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Urban and Rural Adolescent Drug use and its Relationship with Classic Criminological Theories

Bukky, Molly
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9127-1321
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1491988076561329

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Rural Sociology.
Despite the long-standing efforts of the war on drugs, drug abuse continues to be a significant social problem in the United States. Understanding the roots of these problems and the mechanisms through which they are transmitted is critical if we hope to find solutions. Drug use behaviors often debut in adolescence and, because the brain is still developing, adolescents are at greater risk than adults for developing addiction problems, which may lead to persistent drug abuse behaviors in adulthood. Three classic criminological theories are often used to explain adolescent drug use behaviors. These theories include strain theory, which proposes that when stress accumulates, especially over a relatively short time, it can increase the propensity towards drug use. Social learning theory is the next theory and it indicates that we learn drug use behaviors from those who we spend the most time around, including our family, close friends and neighbors. Social control theory is the final theory and it proposes that when adolescents have strong bonds with family, friends and the community, they are less likely to use drugs but when those bonds are weak, they are more likely to use drugs. These theories have typically focused on marijuana and other illicit drugs and primarily focused on urban residents. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, new trends in drug use attitudes and behaviors have emerged, especially the increased prevalence of prescription drug misuse and the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana and it is therefore important to explore whether these classic theories continue to hold up considering these new trends. The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is used to compare the consistency of measures of strain theory, social learning theory and social control theory in predicting adolescent marijuana use, prescription drug misuse and illicit drug use and to explore the similarities and differences for adolescents in rural and urban areas. Results indicate that measures of social learning theory have the most consistent propensity for predicting the probability of both urban and rural adolescent drug use for each category. Measures of social control theory also consistently estimate adolescent drug use and there is a significant difference in outcomes for urban and rural adolescents. Additionally, traditional social controls are less successful at preventing adolescent prescription drug misuse compared to marijuana and illicit drugs. Finally, measures of strain theory provide the least consistent propensity to estimate adolescent drug use but there is a significant difference in this capacity for urban and rural adolescents.
Lobao Linda (Advisor)
Rakowski Cathy (Committee Member)
Lekies Kristi (Committee Member)
256 p.
Sociology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bukky, M. (2017). Urban and Rural Adolescent Drug use and its Relationship with Classic Criminological Theories [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1491988076561329

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bukky, Molly. Urban and Rural Adolescent Drug use and its Relationship with Classic Criminological Theories. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1491988076561329.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bukky, Molly. "Urban and Rural Adolescent Drug use and its Relationship with Classic Criminological Theories." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1491988076561329

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1491988076561329
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.