The social impact of drinking alcohol on London nightlife - Research Paper Example

?Running head: SOCIAL IMPACTS OF ALCOHOL Qualitative study: The social impact of drinking alcohol on London nightlife Insert Insert Grade Insert Tutor’s Name 19 March 2012 Qualitative Study: The Social Impact of Drinking Alcohol on London Nightlife Introduction Sociology, as field of study, is concerned with different aspects that relate to the human social behavior. The field goes beyond examining social issues to analysis of the economic, political, and religious activities that collectively affect an individual human behavior, groups and societies (Giddens and Griffiths, 2006, p.4). Issues related to the family, the community, and the public are of significance to a sociologist. One of the important areas of sociology is alcoholism and drug abuse in the society, as it affects the human behavior as well as other human activities related to behavior in a number of ways. Responsible use of alcohol is, according to some researches, healthier than complete abstinence or excessive drinking (Crabtree, 2006). However, excessive or binge alcohol drinking has a number of negative social impacts as well as medical/health impacts on users. In its immediate effect, alcohol makes an individual slow in reaction, poorer in decision-making process, and unable to perform certain tasks accurately (Crabtree, 2006). Excessive alcoholism is related to a number of social issues like crimes, violence, sexual or physical abuse, and rape. The law-enforcers spend much resource in handling alcohol-related crimes. The effects impacts of alcohol drinking can be more pronounced in the UK now that the country has less regulation in the use of alcohol as compared to most countries in the world like the US. US had realized the negative impacts of alcoholism and strict policies have been developed that ensure reduced alcohol consumption (Chaloupka & Wechsler, 1996). On the other hand, the UK has trash culture that happens to institutionalize and formalize alcoholism in the country (Crabtree, 2006). The country has the most developed pub culture and the pubs become the major centers for socialization. The pubs are the meeting place for all social groups and drinking strong beer is the culture in these pubs (Crabtree, 2006). The average cost of alcohol in the country has reduced to half the prices that were witnessed in the 1970s while the per capita consumption of alcohol has doubled over the level of consumption recorded in the 1950s. This implies that there is significant increase in the negative social impacts of binge drinking. Various social events like sports activities in the large cities are often held at nights providing the opportunities for different deviant behaviors in the drug users. The social impacts are also likely to be more pronounced at night, where alcohol can be mediated by other factors to lead to more deviant human behaviors. Given the situation in the UK, it would be interesting to examine the effects of excessive drinking in some of the big cities in UK. Literature Review Different literatures are available that focus on the effects of drinking and the factors that influence the behavior of an individual when drunk. The use of alcohol is not completely harmful to the social wellbeing in the society. Responsible drinking may be healthy way of living since researches have indicated that individuals that take the recommended amount of alcohol are likely to live longer than excessive drinkers and those who decide to abstain completely from drinking (Crabtree, 2006). Drinking wines in a disciplined manner has potential benefits to the health of an individual. Nonetheless, excessive drinking will drastically reverse these benefits. Crabtree (2007) asserts that light drinking has medical benefits to the users but notes that majority of individuals are involved in binge drinking. In the UK, this scenario could be attributed to the free environment that has been created for the heavy drinkers. It appears that heavy drinking has been institutionalized in the UK with the practice traversing across various industries in the country. The pubs in the UK become the destiny for different social groups. The increased use of alcohol in the UK could be attributed to the fact that alcohol is relatively cheaper in the country compared to other countries (Crabtree, 2007). The pubs are used to show football games and other sports. Professionals also hold their meetings in these places followed by heavy drinking. With convergence of various groups come negative consequences. It is noted that nearly half of all the victims of violent crimes often reveal that the offenders were under the influence of alcohol when the crimes were committed (Crabtree, 2007). The situations are often worse when alcohol is used alongside other drugs. It is also observed that more than half of perpetrators of sexual assault and rapes do engage in this criminal acts after drinking and similar proportion of the female victims of these crimes also report having been drunk before the incidence (Crabtree, 2007). Generally, Crabtree (2007) considers alcohol as one of the key social problems that need to be tackled by the British government. It is noted that alcohol has interrelations with irresponsible behavior, crime, and different aspects of trash culture. Crabtree (2007) observes that the social effects of alcohol are cultural in origin, depending largely on the individual’s perception of the consequences of alcohol. It is noted that an individual will involve in offending when drunk if he has the perception that drunken people are often violent. It has been observed that some individuals indulge in heavy drinking with an actual intention of committing some crime such as sexual assault, so that their drunkenness can be used to justify their behaviors (Abbey et al, 2001). This may be different for a drunkard with different perspective. The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) (2007) describes binge drinking as ‘the consumption of large quantities of alcohol at a single session resulting in intoxication’ (IAS, 2007, p.3). This heavy consumption of alcohol has adverse health, educational, economic, and social effects on the alcoholics. The frequency of such heavy consumption and the duration in life that an individual takes when drinking will determine the severity of these negative effects. It is also noted that the social effects of excessive drinking will be greatly affected by the circumstances that surround the drinking practice (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2007). The medical/health and personal effects of alcoholism can translate into negative social impacts in a number of circumstances. Prolonged heavy consumption of alcohol brings damages to the brain cells and affects an individual’s cognitive ability. Some researches to compare the effects of heavy drinking on underage drinkers and non-drinkers have indicated that the drinkers had poor reasoning skills and impaired memory (IAS, 2007). It implies that these individuals cannot manage their emotions and this could explain cases of offending that may be attached to heavy drinking, especially among the youths. The individuals do not have good problem-solving abilities. The Institute of Alcohol Studies (2007) illustrates a number of social impacts of binge drinking. Some study in the UK had indicated that excessive drinking among the adolescence was related to social problems like harmful drinking at the adulthood stage, poor academic performance in the learning institutions, high cases of crimes, and increased abuse of illicit drugs (IAS, 2007). It is also related to poor social and economic development in the societies. Alcoholism is related to different cases of accidents, at home, in traffic or at places of work. One of the medical effects of binge drinking is alcohol poisoning. The intoxication that results from heavy consumption of alcohol leads to poor coordination of the body muscles. The victims can experience blurred or double vision among other health complications (IAS, 2007). If such an individual was operating some heavy machinery or driving an automobile, this may contribute to the high cases of accidents attached to drug abuse and alcoholism. Researches have shown that high-quantity drinking is usually associated with drink driving, which translates into the traffic accidents (IAS, 2007). There are also cases of deaths resulting from excessive alcoholism especially among the inexperienced drinkers. Heavy drinking also accounts for a large proportion of deaths in emergency cases like fire or deaths resulting from drowning (IAS, 2007). While a sober individual would react to the emergency and help the rescuers in such cases, the poor muscular coordination in a heavy drinker may not allow for a timely response. The other negative social effect of binge drinking as observed by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (2007) is increased violence and crimes among the drinkers. As has been stated earlier, excessive drinking makes the individuals become irrational in their actions and thoughts. Heavy drinkers are more likely to be involved in offending than the modest drinkers and non-drinkers. Studies have indicated that ‘young binge drinkers are almost three times more likely to report committing an offence than those who drink but do not get drunk, and five times more likely than the non-drinkers of the same age’ ((IAS, 2007, p.5). The heavy drinkers are often engaged in exchange of fists alongside other violent crimes. The other negative consequence of binge drinking is involvement in unwanted or unsafe sexual activities. A study by the IAS indicated that a good proportion of the underage drinkers (13-14 years of age) reported that they were under the influence of alcohol when they had their first sexual intercourse. In the same research, a good fraction of the heavy drinkers aged between 16 and 24 reported that they had unprotected sex when drunk, another good proportion indicated that they had been lured into unwanted sex, whereas others could not remember whether the had had sex when drunk (IAS, 2007). Finally, the institute also learned that binge drinking was also related to increased use of other drugs by the drinkers. Covelli (2012) also talks of the negative consequences of binge drinking and asserts that alcohol can influence and individual’s behavior to get involved in acts that he would not commit when sober. While the writer supports modest drinking to have some positive effects on human health and social life, it is noted that one drink often prompts the drinker to take on another and he/she continues to get drunk. One of the negative impacts of binge drinking is impaired coordination and judgments that can lead to road accidents or fights among the drinkers (Covelli, 2012). Excessive consumption of alcohol is also linked to high levels of promiscuity among the drinkers. The alcohol intoxication has hormonal influences and increases the sex urge of an individual leading to high cases of rape and other violent crimes (Covelli, 2012). Other negative effects of heavy drinking include loss of close friends and embarrassment before the public. It is also characterized by regrets that can traumatize an individual in life. An individual under the influence of alcohol can find himself in company and acts that would not be observed under normal situations (Covelli, 2012). Such thoughts may affect some individual psychologically. Similar sentiments have also been provided by Bering (2009) who observes that alcohol has positive and negative consequences depending on the usage. It is observed that responsible drinking can inspire creative thoughts among the users. On the other hand, binge drinking is associated with fatal traffic accidents, several cases of murder, child abuse, sex abuse, and cases of spousal battery (Bering, 2009). The arising key sociological issues Several issues arise from the available literatures on alcoholism. However, among the fundamental issues is the fact that drinking is not generally harmful- the real issue heavy drinking. Those who drink modestly do not often exhibit deviant human behaviors. On the other hand, binge drinking is associated with deviant human behaviors such as sexual assault and rape, violent crimes, offending, different forms of accident, or regrets in life, all being fueled by the impaired coordination and judgments that follow heavy drinking. The key Methodological Issues Research in any given concept or topic can be carried out through examining the available materials addressing the topic or through collection of primary data. Each of these methods has its advantages and pitfalls and it is not the case that both the methods cannot be used for a single research. Researches often combine both secondary and primary data collection to provide better insight on the topic under investigation. Primary data refers to the data that the researcher will collect directly from the participants concerning the topic under discussion (Quee, 1999, p.97). A number of ways exist through which a researcher can obtain primary data. On the other hand, secondary data refers to all the information that had been collected and reported by other scholars, researchers, or organizations that are related to the topic under investigation (Quee, 1999). Such information can be obtained from scholarly articles, books, news articles, reports from government departments, or reports from other social agencies in a given country. The major difference that may exist between secondary and primary data, and which may necessitate that both of them are obtained, is the original purpose for which the original data was collected (Quee, 1999). In certain instances, the researcher may realize that all the information that would be required to cover the topic under investigation is covered by the secondary sources that are available. However, it is often difficult to find secondary information that exhausts a specific topic understudy. In such cases, it is often unnecessary to proceed to undertake primary data collection on the same issue (Quee, 1999). On the other hand, the researcher may recognize some gap that exists in the available information that calls for collection of primary data. Nevertheless, it should be noted that use of secondary data is quick and cheap; it is often appropriate to exhaust all the available secondary sources before deciding to take on primary data collection. In spite of the benefits that may be derived from secondary data, there are certain shortcomings that make the collection of primary data necessary to address this topic under study. Firstly, secondary data often become obsolete with time (Quee, 1999). There are changes in the social life of various individuals and their demographic aspects so that secondary data that were collected some five years go may be irrelevant today. For instance, the earliest age at which individuals start to drink may have changed drastically over the years. This implies that the negative social impacts of binge drinking may be more multifaceted taking into consideration the multiple age brackets that are included. Secondly, the available secondary data was most likely collected without taking into consideration the specific need of the researcher on the current topic. The available literatures will generally focus on the effects of binge drinking. It may be very difficult to get specific information on binge drinking and the nightlife in London. With these shortcomings, the researcher found it necessary to carry on with primary research to get deeper into this topic. Primary data can be quantitative or qualitative in nature. Quantitative data is appropriate if numeric or quantifiable data is required to answer the topic under discussion (Quee, 1999). The collection of quantitative data involves the use of structured questionnaire with methods such as personal interviews, postal surveys, and telephone interviews. Such data is also obtained through measurements in other empirical studies. Examples of quantitative data could include the proportion of adults (or females) that drink, the number of accidents reported in some month in a given city that are related to drink driving, or the number of cases of offending that are related to binge drinking. Such researches often need large samples of respondents in order to make valid inference concerning the whole population. However, quantitative research are more descriptive than explanatory of the behavior and motives of the respondents. This is the rationale behind conducting this qualitative study. Qualitative research can be conducted together with proper quantitative methods to enable us ‘interpret and better understand the complex reality of a given situation and the implications of quantitative data’ (Family Health International, n.d, p.2). Qualitative research is an exploratory research that digs deeper into a given concept and often requires smaller sample of respondents as compared with quantitative researches Quee, 1999). This research approach is appropriate in collecting data that provides deeper insight and understanding of a given concept. Unlike the quantitative research, qualitative study does not require the researcher to develop a structured questionnaire to be used in data collection. Instead, the respondents are required to provide ‘diagnostic information regarding their thoughts, views, and feelings that are not easily projected to the whole population’ (Quee, 1999, p.111). Qualitative data is not inferior to quantitative data; they may be complementary to each other. The two types of data, on a given topic, are meant to accomplish different objectives. Qualitative data provides an indication or hidden explanation on the thoughts of the individuals that are being interviewed in relation to the discussion topic. Different types of qualitative research methods are often used in social researchers. These include focus group discussions, individual depth interviews, and observation techniques among others (Family Health International, n.d). The different methods have their strengths and limitations. A focus group discussions comprises a group of individuals (with better understanding of the topic) that are selected carefully to talk freely on some subject of interest with a major attention on the depth of information that is to be obtained and not its breadth (Quee, 1999). Focus group discussion is appropriate in providing a different perspective on a given issue that may have been examined superficially by others. It helps generate a new approach of looking at an old concept (Quee, 1999). A discussion of this nature requires no formal and structured questionnaire. The moderator/interviewer develops some discussion guide (Peninsula Research and Development Unit, n.d) that will enable them to stay on course during the discussion. The moderator can develop or create other questions as the discussion unfolds. He or she can also probe further into some of the responses that seem resourceful and that can provide better understanding of the concept being investigated. This method of qualitative research has certain advantages. Firstly, the method is characterized by group stimulation that becomes advantageous to the researcher Quee, 1999). By sharing their opinions freely on a given issues, the members of a discussion group will stimulate and encourage the others who would shy away to develop creative responses. One strong response from one of the participants is sufficient to help generate new ideas, opinions, thoughts, or feelings in others, who will then be ready to share their deeper views. Secondly, focus group discussion is relatively fast (Quee, 1999). The method enables the researcher to obtain data from a group of individuals faster than it would take to interview every individual separately. This implies that the approach is also cost effective as compared to what can be incurred in individual interviews. Similarly, focus group discussion is also characterized by flexibility in speech (Quee, 1999). The interviewer and interviewees are free to speak what is in their mind without a restriction. This helps in achieving the objective of exploration of a given concept. With this flexibility, focus group discussions also provide a good platform for generation of new ideas (Quee, 1999). It is helpful in generating hypothesis that may be used for future quantitative research on the same topic or a related topic. On the other hand, the research method has certain weaknesses. In focus group discussion, non-numeric data is obtained that may not be subjected to statistical analysis (Quee, 1999). This is exacerbated by the small sample of respondents that are often included in such discussion groups, which may not be representative of the whole population. Similarly, focus group discussion may suffer misrepresentation of members of group, especially if there is no proper moderation. Some of the participants are often “loud-mouthed” and they would want to contribute more in the discussion thereby blocking the others (Quee, 1999). This pitfall can be managed by an intervention by a qualified moderator who ensures that all the members selected to be in the group participate relatively equally in the discussion. However, this is done without out discouraging the participants who wanted to dominate the discussion. They have to be informed prior to the discussion on the system that will be used for the short session. The other challenge stems from the free responses that are characteristic of this research method. The responses may extend onto a variety of issues making it difficult to make summary and provide meaningful interpretation of the research findings (Quee, 1999, p.113). Focus group discussion may also suffer biasness from the moderator, who may decide, intentionally or unknowingly, to give weight to some idea or thought and explore it more. Individual depth interview is a modified form of focus group discussion that involves interviewing an individual at a time instead of open discussion (Peninsula Research and Development Unit, n.d; Quee, 1999). Just like the focus group discussion, this method involves unstructured personal interview and the interviewer is required to probe into the received responses to enable the respondent talk freely and express his or her deep feelings and thoughts on the issue. It is appropriate in a motivational research to dig deeper into the answers that are provided by the respondents. The advantage that this method has over discussion group is that of privacy (Quee, 1999). The method becomes handy when sensitive issues touching on the individual history or experiences are to be discussed (Family Health International, n.d). It is appropriate in examining personal issues in situations that are characterized by personal differences. The respondents become free to reveal some of their motives and attitudes that they would find difficult to disclose in a focus group discussion. The other advantage is that it is quite easy to associate the responses to the individual respondents for better analysis of every idea or thoughts that is raised. However, the fact that it involves one individual at a time implies that it will take longer than focus group discussion to obtain information from a given number of participants. This also translates into the cost of conducting the research. The success of such an interview requires the moderator to be knowledgeable, imaginative, and able to understand the psychology of the others. Observation is used in data on the natural behaviors of individuals in the usual context (Family Health International, n.d). The use of observation method, for this particular research, could involve examining the behaviors of different individuals believed to be under the influence of alcohol. Like in the above cases, the researcher may draft some list of observations that the researcher aims at attaining right before the data collection to serve as guide during data collection (Peninsula Research and Development Unit, n.d). The method may be subject to bias from the researcher. The Research Question/Proposal The available literatures touch on the negative consequences of binge drinking on a broad perspective. However, the extent of adversity of these consequences may vary from one region to the other, owing to the fact that even the level of drinking is not often the same. Some literature had also suggested that the social effects of binge drinking are cultural, depending on how an individual is brought up. The individual will act in a manner that he has often perceived a drunkard should follow. Besides, no specific literature addresses the exact consequences of binge drinking in specific contexts, with my concern as nightlife in the London. This leads to the development of the research question for this proposal stated here after: “What are the social impacts of binge drinking on the nightlife in London?” The Methodology to be Used The intended research entails the use of both secondary and primary data. It involves an extensive literature search on the consequences of binge drinking from books, journals, news reports, and online articles. For primary data collection, the moderator has opted to apply the individual depth analysis method, even though it may be time consuming and expensive. The researcher intends to draw information from different categories of individuals including the drinkers and pub owners and attendants. The method is chosen because it is believed that some of the drunkards may be reluctant to share their experience in an open group discussion and neither can such feelings, thoughts, and behaviors be observed accurately. The information that has been collected from secondary sources enables the moderator to develop some discussion guide that is to be used in brainstorming the likely negative consequences of excessive alcoholism. The researcher intends to interview eight pub owners or attendants and twelve heavy drinkers whose consent will be sought before inclusion in the research. The individuals will be informed of the sole purpose of the research as well as why their active participation may be helpful. The researcher will consult with the bar owners to identify the potential drinkers who can provide consequential information Lessons Learnt from the Project The development of a project of this nature builds on the student’s ability to organize and conduct independent researches and make meaningful conclusions. An individual is able to understand various data collection methods, their applications, the advantages as well as their limitations. The student is able to have a wider understanding of the concept through marrying the information obtained from secondary research to the information obtained through primary data collection. For instance, it is noted here that responsible drinking is quite healthy socially and medically while binge drinking reverses all these benefits significantly. The influence of alcohol drives one into unplanned or unintended acts and behaviors. References Abbey, A., Zawacki, T., Buck, P., Clinton, A and McAuslan, P 2001, Alcohol and Sexual Assault, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Bering, J 2009, Intoxicating Studies: The Effects of Alcohol on Social Behavior, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Chaloupka, F & Wechsler, H 1996, ‘Binge drinking in college: The impact of price, availability and alcohol control policies’, Contemporary economic policy, Vol.14. Viewed March 18, 2012, . Covelli, G 2012, Social Effects of Alcohol, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Crabtree, V 2006, Alcohol: The Social & Medical Effects and How to Combat Misuse, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Family Health International, N.d, Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Giddens, A and Griffiths, S 2006, Sociology, Polity Press, Cambridge. Institute of Alcohol Studies 2007, Binge drinking: Medical and social consequences, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Peninsula Research and Development Unit N.d, Qualitative Research Methods, Viewed March 18, 2012, . Quee, T 1999, Marketing Research, 3rd ed., Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd, Woburn. Read More