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Reaction Paper On Social Norms Approach To Alcohol Substance Use In Educational Institutes Essay

¶ … Social Norms Approach to Alcohol Substance Use in Campuses University and College students have been proved to constantly overestimate the drinking of their peers. As an outcome, social norms approaches are effectual in the correction of these misunderstood norms to minimize the consumption of alcohol together with alcohol-related issues. The social norms approach to alcohol and other substance use on university and college campuses offers a model for the comprehension of human nature, which has significant consequences for health promotion and prevention. It reveals that the behavior of students is affected by wrong views of how peers reason and act. Social norms interventions concentrate on peer pressures that have more influence on personal behavior than religious, biological, cultural, and familial influences, among others. These peer pressures are founded more on what students perceive regarding their peers, believe and carry out than on their actual thoughts and actions. This particular misperception and the impact it has is the foundation for the social norms approach. Through the presentation of accurate data regarding peer group norms in a compelling manner, perceived peer influence is minimized and students are more likely to convey pre-existing beliefs and outlooks, which are health promoting (Berkowitz, 2004).

Some of the issues that are related with such abuse are destruction of property, suicide, rape, unprotected sex, and poor academic performance, among others. Whereas various students commence the consumption of alcohol and other drugs after joining college, others commence much earlier and actually just continue to develop problem behavior in the college years. Learning institutions have reacted to the issue of substance abuse through the development of counseling and health education programs and by exercising strict administrative rules. Substance addiction is frequently seen as an intricate brain disease, which could create unmanageable, unreasonable, compulsive cravings, potentially making the person to look for and use drugs. Drug abuse, particularly amidst college students that are facing new-found freedom on campus, is increasing and frequently leads to adverse behaviors at school and poor grades. Those that abuse mind-adjusting substances have a tendency of progressing through stages, which might eventually result to addiction. At the start, such individuals feel in control, however, with every passing phase, they lose more of their control. Their treatment is possible at any time, but is much simpler to…

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Perkins, H. W. (1997). College student misperceptions of alcohol and other drug norms among peers: Exploring causes, consequences, and implications for prevention programs. Designing alcohol and other drug prevention programs in higher education: Bringing theory into practice, 177-206.
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