NCJ Number
130980
Journal
Journal of Adolescent Research Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 336-356
Date Published
1991
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study uses a social-cognitive perspective to investigate adolescents' reasoning about drug use.
Abstract
Sixty adolescents -- grades 10, 11, and 12 and evenly divided between males and females -- participated in the study. In an interview and classification task, adolescents were asked to evaluate drug use in comparison to other social and moral transgressions; distinguish between soft and hard legal and illegal drugs; conceptualized drug use in relation to acts of self-harm such as suicide; weigh legal, societal, physical, and psychological consequences of drug use; and evaluate authorities' jurisdictions to prohibit drug use. Overall, the findings indicate that adolescents view drug use as either a moral or a personal issue and rarely as a social-conventional one. The use of illegal "hard" drugs was perceived as a moral transgression; whereas, the use of legal "soft" drugs such as nicotine and caffeine was viewed as a personal decision. Even though all drugs were viewed as causing harm, 11th-grade males condoned illegal drug use. Although a significant majority of the adolescents supported the right of the government and parents to prohibit drug use, only one half said that it would be wrong to use "hard" drugs in countries where it is illegal. The study advises that before recommending any changes in drug educational programs, additional research on social reasoning about drug use should be conducted with diverse populations and larger sample sizes. 4 tables and 19 references