Dr Ram Manohar

Lohiya National Law

University
.

Sociology Project
Inclination towards Alcohol in
colleges

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr Sanjay Singh Shashank Pandey
Faculty of Sociology BA LLB (2nd sem)
Head of Department Roll No-135
Contents
Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law
University........................................................ 1
Before College ................................................ 3
Major Changes ................................................ 3
What We Know............................................... 4
Critical Social Decisions ................................. 4
Risky Behaviour.............................................. 5
Socially Desirable Images ............................... 5
Alcohol Effects ............................................... 6
Why Drink?..................................................... 6
Conclusion .... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Before College relatively unregulated environment

Although we think of college as a time surrounded by same age peers (Arnett,

when young adults experiment with 2000). The transition to college is a critical

alcohol, the college years are rarely the time for parents to intervene and work to

first time students have faced decisions prevent alcohol misuse. In some cases,

about alcohol. According to the nationally students arrive at the University with

representative Monitoring the Future drinking problems that have reached the

Study, in 2012, 42 percent of high school level of addiction. Parents are often

seniors reported having had alcohol (more unaware of the drinking habits their

than just a few sips) within 30 days prior student has developed, and the University

to the survey, and 24 percent reported

binge drinking within the previous two
weeks. Moreover, 91 percent of seniors has no way of screening for alcohol use

said that it would be fairly easy or very during the college admissions process.

easy for them to obtain alcohol. Nevertheless, we know we will be working

with some freshmen every year who have
Although alcohol use begins before
long-standing patterns of drinking.
students arrive at college, pressure to
misuse alcohol may be intensified when a
Major Changes
student starts college and is interacting
The transition to college requires major
with new peers, is exposed to new norms
changes in every aspect of a student's life.
about alcohol use, and parents are less
Students are looking for new friends who
present. In high school, those seniors who
will provide support and intimacy, and
are college-bound are less likely to report
they are working to develop their identity
heavy drinking than their classmates who
as college students . It can be helpful to
don't plan to go on to college. Once
consider alcohol use and heavy drinking in
students arrive on campus, however, they
relation to the developmental stages young
"catch up to and pass" the young adults
adults are encountering. Certainly, there
who do not attend college.
are variations in how different students
College students are in a life stage react to the changes they face and their
characterized by risk and testing their methods of coping, but some increases
limits to find out who they are, living in a during college are part of developmental
stages that potentially could be viewed as
serving some positive purposes along with
negative ones
Young adults are thinking about how
others perceive them. It may be that
students acquire ideas (from media and
through social norms) that drinking
moderate to large amounts in college will
make them more fun and exciting to their
peers. Adults and students alike participate
in behaviors that they have the most
positive attitudes towards . In college there
is often support from peers for drinking;
and the more a student perceives others as
drinking heavily or approving of heavy
alcohol use, the more likely a student is to
drink heavily . Fortunately college is also a
time when young people start to think
about the consequences of alcohol use ,
and they become better able to make
responsible decisions.
What We Know
What do we know about the relationship
between alcohol use in high school and
alcohol use in college?
A number of risk factors during a student's
senior year in high school have been
identified:
Risk factors for binge drinking:
 male
 White
 lower GPA
 conformity
 higher levels of antisocial behavior
 drinking to get drunk
 drinking to cope
 expecting future use of alcohol
 quantity of time spent with friends
However, it's important to keep in mind
that many young people consider college
drinking normal and temporary.
Consequently, we can't accurately predict
significant increases or decreases in binge
drinking during the college years and
beyond. Even dangerous levels of drinking
during the college years do not always
indicate a long-term problem with alcohol
use. In fact, we cannot predict problems
with alcohol in adulthood from one's peak
level of binge drinking during college.
Critical Social Decisions
One student talks about how his
experiences changed from high school to
college:
"High school was more of a social factor
altogether. You know you're there, you get
to hang out with all your friends during
passing times and lunch. Most of high
school is just busy work to keep you
going. Where college is more just test and
exam, what you need to know, less of the
busy work, which means they can cut
down on the time required to be in the
classroom. And a detriment to that is that
they give you more rope to hang yourself
with in a college setting. So here it's less
busy work, but the work does get harder,
and that cuts into social time...so it's up to
you to choose how much social life you
have compared to your study time."
No matter what a student's high school
drinking record was, one of the first and
most critical social decisions that he or she
will make at the University relates to
alcohol. Nearly all students will encounter
alcohol at some point, whether they use it
themselves or deal with a roommate, a
friend, or a neighbour who is drinking. It's
important for parents and students to keep
in mind that choosing whether or not to
drink is not a one-time decision. Students
will have multiple opportunities nearly
every weekend to attend parties where
alcohol is served, and they will be making
a choice every time an opportunity comes
up.
Risky Behaviour
Many parents are deeply concerned if they
learn their student has engaged in so-called
risky behaviours. For college students,
though, participating in some risky
behaviours such as drinking alcohol does
not necessarily result in problems for
students' long-term academic success. It is
important to consider behaviors in the
broader context of the student's life and
development. For example, if the risky
behavior takes place in the context of a
group of highly motivated and otherwise
physically and emotionally healthy young
people, it is unlikely that the risky
behavior will, in and of itself, have
extremely negative consequences. In
contrast, if the risky behavior is part of a
broader syndrome or "pattern" of negative
or dangerous behaviors then the risky
behavior is likely to indicate a problem
that may even require treatment or
intervention
Socially Desirable Images
People are motivated to behave in ways
that will project socially desirable images
of themselves. Concerns about peer
acceptance, social approval, and having an
image that you're "one of the crowd" may
be particularly strong determinants of
drinking behavior among college students.
The most frequently desired impressions
that motivate first-year students to drink
alcohol are "cool/laid back" and
"fun/social". Seventy-five percent of first-
year college students report performing at
least one risky behavior (most commonly
alcohol use) during their first semester in Not all individuals who drink experience
order to "fit in". negative consequences, and not all
individuals who experience negative
"You learn that if you don't drink, it's
consequences are going to experience
kinda like, 'Oh she's not having fun.' They
them every time they drink. The
look down on you. If you do drink, it's like
experience of negative consequences, then,
you're more open to be more social and
is going to be based, at least in part, on
people are, 'OK, she's one of us, she's more
factors other than drinking.
into socializing.' That kind of thing."

Students who report being introverted,

Why Drink?
lonely, or having low self esteem might be
Students sometimes drink because they
expected to drink alcohol to present
think alcohol makes it easier to meet other
themselves as fun and exciting. But these
people, relaxes their social inhibitions, and
expectancies have not been found to
helps them have more fun. When asked
determine drinking behavior among this
whether they believe alcohol has the
group of students.
following effects, the percentages below
indicate the rates of college students who
Alcohol Effects answered "yes" .
The more students drink, the more likely
 Breaks the ice: 74.4%
they will suffer negative consequences.
Those consequences can range in severity  Enhances social activity: 74.4%
from having a hangover, performing
 Gives people something to do:
poorly on a test, or missing class to getting
71.7%
into an argument or fight, driving under
the influence, being hurt or injured, or  Gives people something to talk
being taken advantage of sexually. about: 66.6%

When students experience more positive
alcohol effects one week, they consume
more alcohol the following week.
However, the experience of negative
alcohol effects does not predict reduced
binge drinking the next week.
 Allows people to have more fun:
63.1%
 Facilitates male bonding: 60.1%
 Facilitates a connection with peers
61.7%
 Facilitates sexual opportunities:
53.0%

 Facilitates female bonding: 28.8%

 Makes women sexier: 28.8%

 Makes food taste better: 22.7%

 Makes me sexier: 20.4%

 Makes men sexier: 19.9%