Social Problem Of Alcoholism - Admission/Application Essay Example

? Social Problem - Alcoholism Affiliation Alcoholism In this twenty first century, many social problems are emerging due to advancement of technology. Social problem is some social condition that causes mischief on any section of the population. They also prevent societies members from developing, using their full potential and violates the norms and ethics of a society. These problems exist regardless of personal or cultural belief. Thus, the main study of social problems can be defined as, who do they threaten, who bears their responsibility, and how are they solved, managed or overlooked. One of the major social problems encountered across the globe is alcohol and drug abuse. The results of a study by Mendelson and Mello (1988) indicate that all the users of alcohol had an average of +/- o.69 for heavy drinkers representing, social drinkers- +/-0.19 and the occasional users +/- 0.21 drinks per day. This is a revelation of how the consumption of alcohol has been a problem in the society. Alcohol and drugs has become one challenge that the society has failed to curb because unlike many other problems it cannot be solved theoretically. Handling the alcoholism problem is not easy because alcohol addictive symptoms do not show by appearance but after it has done much, such as causing terminal diseases. Nevertheless, by taking the initiative to check the warning signs that indicate the abuse of alcohol and by taking precautions, one can curb these diseases. Alcoholism is not one single problem but it is a combination of interpersonal, physical, medical, and social effects, which exist at different times in different people in their life. This story happened in my community, it shows the dangers of abusing alcohol and who bears the responsibility. Mr. John is a 38 years old communication manager in a leading broadcasting house. He is married with one kid and stays with his mother in his apartment. Every evening Mr. John would meet his friend James who is not married in a nightclub where they had their social dealings. Each time they meet, they had to take alcohol, as John gathered information from his friend. Mr. John always used to say that he must not look alcoholic because he is a senior manager. Before he started drinking, he called his wife and informed her that they were with James. His wife always viewed James as a reasonable and harmless man. No one could suspect Mr. John as an alcoholic because he had no signs whatsoever and he composed himself well at work. He started spending little time with his family and when his mother tried to warn him of his drinking habit, he just ignore and referred himself a family man. One evening, his wife questioned about his drinking habit because he had no time for them, but he jokingly invited her to the join them because he cannot beat them. The following night Mrs. John prepared herself and went at the usual place where Mr. John met James. This continued for a period and when Mr. John seemed drunk, his wife flossed with James. This later gave birth to a relationship and his mother alerted him but he could not understand because most of the time he was drunk. Mr. John started beating and abusing his wife, he started taking sick off from his job, and could not deliver the way he used to. At this point, Mr. John was still denying that he has a drinking problem. The main issue being conflict arising at home due to his drinking habit, an inability to stop drinking, jeopardizing his work, putting his finances in crises due to excessive drinking and breaking up his family. Regardless of his mother and friend’s effort to warn him about his drinking habit and his wife’s behavior, Mr. John continued to drink excessively. He always said that he was an adult and he knew what he was doing. As time went by, Mr. John noticed his wife was pregnant and sent her away because he could not remember when he fulfilled his duty as a husband. Mrs. John later delivered a baby, but she died. On the other hand, John lost his job due to the inability to deliver, and this resulted in financial constrains, which affected him, the society, and his family. Later he realized he was HIV positive and had a liver problem, and he had neither a job nor a family to lean on. Later Mr. John was taken to a rehabilitation centre and his family was left with an obligation to raise his children up to date. This story was a lesson in our community, which acted as a door opener for Non-governmental organizations that started forums for training communities on dangers of alcohol and drugs. Due to these forums, many organizations upfront themselves in the fight against alcohol because the rate of consumption has been growing at an alarming rate among the young people and even teenagers. This has a negative impact on social and economic growth on the consumer himself, consumer`s immediate environment and the society as a whole. For example, if a driver takes alcohol and drive`s his or her vehicle and unintentionally causes traffic accident, it will have a negative impact on himself/herself, the society and the environment that surrounds him because he will need health care and necessities required for criminal justice. To study Mr. John’s social problem, how it influences social and economic life of an individual and of the society in general, following questions are worthy tackling. Who does Alcohol Threaten and How? Alcohol consumption has great effects on work performance, and this poses a challenge to the society. Some of the ways that alcohol affects work includes; absenteeism because of sick leaves due to hangovers, injuries due to drunkenness and causing accidents at work. This increases the cost of running the company. Low productivity of an individual leads to unemployment due to large consumption of alcohol and patterns, as is evident in the story above. Heavy alcohol consumption is causing family breakages in today`s society. Alcohol weakens the functioning capacity of an individual, causes mental health problems like anxiety and stress, financial and time constrains. In case one of the partners is alcoholic and does not fulfill his/her obligation, this can have adverse effects on children through domestic violence, such as abuses and beatings, home accidents, and even death through HIV infections. When a female takes alcohol during pregnancy, the unborn child is affected and after birth, that child can have several social and psychological complications. This kind of effect is referred to as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Data from a study conducted by Gill (2000) reveal that 70-75 mg/dl of alcohol levels produce a vital increase in the plasma oestradiol level. This increase represents 55% to 66% above the levels of pre-drinking. Plasma oestradiol is a hormone that helps during pregnancy and altering its function affects the fetus. Schools and population growth has been greatly affected by alcoholism. In some parts of the globe, where the society is adversely affected by alcohol, populations have been decreasing and school dropouts increasing thus causing a negative effect on the economy and an increase in rate of crimes. The economy suffers severely due to low wage rate and increased rate of unemployment, legal and medical expenses on heavy consumers, which mostly affects the poor in the society. Who take Responsibility for Alcoholism? It is a responsibility for everyone to take care of one’s self and others. Since alcoholism is not a disease, medication does not lie with doctors but with each one of us. Health institutions, government bodies, non-governmental institutions, and media are also responsible for passing information on dangers of abusing alcohol and other drugs, and ways of helping the addictives. Schools should be on the front line to fight the vice to shun more students from engaging in criminal offences. Law enforcers should also be responsible for controlling the manufacturers, distributers, and sellers of the alcohol and other drugs to regulate the intake. How can the Society Solve and Manage This Problem? The best and easy way of managing this problem is by people taking personal responsibility and valuing the norms and ethics of the society. If people hold on values, which are important, it will lead to society growth, and forget cultural and historical beliefs that this problem can be resolved (Emotional Literacy, n.d.). Governments making efforts to estimate the economic and social cost of using alcohol and other drugs can also resolve the problem. Alcohol and drug abuse causes a society to suffer social and economic problems in the sense that money is incurred to treat the harmful effects of the abuse and services left undelivered because of heavy drinking. These estimates of social and economic cost enable the government to identify information gaps, review the usefulness of policies and programs against alcohol, and drug abuse, facilitate public on cases of alcohol, and mark public expenditure on most important problems (Manzardo, Goodwin, & Campbell, 2008). How Alcoholic Problem Be Ignored? In most cases where the elderly are taken to hospitals in cases of emergencies, the doctors fail to diagnose the problem of drinking because they presumes that the elderly are non- drinkers. Even though most physician advocate for no alcohol use during pregnancy, a study on the same shows complications after birth, most of the resources used by these physicians for study condone drinking (Buddy, 2006). Despite its negative impact on the productivity of a company, some corporate firms still ignore the issue. This also is seen when parents are drinking alcohol at home ignoring the presence of their children. In conclusion, alcoholism is one of the major social problems we are encountering and therefore, we should join hands to fight it. Mr. John’s scenario should act as a guide to the entire society in avoiding the repercussions of alcoholism, which complicates and makes hard the life a person. Alcohol is not worth the outcome, and therefore, we should shun this vice. References Buddy, T. (2006). Ignoring the Problem of Senior Substance Abuse. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/elder/a/aa981118_2.htm Emotional Literacy. (n.d.). Healing Alcoholism. Retrieved 16, 2013, from http://www.emotional-literacy.com/hea3.htm Gill, J. (2000). The effects of moderate alcohol consumption on female hormone levels and reproductive function. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 35(5), 417-423. Manzardo, A., Goodwin, D., & Campbell, J. (2008). Alcoholism. Oxford University Press Mendelson, J. H., & Mello, N. K. (1988). Chronic alcohol effects on anterior pituitary and ovarian hormones in healthy women. Journal of Pharmacological and Experimental Therapy 245, 407-412 Read More