of intoxication reached
when using a particular drug
Racial and ethnic backgrounds impacted
differently?
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Genetic factors in drug abuse: research focusing on
alcoholism. Adopted children?
Inheritance only a factor in making someone a
compulsive drinker
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Biology and abusive drinking: What is the link?
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Children of alcoholics vs. non-alcoholic parents
Metabolic Imbalance:
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A factor in narcotic addiction
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Heroin addicts suffer “metabolic” disease or disorder
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Seen in diabetics
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Narcotics: stabilizers…..craving opiates
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Providing what the body lacks/cannot provide
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES:
 Reinforcement
 Desire
increase with continued administration….opiates
(Exp. Independent of personality characs, etc….)
 Types
of reinforcement: positive (pleasurable feeling and
motivation to repeat what caused it) and negative (avoiding
pain therefore being rewarded and motivated to achieve
relief)
Inadequate Personality:
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Dysfunctional or emotionally unstable where drugs
become more appealing to “users”
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Escape from reality
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The self-esteem or self-derogation perspective
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Controversy in the theory explaining that the use of
illicit drugs is a consequence of social rejection??
Problem-Behavior Proneness:
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Drug use as a form of “deviant” behavior or “problem”
behavior
The likelihood that a person may be prone t using illicit
drugs
Users less attached to parents, rebellious, risk takers,
etc…
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
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ANOMIE THEORY:
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Robert Merton 1930s
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Increased gap between the goals and the means to
achieving these desired goals in society
Modes of adaptation in formation to attain these goals:
innovators, retreatists, rebellious, conformists, ritualists
SOCIAL CONTROL AND SELF-CONTROL
THEORY
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Why some people refrain from committing crime?
How strong our social control measures/bonds that
pull us away from committing crime
Control theory main argument: people are motivated
to conform but need no motivation to deviate
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Therefore we are all inclined to deviate unless we are
“controlled”
according to Hirschi: deviance is normal, it is
conformity that needs to be explained
Hirschi and Gottfredson: drawing the line between
control theory and “positivistic” theories. “P” theories
examine factors that will positively motivate people to
commit crime
Social Disorganization:
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Lack of cohesion, solidarity and integration will cause
deviance and crime in society
Social Dis evolved in studying urban crime at the Univ of
Chicago
Shaw and McKay: rates of delinquency increased closer to the
inner city when compared to the more affluent (among all
racial groups)
Urban ecology and the Plant versus the environment (Robert
Park) and the Concentric Zone Theory
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Different zones and urban decay in the zone of
transition: broken homes, poor housing conditions,
heterogeneous populations, low SES
Therefore more crime rates and deviances
Is it behavior that’s causing deviance or is it the
urban conditions?
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Routine activities theory perceives crime as another
activity in society, and that there is no mystery in its
occurring.
Crime rates, according to Cohen and Felson,
(1979) are usually affected by three elements that
occur in time and space: (1) motivated offenders,
(2) suitable targets, and (3) an absence of capable
guardians against a violation.
Routine activities theory examined the importance
of having guardians in specific places and keeping
an eye on potential crime targets.
CONFLICT THEORY:
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Structure of American society
In crease in the gap between the rich and poor in
American society
The macro view of drug abuse and the impact
drugs have on society as a whole
Economic opportunities since 1970s
Poor are getting poorer and the rich richer
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Wilson’s “the truly disadvantaged” and the
“underclass” with high rates of unemployment,
abuse, and illegitimate births
Lack of social ties between neighborhoods
3 factors: decay of working class sector,
economic gap growth, physical and political
decay of poorer areas
CONCLUSION
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Association with other and the impact it has on drug use/abuse
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The culture/subculture of American society
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The economic gap
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The concentric zones
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Does location matter in the use/predisposition to using drugs
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Demonology and its popularity in today’s society