Health and Crime Problem - Article Example

Concept Paper: Health and Crime Problem Problem: Use of high-risk alcohol and drugs on college campuses create health problems and problem of increased crime rate leading to arrest. Evidence1: The data published by US department of Education gives the number of arrests for three consecutive years on college campuses. Figure 1: Alcohol/Drugs Abuse Arrests 2001 2002 2003 Liquor 27,641 30,406 30,764 Drugs 12565 12,393 12,756 Source: US Department of Education Evidence 2: According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 1. Every year approximately 1700 college students die from alcohol related causes. 2. Driving while intoxicated have increased since 1998 from 2.3 million students to 2.8 million 3. More than 696,000 students are assaulted by other students who have been drinking 4. More than 97,000 students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assaults or date rape. Evidence 3: According to the College Alcohol Study (CAS) of Harvard University’s school of Public Health, alcohol is the preferred choice of drug on college campuses. Use of Marijuana is highest at 36 percent. The use of club drug (Ecstasy) is on the rise. Solution: As a result of the five point program proposed in this paper, there will be a significant drop in number of deaths caused by alcohol and drugs abuse. The rate of assault by drinking students will go down and there will be a predominant decrease in number of alcohol-related sexual assaults or date rapes. The Five Point Program includes the following measures: 1. Encourage Report of Alcohol related offences: Most of the crimes go unnoticed because they are not reported. Most of the crimes are not reported because of the following reasons: No confidence in punishment system Fear of reprisal No loss/damage to self so people don’t bother Unable to contact the right authorities This behavior encourages the offenders and they do not fear punishment. If crimes get reported, most of the offenders will be scared of being recognized. Fear of public humiliation will demoralize the students from drinking and there by getting involved in criminal behavior. 2. Anonymous and confidential reporting of criminal offences: Students who do not want to be conspicuous of having named the offenders should be allowed to report under a confidentiality program. Anonymous callers should be encouraged to report instance of alcohol parties and drug abuses on campus premises. Placing an anonymous call to the campus authorities is less apprehensive. This will help in gate-crashing on alcohol and drug parties by campus authorities. 3. Social Marketing Campaign: Raising awareness by display of health hazard data. By reading such displays on notice boards, canteens, health clubs and other places, students will be in a position to take informed decisions. Emphasizing harmful effects on such displays will discourage some students from consuming alcohol or drugs. 4. Parental Notification Policy: For most students it is important to be good in their parental perceptions. They would generally not want to be caught taking alcohol or drugs by their parents. If the campus starts informing the parents of their wards activities on this front, most of the students will be discouraged in their use of alcohol or drugs. 5. Disciplinary Action: A proper system of punishment and disciplinary action will discourage most of the students. Methodology: Encourage Report of Alcohol related offences: Crime reporting is an important factor of the youth crime watch. (Youth Crime Watch of America, 2008) This method is chosen because effective reporting can offer a wide range of benefits Raising Awareness: By reporting such crimes students become aware of the people who perform them and can culturally disbar them from social groups Resource Allocation: The number of crimes committed can help the campus authorities to allocate right number of resources to patrol on the campus. Reports can help in providing feedback to those who have detected crime and reward their vigilance. This can help in compilation of data for trend identification and analysis. For this project the campus population will be the sample size. To carry on this project the campus board, superintendent and the principal will have to set up a crime detection cell. This cell will be monitored by a group who will maintain a record of all the reports on alcohol and drugs related crime. It will also note the health hazards caused by alcohol and drugs and display the information on campus notice boards. The data will be recorded in excel sheets for future analysis. A reward system will be announced for individuals who report drugs or alcohol related crimes. A student, who informs the crime detection cell of upcoming drug abusers gathering, will get two movie tickets to the latest movie. If the victim of the crime gathers courage to report the incident, the victim will be given medical or financial assistance as per the availability of funds. Based on the reports analysis the crime cell will employ volunteers to patrol the most frequented places by the criminals. Number of Security guards will be increased or decreased based on the crime reports. A police notification process will be documented and distributed amongst team members for quick action. An emergency cell will be formed that will help the affected victims immediately and arrange to avoid escape of the defaulter. This emergency cell will have a 24-hours available help-line. It will have ready funds for emergency. These funds will be sanctioned by the principal and the Director of student health department. A tie-up will be organized with a on-duty doctor who could come immediately to assist victims facing health hazard. Anonymous and confidential reporting of criminal offences: A telephone line will be made available for all those students who would like to report the offences and keep their identity disclosed. One phone will be placed near the campus food-court and the other will be placed near the dormitories. A small letter box will be placed at the resident hall, the food-court and on the class-room corridors. Those students who do not want to be caught making calls could put in a written note and inform about the consumption of alcohol and drugs. It is necessary to consider the possibility of fake informers giving misleading information. It is possible that students who want to avenge other fellow students due to some reason or the other could give false leads. Thus care must be taken to investigate thoroughly before taking action on the person. The vigilance committee could keep an eye on the suspected individual for about a month to ensure the validity of the information. However, if the box contains information on locations where the alcohol parties or drug abusers gatherings are taking place, the committee should invade the place immediately. Social Marketing Campaign: This idea is based on the case-study on social norms marketing campaign as part of a comprehensive tobacco use reduction plan. This study was done in 2001by university of Wisconsin. It used the principles of social marketing to generate awareness. The results of this campaign were positive. The percentage of students who wanted to quit increased from 57%to 75%.The smoking rates reduced from 34% to 24%. Thus if this same model is replicated with minor adjustments for alcohol and drugs consumption, it will considerable results. The marketing campaign against alcohol and drugs consumption would follow the following steps. A social marketing team will be formed. This team will include a registered nurse, clinical psychologist, Director of student health centre, public relations expert, Director of university counseling centre, public relations expert, a recent marketing graduate and a student Conduct survey to collect data on actual consumption. Each class will be interviewed on random sample basis. The survey will be conducted to assess the usage and effects of alcohol and drugs. Design a marketing campaign with the help of a graphic artist. Design posters which will include the statistics derived from the survey and some photographs of victims. Prepare a write-up on health hazards. The write could include the following information: Drinking alcohol can result into diseases of the liver, digestive tract, respiratory organs, nervous and cardiovascular systems. Adverse consequences of drug abuse include the increased risk of mental health problems and diseases such as hepatitis and aids, as well as the potential for developing drug dependency. Drug abuse is a complex problem thought to result from a combination of hereditary, psychological, and environmental factors. It affects people from the neonatal stage to old age. Infants of abusers may suffer from neglect or the effects of parental drug use. As they grow into childhood, they may demonstrate antisocial behavior, and signs of malnutrition, poor self-esteem, depression, or attention deficit disorder. This may lead an adolescent to use drugs, have unwanted pregnancies, and drop out of school. Identification of drug abuse is a difficult first step on the road to recovery because of the methods many abuses use to hide their addiction, the inability of family members to recognize or accept the problem, and the relatives' enabling behavior. Thus avoiding drugs and alcohol can result into a healthy living style and positive outlook towards life. Figure2: Health Risks Associated with the use of illicit drugs Drugs Possible Effects Effects of Overdose Heroin & Codeine Euphoria Slow& Shallow Breathing Hydrocodene Drowsiness Clammy Skin Hydromorphone Respiratory Depression Convulsions Oxycodone Constricted Pupils Coma Methadone & LAAM Nausea Possible Death Source:Higher Education Centre for Alcohol and other Drug Prevention; Newton, MA Obtain approval for special poster stands to display the work. Release new posters every two weeks Place advertisement in the student newspapers, promotional items, table tents and sponsored campus events. Accept a volunteer to paint an “art car” displaying messages. Take parking approval and car insurance from the marketing team. Collect feedback on the campaign after six months. Parental Notification Parental notification can serve as a good deterrent to alcohol and drug users. Form a group who will be responsible for collecting home addresses of defaulters and mailing their parents. The focus of the mailing should not only be to warn the parents of their wards behavior but also to assure them that the campus could assist their child in fighting the addiction. The team that is designated to work on this issue should organize medical assistance to cure addiction. The team should nominate candidates to this camp and reward those who emerge successful. Parents should also be notified of the recovery process and the emotional help which they could provide their child. With support and encouragement from parents, the addicted child could recover quickly. The group who notifies the defaulter’s parents should ensure that the form accompanies signature of Directorate of student health center and the vigilance committee for greater emphasis. The group should post literature on health hazards to the defaulter’s home address every month. Disciplinary Action: Campus students who violate laws should definitely be handed over to the crime cell. However, it is the moral responsibility of every student to take precautions and safeguard themselves against such anti-social elements. The following list points out ways of keeping yourself and your property safe from abusers. Always lock room doors when going out. Do not leave valuables or cash unprotected. Mark valuables such as cameras, stereos and computer with engraving instruments. Park vehicles in the designated areas and keep them locked. Keep valuables in the trunk of a car rather than in full view. Use campus shuttle service when returning to apartments at night Do not give unidentified persons access to resident unit. In spite of following all the above-mentioned steps there may still be instances of violence. Students may still violate laws and abuse others under the effect of drugs. In such instances disciplinarian approach is required. The following policies may be followed to reprimand the defaulters. For serious or repeated violations the students may be dismissed from the university Students may be prohibited from visiting campus or attending university functions. In such cases, the student may submit a written request to the dean requesting permission to visit campus. To regain entrance these students should follow the regular admission procedure. Most universities are implementing awareness programs which include efforts such as lectures, workshops, mailings, posters and articles about the harmful effects of alcohol abuse on campus. However, a significant portion of students are not impacted by such efforts. For example, despite the University of Iowa’s continuous effort to curb substance use by students, during 2003-2004 academic years, alcohol related arrests and citations increased 17 percent from the previous year. Thus there is a need to coordinated effort. Any one procedure will not give a good success rate. All the programs mentioned in this project should be carried out in unison for better results. References A Call to Action: Changing the culture of drinking at US Colleges, NIAAA College Drinking Report, The US Department of Education, [Online], Available: http://www.higheredcenter.org/niaaa/report.html Alcohol and Drug Abuse on College Campuses, Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, White House [Online], Available: http://www.yic.gov/drugfree/alcabuse.html Case-study (September 2003), Social Norms Marketing Campaign as part of a Comprehensive Tobacco Use Reduction Plan, University of Wisconsin, [Online], Available: http://www.socialnorm.org/oshkosh.html. Campus Safety Report, Alcohol & Drug Abuse, Clemson University, [Online] Available: http://www.clemson.edu/administration/safety/abuse.html Elissa R. Weitzman, (2004) College Student Binge Drinking and the “Prevention Paradox”: Implications for prevention and harm reduction, Baywood Publishing Co, Inc NIH Publication No. 07-5010(November 2007), What Colleges Need to Know Now: An Update on College Drinking Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, P.5 Security on Campus, Inc, College & University Campus Crime Statistics, [Online], Available: http://www.securityoncampus.org/crimestats/99_01/arrestreferrals/index.html Read More