Predisposition Factors of Alcohol and Substance Addiction among African Americans and Europeans Free Essay Example, 2750 words

Research on Caucasian population revealed that in adolescents of both sexes there were more parental than personal antecedents of the age of onset of marijuana use. This, particularly in girls, showed that early onset was more often related to parental addiction and late onset had influences of parental firmness, responsiveness, self-awareness, demandingness, intellectual stimulation, and household help. In the case of boys, it was related to parents conventionality, family intactness, and parental watch at home during their early childhood. In any case, emotional attachment played a vital role in keeping children away from substance abuse. In cases of alcoholism, a similar trend was observed in these extensive researches, these trends related to constant parent observation, responsiveness, social position, and parental guidance through individuation and building self-confidence. Instances of tobacco abuse showed a slightly different pattern depicting an early onset of smoking in gi rls due to the influence of peers or friends from non-responsive and disruptive families. The onset of more than one kind of substance abuse was very often related to being introduced to drugs by adults, almost all cases of close family members. We will write a custom essay sample on Predisposition Factors of Alcohol and Substance Addiction among African Americans and Europeans or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Substance abuse habit has shown maladaptive pattern leading to destruction and/or suffering to the individual in the form of tolerance, increasing need of the substance to achieve the desired effect, and eventually lessened the effect of continuous use of the drug leading to further increase in quantity of the substance. All these symptoms relate to their compulsion and obsession to the drugs, which makes the individual go to any length of activities to procure the desired drugs. Activities such as crime, robbery, or any other illegal activities are committed in order to acquire money or simply the drug itself in bargain for their illegal service. Most of the criminals convicted and associated with substance abuse come from the African-American population according to statistics.