Social studies (Human behavior in the social environment)11 wk3

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Introduction

In many parts of the world, consumption of alcoholic beverages is common in social gatherings (who.int). However, consumption of alcohol has adverse effects on the health, social and economic statuses of the individual and the society. Some of the most dreadful effects of alcohol use are the negative health effects such as liver cirrhosis and several cancers. Whereas millions of people can control their alcohol intake, millions of others are dependent and addicted to alcohol. The latter group abuses alcohol. Alcohol dependence or abuse is ranked in the DSM-IV or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM states that alcohol dependence or abuse is the recurring use of alcohol in spite of the user being aware of its negative consequences.

Alcohol use is one of the major sources of most family and social problems experienced by people especially in the minority community. The social construction approach makes the assumption that all humans take part in the social construction of reality. This means what happens around us is because of our actions. This further implies that everything that happens around us is because we choose to exercise our will. Through this, people are responsible for creating their own destinies. In the social construction approach, human interaction is through symbols. These symbols include gestures, words and facial expressions. These symbols will depend on how humans perceive each other. Social construction approach differs from traditional psychology through a number of features (Burr, 2003). This includes anti-essentialism, questioning of realism as depicted in traditional psychology and the notion of language as an expression of thought.

Experience from the group

The differences in social groups are a public issue because individuals coexist in a social environment, which directly influences their living. Through sociological imagination, individuals are able to correlate their experiences in relation to their social environment including factors that affect their daily living. As a result, they are aware of the external factors within their social environment that affect their daily lives. Such factors may be similar for different individuals and thus causing their differences to be a public issue. These factors may be religious influences or government policies among others. Secondly, individual’s life cannot be understood without evaluating the history of their society. For instance, for one to understand a black as an inferior to a white, he or she must study the events that occurred in the society and which led to the collective setting of b Many Americans are of the opinion that their society gives equal opportunities to all people, and whenever issues of poverty arise, they tend to blame those issues more on the victims. For instance, there has been ideological suspicion over relief programs in the US. Sociologist Robert Bellah states that Americans’ belief in “hyper-individualism” or “self-made man” counteracts social welfare efforts (Smiley and Cornel, 2012).

Burr (2003) provides certain key principles of the social construction approach. One of these key principles is that social construction maintains that humans need to take decisive position in understanding the world rather than taking it for granted. This implies that humans need to view the civilization in such a manner that they can be able to challenge the usual knowledge of having an unbiased observation of the world. Consequently, this approach challenges the idea that the character of the world can be exposed by observation. In the process, the use of the social construction approach teaches humans to be wary of the theories we formulate about how the world appears to be. An example of this assumption is the issue of gender and sex. Burr (3) argues that, through social construction, one may challenge the idea of man and woman to be more than the differences in sexual organs. This makes us view the idea of male and female to represent different occurring human being types. Furthermore, social construction approach would argue that humans could also be grouped by their shortness or tallness or whether they have long noses or short ones.

In addition, there exists a correlation between personal problems and public issues. Public issues are social problems that affect a large group of people. Personal problems are individual hardships that are experiences individually. Social problems impact hardships on individuals in their daily living. Disparity on racial grounds attracts hardship on individuals. These forms of hardships include discrimination and inaccessibility to certain benefits.

Drugs and substance abuse causes most violence in Owensboro community. Most of parents in the community are normally involved in drinking alcohol than any other activity. This has resulted to the establishment of drug cartels that control neighborhoods in the various cities. Consequently, this has resulted to drug wars between the different gangs that seek to have power over the drug trade since it is a lucrative industry. Excessive alcohol use also leads to violence because most alcoholic drinks cause aggressive behavior in individuals resulting violence. Drugs and substance abuse generally causes a loss of self control to the user. This means that incidents of domestic violence increase in the homes of such individuals. Some drugs, which increase sexual virility, may lead to sexual abuse and even rape if abused. Alcohol use usually develops low self esteem, and this may induce suicidal thoughts. This means they pose some violent risk to themselves.

Financial problem, in a family setting, is another result of alcohol use in the Owensboro community. In most cultures, the man or the husband in a family is expected to provide financial support in the family. This establishes the husband as an authority figure in the family. However, in situations in which the husband is unable to provide for the family financially, the husband may opt to engage in violence towards the wife as a way of showing other people in the community that authority still lies with him (Newman, and Newman 11). Financial problems lead to frustration from the inability to fulfill parental duties. Violence cropping up in such situations may be directed towards the other spouse or children.

Poverty may lead to violent behavior in individuals. This is quite evident from the many violent incidents that occur in slum areas. This may be as a consequence of harsh living conditions and little or no illustrations of love as children grow up. Individuals stand a higher chance of joining gangs and other violent related groups. Military coups may also lead to unrest and civil strife. Political differences and differences in affiliations also lead to civil wars. These may lead to multiple deaths, destruction of personal property and internal displacement of people. Such wars also increase tension and hatred between ethnic or political communities (Smiley and Cornel, 2012).

Diversification

The Owensboro community is a diversified society. The alcohol taking group forms the best representation of drug use and abuse in United States. Statistics by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) state that in 2012, 87.6% of US citizens aged more than 18 years had taken alcohol at some point in their life with 56.3% indicating that they had taken alcohol within the past month (niaaa.nih.gov). In the same year, 24.6% of US citizens aged more than 18 years admitted to binge or moderate drinking within that month. 7.1% of people admitted to engaging in heavy drinking in the past month (niaaa.nih.gov). Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) state that more than 3.3 million people (5.9% of all deaths) die annually due to the harmful effects of alcohol consumption (who.int). WHO also states that alcohol abuse causes more than 200 health conditions and that 5.1% of diseases globally can be attributed to consumption of alcohol. The consumption of alcohol is the fifth leading cause of premature death as well as disability among people (Alcohol Facts and Statistics, 2014).

Conclusion

The high rate of alcohol use by the group affects their social representation. The fact that almost all countries in the world have legalized the production and consumption of alcohol complicates the efforts to curb its abuse. Although there exist numerous laws to ensure responsible consumption of alcohol, loopholes abound in equal measure that people exploit for business or pleasure purposes. Studies into the adverse effects of alcohol on the cognitive, the physical, as well as the social developments can aid in the formulation of deterrence measures to alcohol abuse.

References

Alcohol Facts and Statistics. (2014). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

(NIAAA). N.p. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics>.

Austin, Michael Bay. (2006). Area Social Services Consortium Understanding Poverty. From

Multiple Social Science Perspectives. A Learning Resource for Staff Development In Social Service Agencies.

Burr, Vivien. (2003). Social Constructionism. East Sussex: Routledge.

Smiley, T. and Cornel, W. (2012). The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto.

Carlsbad, Calif: Hay House, Inc.