Evaluation of Trends and Effects of Underage Drinking in Sydney - Case Study Example

Evaluation of Trends and Effects of Underage Drinking in Sydney – Research Design of of 0 Background Drinking is a major issue amongst young people around the world. The Liquor Act of 1982 sets the legal drinking age in Australia at 18. This therefore means that persons below the age of 18 do not have the right to drink alcohol. Such an act is a breach of the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia and comes with numerous actions that often include sanctions against parents or guardians of such persons. The moral element of the Liquor Act (1982) was to prevent young people from getting into alcoholism early in life. This is mainly because teenagers are identified as minors and as such, do not have the right to consent to alcohol because they are vulnerable persons. On the other hand, stakeholders like parents and teachers who backed to law believed that children will be more responsible and committed to their personal development if they are exempt from the consumption of alcohol. 2.0 Research Problem In spite of the laws that criminalises the abuse of alcohol amongst teenagers a lot of breeches of the Liquor Act (1982) occurred in the past year. On 30th January, 2011,the Sydney Central reported that around 25 teenagers were arrested by the police in an overnight underage drinking spree in the CBD of Australia (2011). These underaged persons were detained and their parents were called and reminded of their obligations to their children. The children were cautioned. This incident is by no means an isolated event that the society can afford to turn a blind eye on. In a survey, it was identified that three children in North South Wales get so drunk that they require an ambulance each day of the year (Corderoy, 2011). This trend shows that drinking is widespread amongst young people under the legal age throughout Australia. Corderoys survey involved questioning 16 – 17 year olds on their drinking habits and tendencies (2011). The survey revealed that 43.3% of persons aged between 16 and 17 drink solely to get drunk. 66.3% of the respondents stated that it is okay to drink occasionally. Another 50.4% indicated that drinking is their best way to relax. These findings indicate that drinking is very common amongst young people below the legal age in Australia. This is extremely alarming and shows that the Liquor Act is being overridden by young people and relevant stakeholders. This has gone to the extent that some of these young persons see drinking as a norm rather than a criminal offence that is punishable under law. Also, the trend shows that some of the people tasked with honouring the Liquor Act like liquor shops have failed to prevent the sale of alcohol to teenagers. This shows that there is a major loophole in the implementation of the law. Another disturbing incident described by the Sydney Morning Herald related to the detention of six girls in Sydney aged between 13 and 15 who were drunk on a Saturday night (2011). This event showed that the trend of teenage drinking is affecting much younger people and not just 16 and 17 year olds, but people as young as 13. Additionally, the gender dynamics are also being modified because in the past, these early drinking cases involved boys rather than girls. Additionally, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that these teenagers were involved in various forms of crimes in addition to drinking. This shows that underage drinking is indeed leading young children into other social vices. This is effectively causing children to build criminal careers earlier than normal. 3.0 Research Questions This research is being conducted with the view of promoting social change in Sydney. As such, the research addresses the main and pertinent issues relating to underage drinking. The research aims at exploring the causes, effects of underage drinking in Sydney. It also seeks to identify solutions to teenage drinking in Sydney. This will be used constructively to provide recommendations on how the problem of teenage drinking can be curbed and/or eliminated from the Australian society. In arriving at this end, the following objectives will be explored: 1. An examination of the causes of underage drinking amongst teenagers in Sydney. 2. An analysis of the weaknesses of the Australian society that encourages teenage drinking in Sydney. 3. An evaluation of the effects of teenage drinking on the Australian society. 4. Identification of possible solutions to the problems that lead to underage drinking in Sydney. 4.0 Research Methodology Methodology refers to the approaches for the conduct of a research (Alston and Boweles, 2003 p308). As such, the methodology sets out the broad framework within which the research exercise is carried out by a researcher. In this research, there will be a qualitative study of the main factors that contribute to the increase in youthful drinking habits in Sydney. It will attempt to find out why people and elements of the society continue to tilt towards this social vice. It will also attempt to find out the actual effects of the practice and solutions that relevant stakeholders will prescribe to the issue 5.0 Research Design In the first chapter of his book, Professor Bryman identifies that the essence of quantitative research is to provide a logical method of collecting information, analysing the information and formulating theories on the basis of the findings of the study (2012 p7). In order to conduct this research the study will be done in the following stages: 1. Sampling 2. Data collection 3. Data analysis 4. Data interpretation 5. Conclusions 5.1 Sampling Each of the four objectives will require different samples for the research to be conducted reasonably. 5.1.1 Objective 1: This will involve the study of a sample of underaged persons between ages 13 and 17. A total of 50 people will be studied. At least half of the respondents should have had some degree of contact with alcohol drinking at his or her teenage years. 5.1.2 Objective 2: The weaknesses of the Australian society will be studied through interactions with parents, liquor sellers and teenagers who have had some drinking experience. For this objective, five parents whose children have been involved in alcohol usage under age 18 will be interviewed. Also, five liquor sellers will be interviewed. Care will be taken to ensure that at least 2 of the liquor sellers studied have had issues with the sale of alcohol to underaged persons. Also, five teenagers who have had issues with the law in relation to underage drinking will be interviewed. 5.1.3 Objective 3: The effects of early alcoholism on teenagers will be studied through an interview of people who have leadership roles in the society. This will involve the interview of at least one person from the groups of 1. Teachers, 2. Doctors/Psychologists 3. Parents 4. Law Enforcement Officers and 5. Social Workers. 5.1.4 Objective 4: Objective 4 will be attained through the interview of the same people as the people in Objective 3 above. 5.2 Data Collection Data to be used for this exercise will be collected through a combination of interviews and surveys. 5.2.1 Objective 1: This will be conducted through an online survey. The survey will involve close ended questions that will be sent to the participants in the survey. It will identify the main causes and influential elements of the lives of these teenagers that shape their perception about taking alcohol at the early years of their lives. The questionnaires will have a range of possible answers that will be classified numerically and/or based on their intensity eg strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree etc. 5.2.2 Objective 2: Data for this phase will be collected through a survey with the major stakeholders and participants of underage drinking in Sydney. The surveys will involve open-ended questionnaires that will allow the participants to provide information about what is wrong with the Australian society that allows children as young as 13 to begin drinking. 5.2.3 Objectives 3 and 4: Data for this section will be conducted through face-to-face interviews with major stakeholders in the Sydney metropolis. The interview will be in two sections. The first section will concentrate on the evaluation of the effects of teenage drinking on the society. The participants will opine on what they think are the short-term and long-term effects of teenage drinking on the society. The second section will involve the recommendations that these persons will make in relation to solving the problems with underage drinking in Sydney. 5.3 Data Analysis This section will be primarily involved in the collation and presentation of the information and data that will be gathered in the research. It will be concerned with the grouping of the information in order to support the analysis of the responses. 5.3.1 Objective 1: This will be done through a straightforward statistical presentation. The responses from the internet survey will be grouped and presented statistically in the forms of charts and graphs to give a holistic view of what people think about the issues that are raised in the study. 5.3.2 Objective 2: The answers to the open-ended questions will be summarised and placed under various groups. Similar responses will be placed together under each question. This will provide a series of answers for each of the questions that will be presented to the participants of the survey. 5.3.3 Objectives 3 and 4: The responses for the two sections of each interview will be summarised. These summaries will be aggregated in one paragraph for each question. In collating them, the responses of each participant will be placed under every single question. This will provide up to five paragraphs from each participant from the respondents from each category. 5.4 Data Interpretation Once the data for each of the objective is collated, summarised and presented, it needs to be interpreted. This is done by sorting the data and information and inferring or deducing various forms of generalisations from each unit of information. 5.4.1 Objective 1: The interpretation for each of the questions will be based on the majority of responses. If over 50% of the respondents choose a given option, then it means that it is the dominant trend. Other significant percentages of responses [20% - 49%] will be cited as likely responses to each question in the survey. 5.4.2 Objective 2: The interpretation of this section will be done by drawing inferences or deductions from common responses. Care will be taken to incorporate each individual response but the main focus will be on consolidating similar solutions. 5.4.3 Objectives 3 and 4: This will be interpreted by consolidating common solutions/effects and stating unique views. 5.5 Conclusions This section will be focused on theorisation. It will involve a summary of the major trends and significant trends about the causes and effects of underage drinking in Sydney based on the responses of Objectives 1 to 3. The solutions to the problem identified in Objective 4 will be outlined and stated in a summarised form here. Another significant element of this section is the Discussions section. This will involve the writers views on the findings. This will be some kind of commentary that will lead to a third section of this chapter, which will be Recommendations. Since the purpose of this research is to provide knowledge and solutions to a social problem, the researcher will use the findings and discussions on the subjects studied to provide recommendations on how underage drinking should be approached. There will also be suggestions on how the solutions should be carried out and the possible implications. Also, the possibilities for future research will be identified by the researcher after the conclusion section. There will be a comprehensive discussion about potentials for further studies on underage drinking and how these studies can be carried out. 6.0 Limitations of Research This research is limited because it is very qualitative in its outlook. Due to this, it is prone to becoming a collection of peoples opinions and observations rather than the actual facts that occur on the ground. This could lead to some degree of bias and cause huge margins of error. References Alston, M., & Bowles, W. (2003). Research for social workers (2nd ed.). Allen & Unwin. Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods. New York: Oxford University Press Corderoy, A. (2011) Dangerous under-age drinking on rise Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/dangerous-underage-drinking-on-rise-20110211-1aqjp.html Sydney Central (2011) Parents Called to Pick up Sydneys Drunk Teens. Retrieved from: http://sydney-central.whereilive.com.au/news/story/parents-called-in-to-pick-up-underage-drinkers-from-city/ Sydney Morning Herald (2011) Blitz on Teen Crime in the City Highlights Drinking and Violence Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/blitz-on-teen-crime-in-the-city-highlights-drinking-and-violence-20110403-1ct9b.html Read More