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Running Head:
ALCOHOL ADDICTION
ALCOHOL ADDICTION
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Tittle: Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers
Introduction
Addiction to alcoholism among the youths continues to be a worrying problem whose effects (both the present and the future) are under-estimated. It has been estimated that a large percentage of youths resolve to abusing alcohol due to various reasons, for instance, peer pressure, due to stress and social problems within their surroundings, and due to the quest to seek freedom from the control of their parents or guardians. Alcohol addiction may arise due to physical or mental dependency among youths. With regard to mental dependency, one often develops the desire to drink alcohol and once he/she does so, they are unable to stop or control their drinking and this leads to addiction (Yes We Can Youth Clinic, n.d.).
As discussed by the National Institute of Health (n.d.), many youths are driven to alcoholism during exploration instances (since their mind is developing, the youths often want to experiment with risky and dangerous stances such as drinking). The society has actually made alcoholism to look like a rich lifestyle (Snyder, 2006). This is because while advertising drinks, the featured individuals are often happy and enjoying their lifestyle. This gives a tainted image on the negative effects of alcoholism. The National Institute of Health (n.d.) also discusses that there are various health risks associated with alcohol addiction especially among adolescents. This includes damage to the liver, brain, and other vital body organs. It also affects one’s emotional and social stability. This makes alcohol addiction an important topic that needs to be addressed. Therefore, this paper aims at providing a discussion on the causes and effects of alcohol addiction among youths. Also discussed are the interview findings for a teenager who has been rescued from alcohol addiction.
Literature Review
Causes of Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers
The happenings within one’s surroundings can drive him/her to alcoholism. Take an example of a teenager who is brought up in a homestead where both parents are alcoholics. In this case, such a teenager is likely to become an alcoholic at a very young age because he/she has already been exposed to drinking by the parents. As discussed by Boyd, Howard, & Zucker (2013), this teenager will also not see alcohol as something bad to their health because the parents have lived long enough despite them abusing alcohol. Another scenario is where a teenager is brought up in a neighborhood where alcohol can be easily accessed and at very cheap prices. That is why alcohol addiction among youths is rampant in low-income neighborhoods and informal settlements because these youths can easily access cheap forms of liquor and this promotes addiction in the long run. These sentiments are echoed in a study by Karsk, Markina, & Podana (2013) which aimed at determining how various family factors promoted alcoholism among adolescents. These researchers concluded that experiencing negative life events (such as alcoholic parents) promoted alcoholism among youths.
Closely related to family factors, alcohol addiction can also be caused by stressful events in one’s life. For instance a teenager may undergo hardships due to lack of finance, parental guidance, or lack of food back at home. To escape this stressful issues, one may resolve to start taking alcohol as this allows them to forget and experience some periods of pleasure. With time, this becomes a routine that often results to alcohol addiction. This is as discussed by Castillo (2009) who conducted a study that aimed at identifying the underlying causes of alcoholism among adolescents. In this study, the researcher concluded that experiencing stressful events due to lack of basic needs and education has driven many youths to alcohol abuse and, eventually, addiction. Together with minimal guidance from their equally struggling parents, many youths continue to fall into alcohol addiction.
Alcohol addiction especially among school-going teenagers often arise due to peer pressure. Many students tend to form social groups while at school. There exist other groups which are termed to be cool, fearless, and superior compared to the others. Sadly, such groups encourage its members to abuse drugs and alcohol for them to be included. Thus, due to peer pressure and the need for social inclusion, some teenagers end up trying out different brands of alcohol as this will allow them to fit in the cool groups. This, when done over a long period of time, will lead to addiction which becomes very difficult to control. These sentiments are echoed by the findings of Borsari & Carey (2006) who wanted to study how peer pressure drives teenagers to alcoholism. In this study, it was documented that student who craved for social inclusion often ended u abusing alcohol and drugs.
Effects of Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers
Alcohol abuse and addiction has had various negative effects among the youths. As science agrees, consuming too much alcohol impairs one’s reasoning. Therefore, alcoholics tend to act out of unsound mind. This may lead someone to engage in crime activities. The crime may range from minor activities such as petty theft to extreme ones such as gun violence and the selling of drugs. Engaging in crime while still young exposes teenagers to more risks (including injuries due to attacks and even death) and it also solidifies their criminal records at a very early age, thereby tainting their general public image. These sentiments are backed by the research of Carvajal & Cabrera (2015) that concluded that a large percentage of youths addicted to alcohol usually engage in violent crime activities. This is especially true in the informal settlements where youths lack access to proper guidance and this leads them to crime activities while intoxicated with alcohol.
Alcohol addiction may also cause various health problems to an individual. For instance, one may suffer from liver and kidney damage because the prolonged use of alcohol leads to the buildup of toxic chemicals within the blood stream. This, eventually, causes intoxication of the liver and other vital organs, leading to organ failure. Alcohol addiction has also been associated with mental failure among people. Alcohol abuse usually impairs one’s reasoning. With time, one’s thinking becomes slowed down and this affects their mental stability. The situation is even worse for individuals who are addicts and still have other social problems (such as low income). In this case, such individuals continue suffering mentally due to stress and alcoholism. Finally, alcohol addiction also affects the society at large. For instance, families have had to incur high charges while trying to help their alcoholic members. This greatly affects the financial status of most families. It also leads to loss of friends and social seclusion in general (Birch, Walker, Avery, & Beyer, 2008).
The literature reviewed in this section has provided quality and comprehensive information of the causes and effects of alcohol addiction among teenagers. This information is even backed up with results that have been derived from respective studies conducted by the researchers. With some of the reviewed literature being peer-reviewed journal and scholarly articles, it can be concluded that the major causes of alcohol addiction among youths include peer pressure, experiencing stressful events, and family factors. It can also be concluded that alcohol addiction causes both mental, physical, and social effects on the addict and his/her family or friends at large, although all these literature have tried to suggest what can be done to reduce alcohol addiction among teenagers, many researchers have failed to explain why alcoholism continues to be a problem among teenagers even today. Therefore, future studies should focus on exploring why this happens and what can be implemented to reduce alcohol addiction among teenagers.
Interview Narrative
To help establish the causes and effects of alcohol addiction the researcher conducted an interview with a teenager who was recovering from alcohol abuse in a rehabilitation facility. The interviewee is a 23 year old male individual who had been exposed to alcohol abuse at a tender age of five years. Being brought up by a single mother in the low-income neighborhood, the interviewee has faced a lot of challenges. For instance, his mother had to work in bars and restaurants for longer hours to feed the family of three children. Since their father disappeared, they sometimes had to wait in these bars and restaurants for their mother to finish their long work shifts before going back home. Life was hard and to handle this stress, his mother was a heavy drinker. It is from his mother’s behavior that the interviewee got the pressure to try out alcohol. This is because while drunk, the mother was always jovial and would prepare good dishes for them. However, while sober, she would be very angry and punish them harshly even for small mistakes. It is through this that the interviewee started associating alcohol with happiness.
Once he joined the local school in the neighborhood, the interviewee started taking sips of her mother’s alcohol. This went on for long without the mother noticing because she was often drunk. With the mother working in bars, it was very easy for the interviewee to make friends with waiters at the bar. They would send him to run some errands and pay him with some shots of alcohol. This is how his alcoholism intensified to an extent that he dropped out of school at a tender age of fifteen. He also started engage in crime activities, especially stealing from people just to raise cash for more alcohol. It took the intervention of a non-governmental organization to help him enroll in the rehabilitation facility at 20 years. This NGO also ensured that all bars in the neighborhood never employed or offered alcohol to teenagers like him. Three years after enrolling in the rehabilitation program, the interviewee explains that alcohol addiction is a very bad diseases.
Analysis of the Narrative
Analyzing this narrative reveals two causes and effects of alcohol addiction. Just as discussed in the literature (Castillo, 2009; Kask, Markina, & Podana, 2013) that alcohol addiction can be caused by various family factors, the interviewee became addicted because of observing his mother drinking. Without proper guidance from the mother, the interviewee failed to understand that alcohol actually has negative effects apart from giving someone temporary happiness. It can also be seen that due to material and financial hardships, the interviewee was forced into drinking as this enabled him to forget about his problems temporarily. Thirdly, the interviewee spent time in bars with his mother and even started running errands for the bar workers. With this environment, it was very easy for him to adopt into drinking alcohol because that environment is what he was accustomed to even after dropping out of school. This case, therefore, proves that environmental and family factors may drive someone into alcohol addiction.
The narrative also fits in the discussions of Carvajal & Cabrera (2015) and Birch et al (2008) who explained that often, alcohol addicts resolve into criminal activities such as stealing. In this narrative, the interviewee decided to engage in stealing. This, acording to him, allowed him to get easy cash that would easily enable him purchase alcohol and meet his addiction. Without stealing, there would be no available funds to support his lifestyle. Because he just wanted to consume any type of alcohol, stealing small money allowed him to purchase cheap liquor. Were it not for the intervention of the NGO, the interviewee might have engaged in even serious crimes which would have earned him jail term. The lack of care and guidance from his mother also contributed to him always getting away with his theft activities. Even when caught, he had a way of going back to stealing after being released on cash bail.
Ecological Systems Theory
The Ecological Systems Theory holds the view that while growing up, an individual encounters different environments and this influences how they behave on a varying scale of degrees. Some environments may have very great impacts while others have only little impact. In all this influences, the interactions relate to each other and this builds the character of an individual once grown up (Ettekal & Mahoney, 2017). For instance, a child born in family of seven siblings will definitely be influenced by this family setting. Once this child goes to school, the school environment will also have some influence on his/her behavior. Joining campus or college will also influence how he/she behaves. This will include any of the co-curriculum activities they will participate in or if they decide to explore their talents. Being employed will also influence their behavior because they will be interacting with different individuals at the workplace. At the end of it all, all these different environments will have some impact on how the child turns out and behaves eventually. This means that someone doesn’t just get born with certain characters. Instead, these characters are inspired and influenced by their surrounding environments.
As described in this theory, these environments are classified into microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Microsystem refers to the immediate environment into which the individual was born in. This could be the close family of the individual. Mesosystem refers to the next environment that is related to the microsystem, for instance, the school environment since a child mostly spend hours at home and at school. Exosystem refers to an indirect environment that may influence one’s behavior, for instance, the neighborhood one has been brought up in. The mesosystem refers to the interaction between different microsystems. For instance, the interaction between a family setting, school, and community beliefs and their impact on a child’s behavior (Ettekal & Mahoney, 2017).
Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Level Influences on Alcohol Addiction
With regard to alcohol addiction, micro-level influences may consist of the family setup that an individual is brought up in. there are families which have had a history of alcoholism such that it is even known that the great grandparents were heavy drinkers. If this knowledge is given to children without explaining to them the dangers of alcoholism, they tend to adopt drinking characteristics from their parents and end up addicted once they grow up. This also applies to families where the parents/guardians are heavy drinkers. Here, research has shown that the children tend to mimic the behavior of their parents once they grow into teenagers (Hong, Lee, Kaylor, & Huang, 2011).
Mezzo level influences are those that are within the surroundings of an individual but not immediate like micro-level influences. In alcohol addiction, mezzo level influences may refer to the neighborhood in which someone has grown in. for instance, growing up in an informal settlement where youths are introduced to alcohol at an early age may make someone start abusing alcohol too. If not controlled, such an individual will develop addiction in the long run. That is why there are many families in informal settlements who have lost their loved ones to alcohol addiction yet the parents are disciplined (Hong, Lee, Kaylor, & Huang, 2011).
Macro level influences in alcohol addiction may be viewed as how companies advertise alcohol to be a cool drink and this lures many teenagers to drinking. Although advertisement is good for the business profits, there are many teenagers who have developed addiction to alcohol by viewing these advertisements in the media. Being a macro-level influence, these teenagers have little to no control on the advertisements being made about cool alcohol drinks. Thus, to fit into ‘cool’ social classes, such youths end up being addicts to alcoholic drinks (Hong, Lee, Kaylor, & Huang, 2011).
Consideration for Diversity and Sociopolitical Factors
With regard to race, studies have shown that certain races and ethnic groups are susceptible to alcohol addiction and incase intervention programs are implemented, addicts from these specific races are bound to falling back to alcoholism. For instance, in the US, the African Americans, the Blacks, and the Hispanics have higher rates of alcohol addiction compared to their White counterparts (Chartier & Caetano, n.d.). This is assumed to be related with the neighborhoods where such addicts reside in. in this case, the Blacks and African Americans reside in neighborhoods characterized by hardships and this might drive them to alcoholism. Some researchers have also shown that among teenagers, the male gender have registered high numbers in alcohol addiction compared to their female counterparts (Witbrodt, Mullia, & Kerr, 2014). This is often attributed to the levels of freedom that each gender is offered. In this case, the male gender enjoy more freedom at an early age compared to the female individuals.
Some sociopolitical factors that influence policies that aim at eradicating alcohol addiction include the beliefs of people, marketing, and the profits that alcohol drinks in the market. Some people especially among the youths believe that managing to buy alcohol every weekend is a sign of wealth and being high class. The marketing strategie of these drinks also makes people believe that alcohol is something good to consume. Little is told on its dangers during such advertisements. With such positivity and attitude being depicted, it is difficult to implement policies that restricts alcohol consumption among the youths. Alcoholic drinks also contribute to a nation’s revenue. Since this revenue is being used to run the country, politicians tend to compromise the policies and allow the alcohol business to continue because of the good profits that it accrues. This makes alcohol easily accessible to the youth and thus, it encourages alcohol addiction (Sudhinaraset, Wigglesworth, Takeuchi, 2016).
Developmental Theory- Psychosocial Development Theory
Psychosocial Development Theory was developed by Erik Erikson who explained that while growing up, someone has to undergo certain situations/challenges that will affect their behavior and development in generally. In every stage, whatever decision an individual makes (whether positive or negative) will determine whether they achieve the required psychosocial development defined for that specific stage. In this theory, one is provided with two options from which to choose and their choice determines how they develop. In total, there are eight stages that one goes through from infancy through to adulthood. At the teenage stage, an individual is in the stage of identity VS role confusion where they are trying to figure out who they actually are and what social class they belong to (McLeod, 2018).
In this stage of identity VS role confusion, a teenager might be faced with the challenge of either engaging in drinking or not trying out alcohol at all. Some social groups in schools and colleges have made alcohol to be something cool to drink. There are some students who even use alcohol as initiation drinks while joining their groups. This is usually achieved by conducting binge drinking and taking shots to test who is the strongest and can withstand too much alcohol in the group. While trying to find their place and establish their identity, a teenager may engage in such drinking sprees just to fit in certain ‘cool’ groups in school. If not controlled, such a teenager may accept the drinking identity and this can highly turn into alcohol addiction in the long run. Therefore, care and proper guidance should be given to teenagers during this development stage to avoid future addiction to alcohol.
Afrocentric Perspectives
Afrocentric perspectives refers to studying things in history or researching while giving more importance to the African perspective of the matter being investigated. This is done to identify the impact of the Afrocentric perspective to the Western world and events that may happen in the present or in the future. For instance, instead of studying medicine in the aspect of pure science, Afrocentric perspectives can be implemented here where researchers find out how the African culture interpreted how herbs work and this knowledge can then be used to make good herbal medicine for certain conditions. Thus, Afrocentric perspectives allow people to think, view, and understand issues from the African point of view (Chawane, 2016).
While conducting interviews, one has to have certain skills to ensure that they get the correct information from the respondent and filter out information that may seem false. To achieve this, one must apply certain key principles, such as intuition. Intuition refers to having a feeling that something is right or wrong without necessarily having evidence. In interviews, intuitions are important as it allows a researcher to decide whether the respondent is telling the truth, false information, or exaggerating the situation. Utilizing intuition allowed me to connect with the interviewee in this case and also identify incidences where he exaggerated his story that was on alcohol addiction.
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