Drug addiction is not a new problem to America, however, the way we view the problem has changed over time. During the early development of the United States people suffered from the over use of opium, which in turn lead to the creation of heroin and morphine. In the 1970’s, the American people saw an increase use of hallucinogens like mushrooms, LSD, and PCP. As a result, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs” increasing the sentencing and fines for drug related crimes. This appears to be about the time that societies view on drugs took a hard turn, viewing addicts as immoral, homeless, jobless, lazy people that were unwilling to control their behaviors. Over the years this view of addiction has not changed. There is an overwhelming amount
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15). For example, drug addicts do not just become addicts, it usually begins with recreational use of a drug and progresses to maladaptive behaviors. Furthermore, the parents in the Facebook image would never have thought of passing out in a car and leaving their child unattended, however, after using drugs for some time they have begun to take on the behaviors that define drug addiction as a social …show more content…
However, I believe that the image and the post the coincide with the image do illustrate the perspective well. For instance, we are not completely sure that the individuals passed out in the car are addicts, as a society the media has labeled the individuals as addicts and we have believed them. Therefore, our opinion of the individuals is based off of what the media has told us. What if the media told us that the individuals in the image were traveling cross country to get to their family, that they had lost their home in a house fire, and had no money to pay for a hotel room. That the image was taken very early in the morning and the child happened to wake up before the parents. Our overall perception of the situation would have been completely different. Alas, it was not and because the media is powerful we as a society automatically believe their story regarding two drug addicted parents passed out, not caring for their child.
Conclusion
Drug addiction as a whole is a social problem and until we as a society take a different approach it will continue to be a social problem. However, the issues with this social problem go beyond the views of society. Just like many other social problems, there is no clear way to resolve it. However, there are many theories and may different treatment modalities that can assist with decreasing the problem,
15). For example, drug addicts do not just become addicts, it usually begins with recreational use of a drug and progresses to maladaptive behaviors. Furthermore, the parents in the Facebook image would never have thought of passing out in a car and leaving their child unattended, however, after using drugs for some time they have begun to take on the behaviors that define drug addiction as a social …show more content…
However, I believe that the image and the post the coincide with the image do illustrate the perspective well. For instance, we are not completely sure that the individuals passed out in the car are addicts, as a society the media has labeled the individuals as addicts and we have believed them. Therefore, our opinion of the individuals is based off of what the media has told us. What if the media told us that the individuals in the image were traveling cross country to get to their family, that they had lost their home in a house fire, and had no money to pay for a hotel room. That the image was taken very early in the morning and the child happened to wake up before the parents. Our overall perception of the situation would have been completely different. Alas, it was not and because the media is powerful we as a society automatically believe their story regarding two drug addicted parents passed out, not caring for their child.
Conclusion
Drug addiction as a whole is a social problem and until we as a society take a different approach it will continue to be a social problem. However, the issues with this social problem go beyond the views of society. Just like many other social problems, there is no clear way to resolve it. However, there are many theories and may different treatment modalities that can assist with decreasing the problem,