Transcript Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Today: Drugs
• Guest Speaker Robert Tyler,
Twin Town Treatment Centers
Director of Operations/
Clinical Services
• 3 Major Theories
• Media continued
Prior Knowledge
Which of these drugs do you think causes the
most social problems in the U.S.? Why?
Alcohol
Nicotine
Meth-Crystal
 Meth-Steroids
Marijuana
Heroin
Cocaine/Crack
LSD/Acid/Shrooms/PCP
Prescription Pills
Alcohol is the most widely used
and abused substance in the
United States.
For sociologists, when is drug use
considered drug abuse?

when acceptable social
standards of drug use are
violated
How do each of these theories
explain drug abuse?
Sociological explanations
Structural functionalism
Conflict Theory
Symbolic Interactionsim
Focus on the role
society and social
interaction have on
participating in drug abuse
Non-sociological explanations
Biological Perspective
Psychological Perspective
Focus on
characteristics of individuals
that influence participating
in drug abuse
Biological Theories
• Genetics may predispose individuals
to addiction
• Children of alcoholics 4x as likely to be
alcoholics even when raised apart from
biological parents
• Some people physiologically “wired” to get
more pleasure from drugs than others.
Psychological Theories
• Drug abuse is a response to an emotional or
personality disorder (depression)
• Some personality types more susceptible to
drug use (anxious, dependent).
• Drug use may reduce anxiety,
loneliness and boredom.
Who would say it?
Conflict Perspective
• Drug use is a response to political, social and economic
inequality.
• Escape from frustration caused by inequality.
Conflict Perspective
• Most powerful members of society influence the legality
of drugs
• Groups that benefit from drug use have the power to
keep it available
Who would say it?
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
• If the label “drug user” is internalized, drug use
will continue, even escalate
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
• Drug users learn motivations and techniques
of drug use through interaction with others.
“Puff, puff, pass!”
“Beef before liquor, never
been sicker. Liquor before
beer, you’re in the clear!”
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Drug subcultures teach the use
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
How a drug is labeled can influence use
• “Legal vs. illegal”
• “Hard drugs” vs. “Natural”
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Labels of what is legal and illegal have changed over time:
1. Opium-1800s – early 1900s, used as a pain killer
2. Amphetamine-based inhalers were available until
1949
3. Cocaine - active ingredient in Coca-Cola until
1906
(replaced by another drug–caffeine)
Who would say it?
Structural Functionalism
• Drug abuse is a response to
society not working properly
Structural Functionalist Perspective
Drug abuse can be dysfunctional
• Crime
• Violence
• Family problems
Structural Functionalist Perspective
Drug use may be functional
• Pain relief
• Alertness
• Artists/musicians
Media Literacy Continued
How to evaluate media:
Analyze Production Techniques
How are techniques manipulating viewers?
•
•
•
•
camera angles
editing
sound effects
colors and symbols
Symbolic rhetoric
techniques of persuasion
• Symbols
• Flattery
• Repetition
• Fear
• Sexual images
Solutions-Project Censored
http://www.projectcensored.org/
Features news stories that mainstream media does not report
View: Hooked
Illegal Drugs and
How They Got That Way
Methamphetamines start at 0:33
Next Class
Drugs. Read pages 325-335
Assignment #8 cancelled
Societal costs of drug abuse
What are some ways
society pays for drug
abuse?
1. Accidents
2. Crime
3. Family problems
4. Work problems
5. Health problems
Health Costs of drug abuse






Shortened life expectancy
Exposure to HIV
Birth defects in children of pregnant users
Cancer
Liver damage
Death
Economic Costs of drug abuse
Americans are estimated to have spent in 2004:
$36 billion on cocaine
$11 billion on marijuana
$10 billion on heroin
$5.4 billion on methamphetamines
Government estimates state Americans spend $60
billion dollars a YEAR on illegal drugs
Crime Costs of drug abuse

Drug users commit a disproportionate number of crimes

At the time of arrest 63% of males and females tested
positive for cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, or
PCP in 2008
Family Costs of Alcohol Abuse

It is estimated that 8.3 million U.S. children live with at
least one parent in need of treatment

Children of alcoholics are 4 times more likely to have
alcohol or drug problems

Higher instances of: violence, insults, yelling serious
arguments, threats
View: Hooked
Illegal Drugs and
How They Got That Way
Vote:
Which drug are you most interested in
learning the background of today?
a. Cocaine at 5:00
b. Heroin at
c. Marijuana at 5:00
d. Ecstasy at 47:00
e. LSD at 1:00
Cocaine
1. When did it become illegal?
2. Effects on heart?
3. Study with monkeys:
4. Coca leaves:
5. How did it become cocaine?
6. What kind of racism in connected?
Ecstasy
1. How does it work?
2. How did it start?
3. When was it first used legally?
4. Problems:
5. When is it put on emergency ban?
LSD
1. How did it start?
2. CIA testing purpose?
3. Timothy Leary felt it should be used to____________________
War on Drugs
Richard Nixon
•
•
•
•
Marijuana Tax Act
Harrison Act
National Prohibition
1970 Scheduling
115:00 Hooked Illegal Drugs
Consequences of drug use
Read the article.
In a group discuss:
What stood out to you most in this story?
Prepare to share the following with the class:
1. What are the names of your group members?
2. What is the drug?
2. Summarize the story.
3. What were the consequences of drug use?
4. What other ways can the use of this substance hurt
a. Friends/family?
b. Personal healthy?
c. Society as a whole?
Select a recorder and 2-3 speakers to share
Which sociological explanation of drug abuse do you agree with
most? Least? Why?
• Structural functionalism A: when society is not
functioning properly people use drugs to escape
• Structural functionalism B: drugs can be functional for
some
• Conflict theory A: drug use provides an escape from
frustration felt due to inequality in society
• Symbolic interactionism A: people learn drug use
through the groups they associate with
• Symbolic interactionism: labels (on people or on the
drugs)influence drug use
Proposed Solutions to Drug Problems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Government Regulation
Legalization/Decriminalization
Prevention Education
Rehabilitation Treatments and Therapy
Peer support groups
Collective Action
Rehab/Treatment Options

Inpatient treatment refers to the treatment of
drug dependence in a hospital.

Outpatient treatment allows individuals to
remain in their home and work environments
and is often less expensive.
Peer Support Groups
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous
(NA) are associations whose only membership
requirement is the desire to stop drinking or taking
drugs.
• AA and NA are self-help groups that offer “sponsors”
to each new member and proceed along a continuum
of 12 steps to recovery.
Peer Groups-12 steps
Step 1 - admit we were powerless over our addiction
Step 2 - believe we can restore our lives
Step 3 - Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God
Step 4 - Make a moral inventory of ourselves
Step 5 - Admit to God, to ourselves, and others the nature of our wrongs
Step 6 – Prepare for God remove all these defects of character
Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
Step 8 - Make a list of all persons we had harmed, make amends with them all
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible
Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory
Step 11 – Use prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our
affairs
Prevention Education among youth
Failure of D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse
Resistance Education)
Or
Alternatives to youth drug education
1. Read ONE of the articles
2. What are 3 important
points made by the author?
3. Share findings with 1 or 2 others who
had a different article than you
Prevention education for athletes
ATLAS (Athletes Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids)
The product of 10 years of research, ATLAS is a multicomponent school-based
program for male high school athletes (13 to 19 years old).
Uses positive peer pressure and
role modeling to reduce the use of:
•Anabolic steroids
•Alcohol and other drugs
•Performance-enhancing supplements
Instruction led by student athlete peers and facilitated by coaches
What is the most commonly used and
most heavily trafficked illegal
substance in the world?
marijuana
Should marijuana be legalized?
Measure to legalize marijuana was on California's November
ballot in 2010 but did not pass
Should illegal drugs be de-criminalized?
1. Time to Legalize Drugs?
Ethan Nadelmann on FOX News
2.The libertarian Alternative:
Superior Court Judge Jim Gray on
the futility of the war on drugs
Think critically
Evaluate. Which solution to drug problems do you think is
best or worst? Explain your thinking.






Government Regulation
Legalization/Decriminalization
Prevention Education (DARE or others)
Rehabilitation Treatments and Therapy
Peer support groups (AA)
Collective Action (Mothers Against Drunk DrivingMADD)
Service Learning Agreement Due in 2 weeks
Service Learning Agreement At least six hours of actual community
service work are required for credit
1. Organization name, address, phone number, web site link
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
2. Name and position of administrator you will be working with
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3. Signature of administrator you will be working with to verify planned
volunteering
______________________________________Date:_________________
4. Brief outline of the organization, its mission
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
5. Who benefits from the work of this organization?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
6. What service will you be providing?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Quiz 1 next week
•
•
•
•
•
Study guide will be posted on website
Study notes, powerpoint, and text
15 questions multiple choice
Bring a scantron and pencil
YOU MUST BE ON TIME, first 20 minutes of class will be quiz,
followed by lecture
• If you are late you will not have enough time
Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way
b. Heroin
c. Marijuana
d. Methamphetamines
e. Ecstasy
f. LSD
Before next week
• Quiz 1 next week
• Use the study guide (will be on website after class)
• Investigate a non-profit organization for your 6 hours
of volunteer work
• Service Learning Agreement due in 2 weeks
• Read Chapter 4 Crime