Correlates of Drinking Alcohol and Peer Victimization - Research Proposal Example

There is a wide, though not unanimous agreement among medical scientists that alcoholism should be treated as a disease and that a tendency, or predisposition, to contract it may be inherited. There have been studies that indicate that the effect of alcohol on a person’s brain increases the occurrence of accidents (vehicular), violent tendencies and aggressive behavior, more serious psychiatric conditions (depression, anxiety, short attention span); and hampering of the brains abilities to function well.

Suggested experiment: Victims of bullying would be asked to drink alcohol to directly and actively respond to his bully.Hypothesis: An increase in the consumption of alcohol increases the tendency for people to become socially aggressive and thereby, the victim of bullying would respond by getting retribution for the physical aggression received from the bully.Independent Variable: Amount of alcohol consumed.Dependent Variable: Frequency of socially aggressive response.Control condition: A set of bullying victims would not be allowed to consume any alcohol.

Experimental groups: The level of alcohol would be measured in terms of driving limits.According to Buddy T. “in all 50 states, the legal limit for drunk driving is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08. A 120-pound woman can reach a .08 BAC level after only two drinks and a 180-pound man can be at .08 after only four drinks” (2010, par. 2).Experimental Process: Three sets of samples (say 5 victims of bullying to drink alcohol in excess of legal limits, 5 victims not to drink, 5 victims to drink just within the legal limit) would be taken and asked to drink as prescribed.

They would then be asked to confront their bullies and react according to their state of mind. The frequency and kind of socially aggressive behavior would then be identified, measured and noted according to the sample and control groups.