Social Problem – Drug Addiction

Social Problem – Drug Addiction

A drug is defined as any substance that has a physiological effect when ingested, meaning that a lot of substances, including aspirin, caffeine, heroin, and LSD, can fit in the description of this term. In a biopsychological context, drug addiction is defined by how drugs have a physical effect on the body, eventually leading to an addiction, also referred to as physical addiction. Accordingly, drugs enter the body in several ways, including oral ingestion, injection into the blood, absorption through mucous membranes, or inhalation. The method used to take a drug usually affects its severity and the rate of onset of the drug, with the bloodstream being the most direct, hence a bigger effect. Some drugs can pass through the blood-brain barrier and make their way into the brain, while others do not—the former are referred to as psychoactive drugs. Once in the brain, drugs usually result in the synthesis, transport, release, or deactivation of neurotransmitters.

Over time, the body responds to the presence or absence of a drug differently. Suppose one is exposed to a drug regularly, the body develops tolerance, which basically means a decreased sensitivity to the drug. If the body is accustomed to a drug, its sudden elimination can trigger a withdrawal, which tends to be the opposite effect of the drug itself. When withdrawal symptoms start to occur, it means that a physical dependency has developed. This is referred to as drug addiction. According to an article published in USA TODAY, approximately 25%, that is, 75 million Americans, have used illicit drugs, and 48.7 million of these users have an addiction problem (Moore et al., 2024). Secondly, the US government has, on numerous occasions, raised alerts on the prevalence of drug abuse in America. For example, in 2022, the White House released a strategy to address addiction through the collective action of federal agencies. Further, drug addiction is also associated with societal problems like increased crime rates and the spread of diseases, including tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV through either unsafe sex or sharing syringes. Going by these parameters, drug addiction is a major social problem influenced by different social phenomena that can be understood through theoretical perceptions and addressed through effective social movements and solutions.

Impact of Social Phenomenon – The Impact of Social Deviance on Drug Addiction

Society has established socially accepted behavioral norms and ethical standards that everyone is expected to uphold. However, some individuals defy these norms and standards through actions, words, and images, among others, which is referred to as transgression or deviance. Drug addiction falls under this classification as it has profoundly negative impacts on the individual and society. The impact of drug addiction can be analyzed from the macro and micro perspectives in order to better understand the impact of drug addiction on people and society as a whole.

Micro Perspectives

One micro perspective is that of an individual. An individual’s close relationships, including family and friends, play a significant role in determining whether an individual will become a drug addict or not. In regards to family, coming from a dysfunctional family or a family with a history of drug abuse increases one’s likelihood of abusing drugs and potentially becoming an addict. In addition, research has shown that there is a genetic predisposition to becoming a drug addict (Popescu et al., 2021). Further, another genetic predisposition that could lead one to become a drug addict is that of mental health disorders like depression. When it comes to friends, peer pressure is a top factor in determining whether a person uses drugs or not. As such, associating with people who use drugs, especially during adolescence, increases an individual’s chances of drug abuse and eventual addiction. Moreover, psychological factors, such as mental health issues like anxiety or stress as a result of trauma or other causes, can lead one down the path of self-medication, which could lead to addiction. Lastly, a person’s coping strategies also determine whether they will get addicted or not; for instance, those with poor coping mechanisms can choose drugs to ease stress, and the more they use drugs, the more they get physically dependent on them.

The second micro perspective of drug addiction is that of the community level, whereby the environment in which one is raised or their neighborhood plays a role in drug abuse. Growing up in a community where drug abuse is prevalent and access to drugs is easy increases the probability of one using drugs and getting addicted. Lastly, being labeled as a deviant because of drug use can reinforce people to continue with the said behavior as the person internalizes this identity, eventually becoming an addict. This is as argued by the self-fulfilling prophecy (Romney et al., 2024).

Macro Perspectives

From the macro perspective, that is, the structural and societal level, one aspect that impacts drug addiction is social norms and stigmatization. Society usually labels drug users, especially addicts, as deviants and failures, which then leads to discrimination against them and stigmatization. Besides, due to this stigmatization, drug addicts tend to hide the problem as much as they can from their families and friends rather than seek help. Subsequently, more often than not, drug addicts end up not getting help from the community and may get isolated from them, leading to other issues like homelessness and suicide. Secondly, the institution’s response to drugs, for example, in the criminal justice system and its war on drugs response, may do more harm than good. The response from this institution treats drug use as a criminal issue as opposed to a health issue, and this approach only led to the mass incarceration of minority groups and has had less to reducing drug usage. Notably, the criminal justice system also failed to curb the rise of opioid drug usage like oxycodone, which has now led to a drug crisis in America (Vadivelu et al., 2018).

Another macro perspective is through the structural and societal level, especially economic inequality. Economic inequality leads to unemployment and poverty. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, many employees lost their jobs as businesses closed up. Many of these people eventually ended up losing their homes because they had no money to pay rent. Being on the streets trying to survive every day consequently led to a surge in the number of people using drugs and eventually becoming drug addicts. Secondly, with unequal distribution of resources, mainly low-income communities often have insufficient resources to treat or prevent drug addiction.

Theoretical Perspective for Drug Addiction

From a personal view, the theoretical perspective that best suits drug addiction is the functionalist perspective. This perspective is derived from the work of sociologists like Émile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons, who argued that society is a complex system made up of different parts that work together to promote stability and social order (Walklate, 2018). As such, every aspect of society has a significant role in the overall functioning and stability of the social system. Based on this, drug addiction is then viewed as a social dysfunction because it causes social instability, such as leading to crime, the spread of diseases, family disintegration, poverty, and homelessness, among others. In addition, the concepts of manifest and latent functions found in the functionalist perspective are applicable to drug addiction. For instance, for manifest functions, numerous drug laws and programs for rehabilitation have been established or implemented with the aim of reducing the use of drugs. On the other hand, with latent functions, these strategies, specifically drug laws, have had unintended consequences like the mass incarceration of minority groups, which then leads to social inequalities.

According to this perspective, it is the role of social institutions, including family, the government, and religion, among others, to govern the behavior of those within the institution, as well as meet their needs. Therefore, drug addiction is an indication that these institutions have failed to integrate and regulate those addicted by not providing employment, education, and treatment, among others. In addition, the functionalist perspective upholds rehabilitation and reintegration programs because, this way, individuals struggling with addiction are treated, bringing society back to a state of stability.

Social Movement for Drug Addiction

A social movement that was created to fight drug addiction is the Harm Reduction Coalition or Movement. This movement aims to reduce the negative impacts of drug use in health, legal, and social fields. To do this, this movement has centers that provide syringes to drug addicts to stop some consequences of drug use, like the spread of diseases (Des Jarlais, 2017). This way, society can then focus on dealing with drug use. Secondly, this movement also provides healthcare services to drug users, including testing them, giving vaccinations, treating infectious diseases, and providing resources for those willing to go to rehabilitation. In addition, the Harm Reduction Coalition also provides naloxone to drug users so that they can administer it when they accidentally overdose. This aims to reduce the number of drug-related overdoses in the hope that these people will eventually go into rehabilitation and get a better life for themselves. Some significant changes of this movement include the considerably reduced spread of diseases brought about by drug usage (Kåberg et al., 2020), humanizing drug users, which reduces the stigma associated with addiction, and connecting more drug users to health care.

Possible Solution to Drug Addiction

A possible solution that would be ideal for drug addiction is using an integrated treatment program. An example of this is medication-assisted treatment, which is a combination of counseling, behavioral therapies, and medications that can be provided through services like the arm reduction movement. The medications are especially effective in opioid addiction, a significant problem in America today. They also help minimize withdrawal symptoms, relapse rates, and cravings. Behavioral therapy, on the other hand, is effective in treating the psychological factors of addiction (Kelly & Daley, 2013).

Moreover, these comprehensive treatment strategies align with the Christian worldview because they embody the principles of community, redemption, compassion, and hope. These treatment programs focus on the multifaceted needs of individuals struggling with addiction by providing holistic care, which upholds their journey to healing. Through the integration of these Christian values, treatment programs provide a more compassionate, effective, and spiritually supportive environment for those in need.

References

Des Jarlais, D. C. (2017). Harm reduction in the USA: The research perspective and an archive to David Purchase. Harm Reduction Journal, 14, 1-7.

Kåberg, M., Karlsson, N., Discacciati, A., Widgren, K., Weiland, O., Ekström, A. M., & Hammarberg, A. (2020). Significant decrease in injection risk behaviours among participants in a needle exchange programme. Infectious Diseases, 52(5), 336-346.

Kelly, T. M., & Daley, D. C. (2013). Integrated treatment of substance use and psychiatric disorders. Social Work in Public Health, 28(3-4), 388-406.

Moore, T., Lobb, J., Gollub, H. (2024, March 28). Drug, substance abuse, and addiction statistics 2024. USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/health-insurance/addiction-statistics/

Popescu, A., Marian, M., Drăgoi, A. M., & Costea, R. V. (2021). Understanding the genetics and neurobiological pathways behind addiction. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 21(5), 1-10.

Romney, A., Harrison, J. T., & Benson, S. (2024). Looking back to predict the future: A review of empirical support for the self-fulfilling prophecy. Management Research Review, 47(2), 245-260.

Vadivelu, N., Kai, A. M., Kodumudi, V., Sramcik, J., & Kaye, A. D. (2018). The opioid crisis: A comprehensive overview. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 22, 1-6.

Walklate, S. (2018). Functionalism. In Theories of Welfare (pp. 111-131). Routledge.

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Use the social problem you identified in Topic 2(DRUG ADDICTION) to address the following prompts. Use three to five scholarly sources from the GCU library:

Detail your social problem, proving why it is a social problem with supporting evidence.
Analyze the impact of social phenomena (for instance, social inequality, social deviance) on a social problem from macro and micro perspectives.
Explain which theoretical perspective best aligns with your selected social problem (conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interactionism)
Identify a social movement that has occurred in response to your identified social problem. Detail the type of social movement and what change the social movement has created.
Identify your own possible solutions to your selected social problem that are more effective than current solutions, based on research you’ve collected.
Does your solution align with the Christian worldview perspective? Why or why not?

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