Substance abuse: Alcohol Consumption and alcohol dependence among the youth (Социологическое исследо...
ICEF, GROUP 2/2
Tutor: Yulia Poltorak
Student: Matyukhin Anton
reSearch Paper
on Sociology
Substance abuse:
Alcohol
Consumption and alcohol dependence among the youth.
Международный институт
экономики и финансов, 2 курс, Высшая школа экономики.
1999
CONTENTS:
·
Reasons
for choosing this topic.
·
The
concept of alcohol.
ü What is
alcohol?
ü Factors
that influence alcohol’s effect.
ü Immediate
effects of alcohol.
·
The
concept of alcohol dependence (alcoholism).
ü What is
alcoholism?
ü What are
the symptoms?
ü Three
distinct stages of alcoholism.
ü Long- term
effects of alcohol.
ü Treating
alcoholism.
·
Sociological
research.
ü Reasons for
choosing the questionnaire as a method of my survey and a sample design.
ü The list of
questions.
ü The
analysis of a data received.
· Literature
used.
Reasons
for choosing this topic.
Though all people know the truth about the unprecedented guile of alcohol
drinks, many of them fall in its skilfully set up traps. This is because of the
character of alcohol, which can force to like itself, despite its harmful, sick
and dissolute nature.
One
sage said: “Wine brings four qualities to everyone, who drinks it. In the
beginning, a person starts looking like a peacock- he puffs, his motions are
sail and dignified. Then, he gains a nature of a monkey and begins jesting and
playing with everyone. Afterwards, he likens himself with a lion and becomes
presumptuous, proud, sure of his power. But at the end he changes into a pig
and wallows in dirt”.
The worst thing is that drunkards and alcoholics, being carriers of negative
views and stereotypes of antisocial behaviour, not only constantly break the
rules and norms of behaviour in different scopes of vital activity of people,
but also actively promote the involvement in the drunkenness people around
them, especially young.
It is stated by many studies that each drunkard and alcoholic renders
demoralising influence on the average of 4-5 persons from the nearest ambience.
For many centuries people tried to find the most effective facilities and ways
of protecting the humanity from the ruinous influence of alcohol. They tried to
develop measures on eliminating the multiple bad consequences of drunkenness
and alcoholism, primarily the measures on rescuing, bringing back to a normal
life a constantly increasing number of victims of alcohol.
The history of anti-alcoholic struggle has left many examples of using in these
purposes different measures up to such radical, as a conclusion of drunkards in
prisons, their physical punishment, executions, full prohibition of production
and selling of alcohol drinks, e.t.c. However, a consumption of alcohol
continued to grow steadily, covering new groups and layers of populations.
On the one hand one can suggest a continuous growing of the world alcohol
consumption to be due to a weak efficiency of measures used by the mankind
against the dangerous social phenomena, on the other – due to a significant
reinforcement of reasons and conditions, causing the broad masses of population
to fall in the alcohol dependence.
Until a recent time, the insufficient theoretical development of questions,
associated with spreading of an alcoholic consumption, one-sided explanation of
reasons of drunkenness and alcoholism rendered a negative influence upon the
contents and direction of anti-alcoholic struggle, on its strategy and tactics.
Practice of an anti-alcoholic struggle shows that solving of concrete questions
on warning and a displacing the negative phenomenas is impossible without a
deep study of the reasons, causing consumption of alcohol beverages and
promoting spreading a drunkenness and alcoholism.
That is why I chose this topic to be
discussed in my work. I really consider it to be a social problem almost as
essential as the drug dependence. Unfortunately, I have a lack of time and
experience to cover all the aspects of it and to make a deep sociological
investigation, but nevertheless I’ll try to do my best.
The
concept of alcohol.
What
is alcohol?
The active ingredient in all
alcoholic beverages is ethyl ethanol (alcohol), which is produced by yeast
cells acting on carbohydrates in fruits and grains. Ethyl alcohol works much
like ether, acting as an anaesthetic to put the brain to sleep. Alcohol is a
central nervous system depressant that slows down body functions such as heart
rate and respiration. Small quantities of alcohol may induce feelings of well
being and relaxation; but in larger amounts, alcohol can cause intoxication,
sedation, unconsciousness and even death. There are three types of alcoholic
beverages:
* Beer is fermented from grains
and contains three to six percent alcohol.
* Wine is fermented from fruit and normally contains 12 to 14 percent
alcohol. Fortified wines have additional alcohol added and contain 18 to 20
percent alcohol. Wine coolers are a mixture of fruit juice, sugar, and red or
white wine, and contain four to seven percent alcohol (approximately the same
alcoholic content as beer)
* Liquor is made from distilled (boiled off) alcohol and contains 40 to
50 percent alcohol. This is expressed as degrees of proof (two proof equals one
percent alcohol). For example, 80 proof liquor is 40 percent alcohol.
Factors
that influence alcohol’s effect.
Drinking has different effects on
different people, and the same amount of alcohol can affect the same person
differently on different occasions. Four factors influence how alcohol affects
people:
Amount of Alcohol. The more alcohol, the
stronger the effects. A person may drink beer, wine, or whiskey; what matters
is the amount of alcohol that is consumed.
Body Weight. People who weigh more are less affected by the same amount
of alcohol than people who weigh less. Alcohol is water soluble heavier people
have more blood and water in their bodies, so the same amount of alcohol will
be more diluted. Gender also affects the influence of alcohol. Women have a
higher proportion of fat and a lower proportion of water in their bodies than
men; therefore, a woman will have a higher blood alcohol content than a man who
is of the same weight and who drinks the same amount.
Attitudes. What a person expects to
happen after drinking has a lot to do with what does happen. A drinker who
expects to get drunk is more likely to feel or act drunk.
In one study, an experienced group
of drinkers was given a glass of something non-alcoholic but was told it
contained alcohol. Most of the group still got drunk.
Immediate
effects of alcohol.
When consumed,
alcohol goes right to the stomach and passes through to the small intestine,
where it is absorbed into the bloodstream. It takes about 30 seconds for the
first amounts of alcohol to reach the brain after ingestion. Once there,
alcohol acts primarily on nerve cells deep in the brain.
One drink for the average person (a 12-ounce beer, five ounces of wine, or
one and one-half ounces of 80-proof whiskey) will create a feeling of
relaxation. Two and a half drinks in an hour can affect the drinker's judgement
and lower inhibitions. Five drinks in two hours will raise the blood alcohol
content (BAC) to. 1 0, the point of legal intoxication in most countries.
After this amount of alcohol, the average drinker will experience blurred
vision, slurred speech, poor muscle coordination, and a lack of rational
judgement. Ten drinks will yield a BAC of 0.20. It will take 1 0 hours for the
alcohol to be completely metabolised. After more than 12 drinks, the BAC will
rise to 0.30 and the drinker will be in a stupor. A BAC of O.40 to 0.50 will
induce coma. A drinker in this condition may be near death because he could
vomit and choke while unconscious. Breathing is likely to stop with a BAC of
0.60. The BAC can be measured by using a breath, urine or blood test. This
amount is measured as a percentage -- how many parts of Alcohol to how many parts
of blood.
Eliminating alcohol from the body is a long process. About 90 percent must
be metabolised through the liver. The remaining 10 percent is eliminated
through the lungs and urine. It takes about one hour to eliminate one-half
ounce of alcohol.
Heavy drinking in a short period of time will often cause a hangover the
next day. A hangover is a sign of alcohol poisoning; it is the body's reaction
to alcohol withdrawal. Symptoms of a hangover include nausea, disorientation,
headache, irritability and tremors.
The concept of alcohol dependence (alcoholism).
What
is alcoholism?
The conception of inveterate drunkenness as a disease appears to be rooted in
antiquity. The Roman philosopher Seneca classified it as a form of insanity.
The term alcoholism, however, appears first in the classical essay
"Alcoholismus Chronicus" (1849) by the Swedish physician Magnus Huss.
The phrase chronic alcoholism rapidly became a medical term for the condition
of habitual inebriety conceived as a disease; and the bearer of the disease was
called an alcoholic or alcoholist (e.g., Italian alcoolisto, French
alcoolique, German Alkoholiker, Spanish alcohólico, Swedish
alkoholist).
Alcohol dependence, or alcoholism, is psychological and/or physical reliance on
alcohol. It is one of the most common medical illnesses seen by physicians. If
you are dependent on alcohol, you feel or show a need for it when it is
stopped. If you crave alcohol, or feel distressed without it, you are said to
be psychologically dependent. If you have bodily changes when alcohol is
stopped, such as hot and cold flashes and/or tremors, you are said to be
physically dependent.
Alcoholism is a primary, chronic
disease with genetic, psychosocial and environmental factors influencing its
development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It
is characterised by continuous or periodic impaired control over drinking,
preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse
consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial.
Currently there are three different theories to explain alcoholism:
* Genetic Theory defines alcoholism as the result of a predisposed
reaction to alcohol due to chromosomes, genes or hormonal deficiencies.
* Psychological Theory defines alcoholism as a condition that exists in
which people have a preset disposition or personality that sets off a reaction
to alcohol.
* Sociological Theory defines alcoholism as a
learned response and believes that addiction is a result of the influences of
society.
Whatever definition or theory is
used, it is known that alcoholism is a progressive illness that can be treated.
Each alcoholic has a different drinking pattern, but the one thing all
alcoholics have in common is an uncontrollable drinking habit.
What
are the symptoms?
Alcohol dependence takes many forms, including intermittent drinking,
continuous drinking, and binge drinking. Many alcoholics become able to drink
ever larger quantities of alcohol before feeling or appearing drunk. Alcohol
users commonly medicate themselves with alcohol, using it, often daily, to help
them relax, as a confidence booster, or in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Behavioural
symptoms of people who are dependent on alcohol may include:
Trying
to hide evidence of drinking
Promising
to give up drinking
Drinking
stronger alcoholic beverages or starting to drink earlier in the day
Having
long periods of intoxication
Drinking
alone
Problems
at work
Missing
work
Blacking
out
Loss
of interest in food
Mood
changes (anger, irritability, violent outbursts)
Personality
changes (jealousy, paranoia)
Repeatedly
driving under the influence
Injuring
self or others while intoxicated
Carelessness
about appearance
Slower
thought processes, lack of concentration, confusion, trouble remembering things
Financial
problems caused by drinking.
Physical
symptoms may include:
Nausea
or shaking in the morning
Poor
eating habits
Abdominal
pain
Chronic
cramps or diarrhoea
Numbness
or tingling sensations
Weakness
in the legs and hands
Red
eyes, face, and/or palms
Unsteady
walking or falls
New
and worsening medical problems.
Three
distinct stages of alcoholism.
*
Early Stage. A person in the early stage of
alcoholism uses alcohol as a coping device to relieve tension or escape from
problems. The alcoholic must drink more and more to achieve the same effect and
has trouble stopping after one drink. The alcoholic makes promises to quit
drinking but never follows through.
* Middle Stage. An alcoholic in the middle stage of alcoholism cannot
get through the day without alcohol and may need a drink in the morning to
overcome the "shakes." The middle-stage alcoholic will begin to
manipulate others, lie about drinking, and may drink in secret or hide alcohol.
It is harder and harder to get the same effects as tolerance increases.
Irregular heart beat, hypertension, loss of appetite, irritability and insomnia
are physical and psychological problems at this stage. The alcoholic denies
that drinking is a problem.
* Late Stage. The alcoholic now lives to drink and avoids and distrusts
others. All ambition is lost and the drinker is unable to cope with
responsibility and is often absent from work. A late-stage alcoholic may suffer
from reverse tolerance: the brain and liver can no longer tolerate a high level
of alcohol, so the drinker becomes impaired after even small amounts of
alcohol. Malnutrition, nerve dysfunction, loss of memory, mental confusion,
impaired vision, hypertension, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver can
occur during this stage. If drinking stops, There are severe withdrawal
reactions. Late-stage psychological problems include shame, guilt, severe
depression, violent behaviour, low self-esteem, loss of control of emotions,
loss of concentration and learning ability. At this point, the alcoholic
"hits bottom." The alcoholic may continue to drink despite pain or
disability. The only viable alternative is to seek treatment.
Long-
term effects of alcohol.
Frequent and prolonged use of alcohol has many detrimental effects on the body.
Heavy drinkers develop a tolerance for alcohol, which means that larger amounts
of alcohol are needed to get the desired effect. A drinker is physically
dependent if withdrawal symptoms are experienced when alcohol use is
discontinued abruptly. Symptoms vary but include delirium tremors (the
"DTs"), cramps, vomiting, elevated blood pressure, sweating, dilated
pupils, sleep problems, irritability and convulsions. Most of these symptoms
will subside in two to three days, though irritability and insomnia may last
two to three weeks. Psychological dependence occurs when the drinker becomes so
preoccupied with alcohol that it is difficult to do without it. Short-term
memory loss and blackouts are common among heavy drinkers. A blackout, which is
an amnesia-like period often confused with passing out or losing consciousness,
results when the drinker appears normal and may function normally; however, the
person has no memory of what has taken place. Research indicates that blackouts
are associated with advanced stages of alcoholism, and there is a correlation
between the extent and duration of alcohol consumption during any given
drinking episode and the occurrence of blackouts.
Treating
alcoholism.
The sooner alcoholism is detected,
the better the chances of recovery. There are several effective treatment
methods for alcoholism, and what works for one person may not work for another.
Many options should be explored when seeking help. Local or state health
organisations can be contacted to find out what treatment alternatives exist in
each community.
Sociological
research.
Reasons
for choosing the questionnaire as a method of my survey and a sample design.
I chose a questionnaire as a method of a data collection primarily because of
the lack of ability (mostly time) to try to conduct an interview. Secondary, I
consider the interview to be the inappropriate type of a survey in the case of
such a delicate problem as alcoholism. An interview, no matter formal or
informal, might provide a large bias I the data, thus in the analysis, because
many people may consider it to be undesirable for them to let others know the
bare truth about their lives. Moreover, an interview can not be anonymous (at
least the interviewer would be initiated in your problems). I also did not
manage to avoid an overt participant observation…
As this sociological research is of a small scale (a sample of 36 persons) and
was held among the students from one university (HSE), it did not include such
complicated (and unnecessary in this case) methods of data collection as a
telephone survey or mail survey, the refusals problem was eliminated. Though,
just because of the same circumstances, it has a bias of representing only the
smallest part of the Russian youth: Moscow students and my research would
be more descriptive than analysing.
The multistage sample was conducted
in the following way: 4 out 5 specialities were observed (I did not have the
access to jurisprudence) and the representatives were chosen by a random
sampling (using the table of random digits and student lists) according to a
proportion of number of students on each speciality. Thus I have got 14
representatives of the economic speciality, 10- of management, 8- of
sociological and 4- of the ICEF.
Considering the fact that I dealt
with students, I was not afraid of personal questions. Students, as young and
open class of population, are far from being embarrassed when they are asked
such.
The
list of questions.
1. Your sex:
M___ F____
3. Your speciality?
A) Economics
B) Management C) Sociology D) ICEF
2. Your attitude to
the alcohol ?
А) Negative
B) Simply do not
like, when there is someone drunk beside me.
C) Neutral
D) Positive
3. Do you drink
alcohol?
А) Yes
C) Did not ever try.
B) No
4. If not, why?
______________________________________________
5. If yes, in what age
did you try it the first time (approximately)?
A) 5-10 years D)
15-17 years
B) 10-13 years E) 17
and over
C) 13-15 years
6. How often do you
drink alcohol?
C) Less than two
times a month
7. Do your parents
drink (in general)?
А)
No C) Yes, only mother
B) Yes, only
father D) Both
8. With whom do you
usually drink (the most often case)?
А) With friends from
the university B) With other friend/buddies
C) With parents
9. Can you drink
alone?
А) Yes, happened to
be B) No
10. Do you drink to
overcome a hangover?
А)
Yes B) Yes, but not in the morning
C) Never
11. Do you need some
reason for drinking alcohol like Birthday or another holiday?
А) Yes,
always B) Not necessarily.
12. How can you
classify your alcoholic consumption?
А) I have no
dependency
B) I have some
warnings about my dependency
C) Only
psychological dependency
D) Physical
dependency.
13. Do you care about
the amount of alcohol you drink per day? (Several answers are possible)
А) Yes
B) No
C) No, if there is
no my girlfriend/boyfriend beside me.
D) No, if my
parents wouldn’t see/know.
E) No, if it is a
big holiday (I can allow myself)
14. What alcohol
beverage do you drink in the most often case?
А) Beer
B) Cocktails
(Gin-Tonic , etc.)
C) Wine, Aperitifs
(Martini, Karelia ,etc.) or champaign
D) Strong alcoholic
drinks (Vodka, Cognac, Scotch and etc.)
15. Have you ever
tried to give up drinking?
А) Yes
B) No
16. Have you ever
tried to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed?
А) Yes, it
worked B) Yes, it did not work
C) No
17. Would you drink
less, if parents set up more strict requirements to your behaviour?
А) Yes B)
No
18. Would you drink
less, if they ceased to give you pocket money?
А) Yes
B) No, I would take
a loan, but will drink/somebody would treat. C) No, I earn money
myself.
19. Comparing with the
previous year, do you drink:
А) Less/less
frequent C) As much/with the same frequency
B) More/more often
20. Did alcohol affect
your study results, from your point of view?
А) No B)
Yes, they become better C) Yes, they become worse.
21. How did you pass
the previous exams/entry exams?
A) Excellent
B) Well
C) Satisfactory
D) Failed
22. Why do you drink
alcohol? (Several answers are possible)
А) To remove stress
B) To raise the
mood
C) To support to
company
D) To celebrate
some holiday
E) Your variant of
answer_________________________________
23. Do you care, what
others think, when they see you drunken? (Except people, who know you)
А) No, if they are
not policemen B) Yes
24. Have you ever had
extrinsic behavioural manifestations (aggressiveness/depression) connected with
the consumption of alcohol?
А) Yes B)
No
25. Did you have
blackouts (of a non- traumatic nature)?
А) Yes,
once/sometimes B) No
26.
Do you smoke?
А) Yes
B)
No
27. Do you take
drugs, even the weakest ones?
А) Yes, have tried
once C) Yes
B) Yes, but very-
very rarely D) No
The
analysis of a data received.
I have got 21 male and 15 female
respondents. Among these people there are only 1 men and 1 women who do not
drink alcohol at all.
The attitude towards the alcohol is
distributed as following: 39% - positive (among them: 13- men and only 1
woman); 39%- neutral (among them: 6 men and 8 women); 22%- simply do not like,
when there is someone drunk beside them (among them: 2 men and 6 women) and
none of the respondents said that their attitude is negative.
29% of male and 27%
of female respondents have parents who do not drink at all. 4% of male and 13%
of female students have only father who drinks (in general) and 4% and 6%
respectively- only mother. The percentage of both parents drinking (in general)
is 62 for men and 53 for women. This way the difference between the current and
the next generation (the youth) can be shown. As we see from this data, the
percentage of non-drinking parents is far from 1/21 and 1/15 (5% and 7%) of
their offsprings. Most of the men drink with their friends from the university
(55%) and the largest part of female responses to this question fall on the
answer B)-with other friends/buddies (50%).
From the graph
above we can see the following interesting fact: none of the women do not care
about the presence of the their boyfriends while they are drinking and male
respondents do not take their parents into consideration deciding haw many
drinks to have.
Here we can see the tendency of male
students usually drinking beer or strong alcoholic drinks, and females usually
drinking cocktails of aperitifs.
The question concerned ever trying
to give up drinking and never following though was aimed to reveal one of the
symptoms of the first stage of alcohol dependency. The results were: 30% of men
and 14 % of women tried to do so. 25% of men and no females tried to reduce the
amount of alcohol consumed and succeeded and 5% and 7% respectively tried but
did not succeed in reducing it.
Only 30% of males
and 7% of the females would reduce the amount consumed if their parents were
stricter about their behaviour. But if they cease to give them pocket money 40%
of male respondents and 43% of female respondents would do it.
Only 20% of men and
14% of women consider their study success to be dependent from the results
shown on the graph above.
50% of males and 36% of females
wrote, that they drink to raise their mood; 20% and 10%- to support the
company; 15% and 20%- to remove the stress; 15% and 34%- to celebrate some
holiday respectively.
Almost 80% of males and 21% of
females said that there don’t care what others (not those, whom they are
aquatinted with and if they were nit policemen) would think if they saw them
drunken. The answers to the question “Have you ever had extrinsic behavioural
manifestations (aggressiveness/depression) connected with the consumption of
alcohol?” are 35% of male respondents and 14% of female said “yes” and 65% and
86%- “no”. 40% of males and 14% of
females have already
got aquatinted with blackouts.
From my point of view, these results
are much like the real ones, as I am also a student and I am doing the overt
observation of all this every day. The situation seems to be catastrophic, and
something should be done about it.
Literature
used.
1.
Britannica encyclopaedia ’99.
2.
Socis magazine № 5,3,8
1997 ;№ 10
1998
3.
http://search1.healthgate.com/hid/alcoholism/