Social deviance is any transgression of socially established norms. Social norms can be defined as the way our values or moral belief tell us to act. In general, underage drinking is a formal deviance meaning that it is a violation of the laws enacted by society. Within the college culture however, underage drinking can be seen as a informal deviance, an informal violation of social norms, while for others it is the social norm. Underage drinking can be viewed as the norm because it is so widely accepted between different groups in terms of ethnicity and gender. Religious beliefs can be a factor for those who believe that underage drinking breaks the social norm. Some people may have such religious beliefs, but due to social influences they may partake in this act. Friends play a big part in the decisions that we make. Being a part of a group may influence your choices. Sutherland’s Differential Association principle defines this by stating that there is tendency toward conformity which depends on those around you and that we learn behavior in a group. Through this idea we can see that many college students may participate in underage drinking due to the fact that their social circle and peers are doing so.
Survey Results
Here are the results of the survey that was handed out to 26 of our friends. They ranged in age from 17 yrs of old to 26 yrs of old. Their ethnic backgrounds varied greatly from Middle Eastern to Chinese to Latin American and Caucasian. The Participants were also of a wide religious background ranging from Roman Catholic to Muslim to Atheist.
Of those surveyed, the majority was under the age of twenty-one. The majority of the people also drink regardless of age. We defined “drinking” as people who consumed at least one alcoholic beverage a month. Our results show that gender was not a big factor to those who drink or not. Being a part of a social organization also was not a huge factor however there was slight majority that was whether it was greek (such as a fraternity or sorority), a career related organization, or a social organization.
Not only from those we surveyed, but also based on national studies of college drinking, underage drinking in college is the social norm and is widely accepted. We found in a study conducted by the Century Council, “an overwhelming majority of college students feel drinking is a central part of the social life of both fraternities and sororities (79 percent and 72 percent, respectively. Specifically, Greek-involved students feel drinking is a central part of the social life in fraternities (88 percent) and sororities (78 percent).” More research conducted by Dr. Henry Wechsler, author of Dying to Drink, found that, “student athletes are more often the heaviest drinkers in the overall student population. Half of college athletes (57 percent of men and 48 percent of women) are binge drinkers.” Our statistics were based on the limited number of surveys we conducted but it is evident that when comparing on a national level, college students that are in a fraternity, sorority or are athletes drink in higher percentages. On the national level, in a study conducted by the National Association on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, we found that males are more likely to drink in a large quantity in the same amount of time.
Ethnicity and Drinking
In terms of the role of ethnicity on drinking, based on our limited number of participants, we could not find a direct correlation. In doing research it was found that in National studies Caucasian and Native American young adults drink more than their African Americans and Asians counterparts while drinking rates for Hispanics fall in the middle. In addition to drinking more often Caucasians drinking age tends to peak around 19–22 years old while heavy drinking among African Americans and Hispanics peaks later and persists longer into adulthood. It is thought that this difference in ages of those who drink the most is brought on by the Caucasian perspective of heavy drinking as a youthful experience where as Hispanics see heavy drinking as a right earned by maturity and life experiences.
Religion and Drinking
A profound relationship between a persons religious beliefs and weather or not they choose to drink alcoholic beverages was not found in our small sample size. When researching others findings on the subject a clear trend was again not found. The relationship between people’s religious beliefs and alcohol are very complex and vary greatly from one religion to the next. Many Christian religions allow for its followers to consume alcohol and is even used in some religious services while others strictly forbid its consumption.These other denominations that forbid alcohol consumption would the Islam and Buddhism because they might fear punishment for their gods and feel that it is impure, unholy, and unnatural.
Comparison to College Cheating
In Lisa J. McIntyre’s The Practical Skeptic, the article, “Situational Ethics and College Student Cheating”, discusses how students “neutralize” their actions. Within the article, the authors talks about how behavior depends on the certain circumstances at hand. Therefore, these circumstances affect decision making. The authors state that, “ the concept of situational ethics might well describe this college cheating in that rules for behavior may not be considered rigid but depend on the circumstances involved.” Similarly, college underage drinking depends on the situation whereas a student a college believes underage drinking is acceptable in social settings. For example, drinking at college parties, bars and clubs. However, the same students may feel that it is not acceptable to drink while they are with their family. This shows that “any action may be considered good or bad depending on the social circumstances.”
Uncle Sam's View on Underage Drinking
Sutherland’s Differential Association theory describes a person’s actions as a result of their surroundings. It was applied especially to the actions of criminals and those who break the social norms of their society. The theory means that if one is surrounded by those who break the norms they are more likely to break them as well. In a simpler view of his theory this can be described with the cliche “monkey see, monkey do”. Above there are two opposing posters that utilize Uncle Sam in an attempt to drawl from a persons sense of belonging to the American society. The first poster has Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer saying “I want you to stay sober”. This poster is designed to get young peoples attention and tell them that it is fine to not drink. It is an attempt to sway their decision and keep them safe from the harmful effects of alcohol. On the other hand, the second poster says, “Beer Pong, sink it, drink it”. This poster was meant to relay the message that it is acceptable and even encouraged to drink. There are many ways that these posters display persuasion by being either for or against alcohol consumption. Our interpretation is that Sutherland’s Differential Association theory is in play as they are trying to sway the public to follow their lead and make the decision that Uncle Sam is encouraging. Sources
This is where we found the national studies on college drinking:
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/surveillance86/Underage07.htm
http://www.alcohol101plus.org/downloads/CollegeStudents.pdf
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