Integrating Sociological and Psychological Perspectives on Substance Abuse - Essay Example

? Integrating Sociological and Psychological Perspectives on Substance Abuse The quest to explain substance use and abuse has spanned centuries with the problem continuing to evolve with every generation. Drugs of today are more potent than previous versions and the availability and dissemination of drugs today has improved. Various theories have emerged to explain causes, effects and methods of alleviating substance abuse. Introduction The predisposition, motive or susceptibility for drug abuse and use of psychoactive substances entail two necessary preconditions explaining drug use, as backed by several theories of substance abuse. Each of these conditions, though not sufficient in its own right, is necessary to explain substance abuse; for substance abuse to happen drugs must be available in a locale and there must be a predisposition for substance abuse to happen as availability does not guarantee or explain the use per say. This essay explores the predisposition factors that make substance abuse enticing and desirable with a focus on sociological and psychological perspectives. Psychological theories focus on differences between and among people, for example, life experiences while sociological theories focus on group, category or structural differences such as circumstantial factors of location, time, social conditions, periods or countries, though sociologists do promulgate some individualistic explanations. These two theories complement each other and this essay seeks to pursue the implications of each so as to explore its compatibility with available evidence (Rathus, 2011, P. 4). Here Rathus explains what psychology entails, according to him, “psychology seeks to describe, explain predict, and control the events it studies”). Thus, it can be duly noted that psychology focuses on differences between and among people, which can be illustrated by life experience. Psychological Theories There are two basic varieties of theories based on psychological factors; those stressing personalities of substance abusers and those reemphasizing mechanisms of reinforcement. The mechanism of reinforcement theory argues that people tend to maximize reward and minimize punishment and, therefore, substance abusers continue to use those substances whose use has rewarded them in the past. Personality theories emphasize the importance of personality in causing substance abuse, these theories postulate that certain individuals’ personality impels them abuse substance (Shaw, 2002, p. 1). Here Shaw indicates that, “substance use may be touted as a coping mechanism” (p. 1). This is what I configured to mean, namely, that personality impels people to substance abuse. The reinforcement theory underplays the concept of personality differences arguing that even animals, under the right experimental conditions, can abuse substance, and this casts doubt on the relevance of psycho dynamic variables in development of addiction. For example, experiments have indicated that, without invocation of personality factors, human subjects who were administered opiates without knowledge wished to continue taking the drug. There is both positive and negative reinforcement with some reinforcement theories utilizing the two of them. Positive reinforcement occurs when an individual gets pleasurable sensation from a substance and is motivated to repeat using it; this gives rise to a strong fixation on repetitive behavior (Rathus, 2011, P. 9). According to Rathus (9), “B.F Skinner in his study of behaviorism believed that organisms behave in certain ways because they have been reinforced for doing so-that is, their behavior has a positive outcome”. Concerning the aforementioned it has to be said that positive reinforcement occurs when an individual gets pleasurable sensation from a substance and is motivated to repeat using it; this gives rise to a strong fixation on repetitive behavior This theory postulates that continued use of substance has extremely potent reinforcing effects that stimulate euphoria. Addiction is the end point of a continuum of reinforcement that has been acquired to impel a high rate of use in the user. Therefore, compulsive use and abuse does not require physical addiction continuing to take place. Users are reinforced by the euphoric experience from the initial drug experience onwards, and with more use, more intense sensation and greater motivation to continue use is gained. Negative reinforcement occurs when an individual takes a drug to relief or avoid pain and is rewarded and is, therefore, motivated to repeat what alleviated or relieved the pain. When a substance abuser experiences painful withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuing use, and takes a dose of the substance to alleviate withdrawal distress, he experiences relief upon termination of the pain. In this case, the motivation is to obliterate the painful sensations associated with withdrawal. However, positive reinforcement occurs with any euphoric substance while negative reinforcement is confined to drugs that produce physical dependence such as opiates. It fails to capture non addictive drugs and where use of opiates does not involve physical dependence though some non-addicting drugs like cocaine can provide relieve from depression promoting continued use. Reconciling the positive and negative aspects of reinforcement can be done by splitting categories of substance abuse into two categories; the ‘maintainers’ take enough substance to avert withdrawal distress while the ‘euphoria seekers' take sufficient quantities at sufficiently frequent intervals to achieve euphoria (Shaw, 2002, p. 14). The theory of inadequate personality postulates that there is a defect in the emotional or psychic life of certain users that promote them to use the substance to escape from reality; they escape perceived problems by retreating into drugged out indifference or euphoric bliss. These individuals lacking a sense of independence, responsibility or ability to defer hedonistic gratification to achieve long-term goals revert to euphoria. The adoption is, however, exclusively negative as no problems are solved. The likelihood of substance abuse is dependent on the level of inadequacy, with those least adequate adopting the substance as a defense mechanism to obliterate feelings of inferiority (Shaw, 2002, p. 11). Here the author argues that “substance use takes place in terms of intentionality, mood, act, and outcome” (Shaw, 2002, p. 11). In this regard, the concept of mood here is what I analyzed to represent inferiority. The self-derogation perspective holds that substance abuse is a response to low self-esteem and self-rejecting attitudes. However, there is a problem reconciling self-derogation theories which front social rejection as a cause of substance abuse with the fact that illicit drug users have more intimate friends than non-users (Siegel, Brown & Hoffman, 2005, p. 16). This theory postulates that substance users have values, attitudes, norms and personalities that depart from those of non-users, making them engage in behavior that is departs from convectional path. The problem behavior proneness is a dimension that manifested in unconventionality and willingness to take risks. Users are perceived to be rebellious, independent and willing to take nonconformist and unconventional risks; this is, unlike non-users. However, this theory can only account for the recreational drug user but to account for the abusive, compulsive, addicted users of psychoactive substances requires additional factors or a separate theory (Shaw, 2002, p. 13). Sociological Theories Sociological theories tend to focus on structural factors when proposing their theories, they examine social relations, situations or social structures in which an individual is located or has experienced. The anomie theory of deviant behavior postulates that deviant behavior occurs when avenues of material success are blocked. The anomie theory argues that success is encouraged in a competitive, materialistic, achievement oriented society as attainable for all but it can only be attained by a small portion of the society. Those who give up on achieving materialistic goals by approved or disapproved means are so-called retreatists with adaptive activities, substance abuse being one of them. As such, a substance abuser has attempted to achieve success by both legal/legitimate and illegal/illegitimate means and failed. The addict is a double failure fighting the addition menace (Shaw, 2002, p. 14). The Anomie theory has major failings; for example, heroin addicts tend to be well off occupationally and financially, and there is a general lack of support among sociologists for this theory due to lack of significant explanation of drug addiction. Drug dealing, which is an innovative and illegitimate attempt to achieve material success for those who had failed to achieve high levels of success before, is one sphere of behavior captured by the theory (Shaw, 2002, p. 14). The social control theory postulates that substance use and all other deviant behaviors are caused by the absence of social controls encouraging conformity. The non-abuser does not engage in deviant acts because of strong bonds with mainstream or convectional persons, activities, beliefs and social institutions. If the social bonds are weak or broken, people will deviate to acts like drug use. Thus, absence of bonds explains illicit recreational drug use. Self-control theory argues that drugs provide immediate easy, short term pleasure and manifests low levels of self-control (Siegel, Brown & Hoffman, 2005, p. 16). The social learning theory holds that behavior is molded by rewards or punishment or reinforcement. The history of reward and punishment for certain actions determine actions that individuals continue to pursue. In the substance use context, abuse can be explained by the differences in exposure to groups where use is rewarded through reinforcement. The behavior that reinforces abuse of substance is defined as desirable within the group (Shaw, 2002, p. 15). Sub cultural theory postulates that favorable attitudes towards drug use by an individual foster the individual’s drug use while negative attitudes towards drug use discourage use by the individual. Therefore, use of drugs by individuals within a group is dependent on specific individual’s attitudes towards drugs. Selective interaction/socialization theory argues that individuals are first socialized into use because his/her values are consistent with those of the subculture. There is selective recruitment of users as the new users choose friends from among those who share the same values and are likely to have a history of substance use. The recruited users are socialized into the drug subculture and taught to appreciate the perceived effect of the drug (Shaw, 2002, p. 15). Conclusion Several theories exist to explain substance abuse by some members of society, but there is lack of a universal theory that captures all the variables involved. Psychological theories include positive and negative reinforcement, inadequate personality and problem behavior proneness of individuals. Sociological theories include anomie theory, social control, and learning and selective interaction/socialization theories. References Shaw, V. (2002). Substance use and abuse: Sociological perspectives. Westport, Conn. [u.a.] Praeger. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=bGL4v1QF3A8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Substance+use+and+abuse:+sociological+perspectives&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RnMyUa-yG6u4iAfsqYGgCA&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Substance%20use%20and%20abuse%3A%20sociological%20perspectives&f=false Siegel, L., Brown, G. & Hoffman, R. (2006). Criminology: The core. Scarborough, Ont.: Thomson Nelson. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=wzGSWLTPguAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Criminology:+The+Core.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5XMyUYidGdCViQfB44DACw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA Rathus, S. (2011) Psych. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth; Andover: Cengage Learning [distributor]. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=aKqOOae7QuwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Psych.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RnQyUdzoA6uPiAeM2oGwCQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA Read More