Social Issue on Drug Abuse - Essay Example

Three Sides of the Social Issue on Drug Abuse Drug abuse has been one of the enduring issues in the society. Using the three major sociological theories, this paper attempts to understand how drug abuse is viewed from different perspectives. The different sociological frameworks, functionalist, conflict and symbolic interactionist see drug abuse in different ways because of the different focus of the frameworks. The functionalist framework envisions the society as a system of interrelated parts.

Much the same as how a body works, one part is affected or interdependent on other parts. The functionalist perspective focuses on the stability and consensus. It takes into account these main variables in understanding the different issues at hand. It looks at the balance of things and how society maintains a state of equilibrium (page reading). Through a functionalist’s point of view, social issues are the results of the maladjustments of social units, much the same as how one’s body feels weak because of one dysfunctional part.

Drug abuse is seen in almost the same manner. One uses drug because of its latent functions. Two of the reasons are relief of tension and to enhance social interaction. The problem starts with drug abuse, when the individual becomes dependent on the physical and psychological impacts of drugs. The correlation between drugs and poverty has been studied intensively. Through a functionalist’s eyes, drug abuse is apparent result of a dysfunction within the society, named as poverty. Because of the social rejection felt by the poor, they attempt to find a sense of belongingness and see drugs as an alternative for this.

The drug use covers up their shattered lives and this provides them a sense of structure. It becomes a substitute to the comfort of the non-poor. On the other hand, the conflict perspective sees drug abuse as a source of oppression and domination. The conflict perspective does not disagree with the functionalist view that the society is an interrelationship of its systems but it focuses more on the competing variables that influences the movements within the society. Their argument is that the results of the competition between the systems shape the society.

As such the different laws and ordinances passed against drug use has been the result of the conflict brought about by drug abuse. But more so, the conflict perspective sees drug abuse as a factor in increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. Thus, being a source of oppression. When the rich people are caught abusing drugs, they are given a lighter sentence compared to that given for the poor. The conflict theory views drug abuse as an influential factor in the different tension and discord within the society, such as within the family.

Drug abuse does not bring conflict between the individual and the people around him, it also impacts his relationship with the society. The symbolic interaction theory does not look at the general picture the same way as the functionalist and conflict perspective do. It looks at meanings and symbols and how these influence the social interaction and perspective of the members of the society (page reading). It looks at how meaningful objects develop to become shared meanings. Symbolic interaction looks more at the subjective side of the problem.

This theoretical framework is used to understand why some societies legalize and accept the use of some drugs and why some create laws against the same kind of drugs. The symbolic interaction theory looks at how the users perceive drugs. And this is used to understand the common characteristics of users who tend to use particular drugs. The different sociological perspectives all aim to understand the factors and impacts of drug abuse. And because they are all focusing on different elements and variables, they have different perception of this particular social issue.