DRUG USE

This paper was written Nov 25, 2008, for my UFV Crim 310 (Advanced Theoretical Perspectives) course, taught by Jon Heidt.

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INTRODUCTION

Drugs. The killer of life. Many people of all walks of life, for whatever reason, experiment with drugs. Whether it is by peer pressure, or to use it to escape from reality or as a pain killer to escape from the pains of abuse, whether it be emotional, verbal, or physical.

Eventually, the continued use will turn the user into an addict. And that addict, for the most part will turn to crime to support his or her drug habit. In this paper, I will attempt to explain "Drug Use" with Reckless' Containment theory and Hirschi's Bonding theory.

RECKLESS' CONTAINMENT THEORY

There are two parts to this theory, internal controls and external controls that could be used to explain drug use. According to Deutschmann (2002), internal controls are factors that relate to the emotional experiences of a person. These emotional feelings include, but are not limited to negative “feelings of inferiority, hostility, anger, rebellion” as well as “deviant gratification”. If these internal pressures toward deviancy are not curbed, deviance will occur (p. 306).

For the most part, a person will use drugs to feel better about themselves. So, when this person is feeling inferior, the drugs they take will give them the illusion of being self-confident. Another reason a person would take drugs could be out of rebellion, such as being defiant towards a parent. Then there is the urge to follow through toward deviant gratification.

Addressing external controls of a person, Deutschmann (2002), looks at the sociological experiences such as “poverty, relative deprivation, adversity, insecurity, deviant companions, and deviant opportunities” (p. 307).

A person living in poverty, or is experiencing insecurities, or joblessness, may rely on drugs to drown out the harsh realities of life. Unhealthy companions may also put peer pressure on the person to use drugs.

According to Lilly et al (2007), Reckless’s internal and external control theories, in spite of the criminological actions in nature, were meant to explain why conformity remains the same (p. 89). I disagree with this position, because the word conformity, according to the Merriam-Webster (1974) dictionary, means “harmony, agreement, compliance, obedience” and according to Oxford Canadian (2005) dictionary, conformity means “behavior that conforms to established conventions,” or “compliance with practices, standards, or laws.” There is nothing conformists about the nature of criminological activities. In fact it is the reverse, i.e. non-conformist.

HIRSCHI'S SOCIAL BONDING THEORY

According to this theory there are a number of factors which could also explain drug use, such as attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. The first factor, attachment, refers to the feelings a person has for another, such as love, respect, faithfulness and loyalty. “When young people have strong attachment (emotional ties, effective communication) to family and school, the authority of those institutions will be strong and their social control will likely be effective” (Deutschmann, 2002, p. 307).

According to Brownfield & Thompson (1991) and Hirschi (1969) , “delinquents are socially disabled people who are unable to form close attachments to anyone and who do not know what real friendship is” (as cited in Deutschmann, 2002, p 308).

The second factor in Hirschi's theory is commitment. According to this idea commitment means that the more people have to lose by disappointing those they are committed to, the less likely they are willing to disappoint them. According to Johnson et al. (2001), “Hirschi measured commitment largely in terms of occupation aspirations judging people who had higher aspirations to be more committed than others” (as cited in Deutschmann, 2002, p. 309).

The third factor in this theory is involvement. For example, when people are deeply committed to a moral cause, a career of their choice, a sport activity or a higher education, are more likely to devote much of their time and energy to those activities. But those who “lack such involvement are free to engage in nonproductive activities such as drugs” (Deutschmann, 2002, p. 309).

The fourth factor, belief, according to Hirschi (1969), “is the acceptance of the dominant value system of society and focuses mainly on values.” People who have a strong belief system in religion and morality are less likely to disobey the laws of society (as cited in Deutschmann, 2002, p. 309).

CONCLUSION

According to Petersen (2006), there are “Psychological and sometimes physical states characterized by a compulsion to use a drug” such as when a person abusing the drug has a deep reliance for that drug in that they cannot perform day-to-day functions without the drug. The addict gets so immersed in the drug that the only thing they can focus on is when they’ll be able to have their next fix. Until then nothing else matters. A mother addicted to drugs will become negligent in the care of her children, a wife will go out of her way to cheat on her husband just to get a fix, and employee will skip work until they get their fix, and an employer will let their business run into the ground because they only care about one thing an one thing only. Their next fix (Introduction section).

To sum up, those involved with drugs have an unhealthy attachment with their peers, they have no meaningful commitment, they are not involved with a moral cause, and they have no belief for a better life, and have an immoral belief system. In other words, the drug is their god. And that immoral belief brings them to the immoral and unhealthy attachment of the drugs.

REFERENCES

Deutschmann, L. B. (2002). Deviance and Social Control, third edition. Scarborough, On: Thomson Nelson.

Lilly, J. R.; Cullen, F. T.; Ball, R. A. (2007). Criminological Theory, Context and Consequences, 4th Edition. Thousand Oaks, Cal: Sage Publications, Inc.

Petersen, Robert C. "Drug Dependence." Microsoft® Encarta® 2006 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005.