Alcohol Abuse among the Young People in the UK - Essay Example

1. Individual behaviour with reference to buying and consumption of alcohol in this particular case is influenced by different purchasing objectives.A study of consumer behaviour mainly draws principally on psychology with additional inputs from sociology (Lancaster and Reynolds 1999). Everybody is motivated by needs to buy something and these needs are regarded as basic forces that motivate a person to do something as well as wants which are “needs” learned during a person’s life time. In this case, it can be said that to a greater extent, Melanie is motivated by the need to satisfy the following psychological needs which include; playing and relaxing, personal fulfilment, self expression as well as curiosity among others. It can as well be said that she seeks to fulfil the social needs, derived from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or motivation theory. Social needs in particular, are concerned with love, friendship and esteem (McCarthy and Perreault 1990). These are often have a bearing on the person’s interaction with others. Personal needs on the other hand are concerned with an individual’s need for personal satisfaction which is often unrelated to what others may think. As a point of departure, it can be said that one of the main reasons why we drink is to give ourselves confidence in the belief that alcohol will set us at ease especially with strangers (McNeill 1986). However, there are various other reasons for drinking such as wanting to please others, fighting loneliness or using alcohol as a bridge between different people. From this assertion, it can be noted that Melanie’s drinking habits are driven by psychological needs to a greater extent. Indeed, she appreciates the fact that alcohol can cause harm to her health but this does not deter her from drinking. She drinks inorder to fulfil the psychological need to play as well as to relax. She believes that its part of being a student to drink. In the opening remarks she says, “I know I perhaps drink too much but its part of being a student, isn’t it?” From this statement it can be seen that drinking is one of the popular ways of relaxing and perhaps derive pleasure in the life of a student. Whilst she does not drink on a daily basis, it can be seen that she does especially on Mondays and Wednesdays which are dedicated as days for student outing and have since been entrenched as part of the student culture. It can be seen that she also drinks for personal fulfilment as well as self expression. A night out on a drinking binge with other colleagues is full of fun and she greatly enjoys this fun as part of drinking. A close analysis shows that she drinks alcohol because it makes her feel happy and confident which is part of self fulfilment. Under the influence of alcohol, she feels free to express herself whichever way she likes and in most cases there are no stringent conditions attached which is one good reason why she likes drinking. She feels that without alcohol, going out would be boring and not worth to spend the supposed money. On the other hand, Melanie drinks in order to fulfil social needs such as love and friendship. Human beings are regarded as social beings in most cases where they would feel the ego to be liked or loved by those close or around them. Drinking is one easy way of socialising where friends can meet on informal occasions and can share their views on issues of interest to them. Informal gatherings are often casual and characterised by a free environment where there would be no strings attached and friends can freely interact which may not be possible in a sober environment which is another reason why Melanie feels that she cannot easily quit taking alcohol. Melanie seeks to rationalise her high levels of alcohol consumption by claiming that other non alcoholic beverages do not make her merry and happy. She claims that the prices are not very different but would rather stick to her favourite alcoholic beverages which make her feel free and happy whenever she is out with friends. This person’s behaviour and attitude in particular, towards alcohol is driven by the need to fulfil her personal feelings as far as socialisation and merry making are concerned. 2. Melanie identifies college mates as the main reference groups. She also identifies her mother and sister as reference to her drinking manner. Well, university friends are more important than the other groups. Her drinking is mostly influenced by her friends and she is very conscious about what she would be doing especially the heavy drinking. Melanie feels that drinking is part of the cultural activity of being a student and also hopes that one day when she is working full time she may revise her behaviour with reference to heavy drinking. Melanie also identifies her mother and sister and these constitute non students. Indeed, they see her drinking behaviour and sometimes comment about it but it seems they are also aware that it is part of being a student though they are concerned about what she will be doing. Her sister in particular does not drink heavily and when she does, it is only during the weekend which is not much compared to her drinking patterns. The other students in particular who are her drinking partners are very influential on her behaviour. Whenever she is out with her friends, everything is normal and she does not see anything really bad about drinking. In actual fact, she feels that being a student is characterised by enjoying some funny nights with other colleagues. On the other hand, none student reference groups such as her mother and sister also have an influence on her behaviour. They tend to remind her that it is not healthy to drink heavily like the way she does. Though they have no direct influence on her drinking pattern, at least they are there to caution her about the dangers of heavy drinking. Some of the mentioned reference groups such as the other students are more influential than the others in that they spend most of the time together and what they do is considered as normal. University students have their own accepted culture and they tend to influence each other’s behaviour greatly. She does not see anything really bad about going out for drinks with other students and these tend to be more influential than the other people at this particular time. Indeed, being a student is regarded as another phase which will eventually pass once the period is over and should be enjoyed as it only comes once. Therefore, a close analysis of Melanie’s behaviour shows that she is greatly influenced by the other university friends than by other people who are not students in this particular case. There are certain days which are dedicated as special days for going out at the university and this is another very influential factor on Melanie’s behaviour. It can be seen that she does not usually go on a drinking spree with foreigners or those who are not students. She feels that going out is part of the activities on the calendar at their university where she is also obliged to participate. To her it is very normal to participate in such events which are normal to any college life. 3. a) According to a policy document entitled “Binge Drinking and Public Health” (July 2005) alcohol abuse in the form of binge drinking is very prevalent among the young people in UK and this has been a cause for concern as it often has a great bearing on the health of those people who have a tendency of abusing alcohol. This has resulted in the government reforming laws on licensing and implementing a strategy aimed at reducing alcohol related harm. Alcohol and drinks are more expensive in clubs hence there is tendency of heavy drinking when they get affordable prices every time. The effects of alcohol abuse have a bearing on the economy as most people would fail to be productive and would need medication to nurse the after effects of binge drinking it is severe. However, the government is very much aware of this and is particularly concerned about safeguarding the interests of the people’s health as well as the economic interests. The UK Government policy has a harm minimisation strategy which involves a new licensing system, white paper on public health and an alcohol harm reduction strategy. The new licensing system allows the extension of selling alcohol to 24hours everyday. This is a recommendable time of selling alcohol especially by all public bars. These are supposed to open for longer hours as a way of curbing binge drinking which is caused by unavailability of alcohol at particular times when all the outlets are closed. There would be a tendency of overstocking alcohol to avoid shortage and it will be consumed within a very short space of time. This measure was put in place as a way of minimising the heavy consumption of alcohol on a daily basis as it will always be available. The government strategy of reducing harmful effects of alcohol also involve educating the young people about the dangers of binge at an early age as well as disseminating vital information to the targeted audience. It also involves combating crime and disorder caused by the heavy consumption of alcohol. The government has also launched a consultation document meant to create debate about positive steps that can be taken to combat binge drinking. On the other hand, the white paper is primarily concerned with developing a social responsibility scheme for alcohol producers and retailers as a way of safeguarding the public interests with regards to alcohol abuse in the form of binge drinking. The government has made it a policy that alcohol should not be sold to any person under the age of 18 years. Youths in particular are seen as more vulnerable to alcohol abuse and which is not advisable as it causes social ills such as violence and often negligent behaviour which is dangerous to the good of the society as a whole. The Advertising Standards Authority also recently reviewed the codes of alcohol advertising not to target persons under the age of 18. However, for young people and university students like Melanie, I think the most effective policies would involve banning the sale of alcohol especially after 10PM as a way of discouraging the young people to spend the whole nights drinking. If they have limited drinking time, then they will not abuse alcohol as they would fail to get it during the time they would intend to go for binge drinking. Young people in particular tend to enjoy drinking wildly during the night so if all the outlets are closed, they would not be able to behave recklessly under the heavy influence of alcohol. If the young people fail to get alcohol especially during the time they would need it greatly, they would rather resort to doing something productive. On the other hand, the government should put policies that restrict the selling of alcohol on particular days at university campuses. A time frame for the selling of alcohol should be put in place which should be strictly adhered to. For instance, it should be made a policy that alcohol can only be sold at campus after business hours to a certain period. It should also be made a policy that no alcohol should be sold during Sundays as this would have a bearing on the behaviour of students. Policies which deter the direct marketing of alcoholic beverages targeted at youths should be put in place as this would lead to responsible behaviour among the youth community. There would be no direct correlation between their consumption habits of alcohol as well as direct influence such as messages promoting heavy drinking. Such policies would go a long way in promoting positive behaviours as the vulnerable group especially the youths in this particular case would be fully aware of the dangers associated with wild drinking. Alcohol should not be portrayed in such a manner that will depict a wrong message where it will be seen as something that is good. 4. From the material drawn from the Portman website, it can be noted that it contains a wide range of information which can be vital in influencing behavioural change in the drinking habits of Melanie’s peer group. Portman group is primarily concerned with promoting sensible and socially responsible drinking among the members of the community. One of the campaigns involves banning of alcohol branding on the children’s replica sports shirt. This is very effective as far as behaviour change is concerned. This will inculcate a sense of responsible drinking habits among the members of the youth community who will ultimately see the detrimental effects of drinking alcohol with regards to sportsmanship. This campaign is also meant to deter the youths to desist from participating in sporting events under the influence of alcohol. This will send a very clear message that alcohol sometimes is not good to health especially with regards to sporting careers. Indeed, sporting is part of the curriculum for university students which ought to be taken seriously like any other academic curriculum. This initiative is very influential among Melanie’s peer group as it tries to differentiate between activities which are important to the person’s curricula growth from social activities which are meant for pleasure or relaxing. The Portman group is also concerned with preventing producers to use marketing to urge consumers to drink rapidly. It can be seen from the case that sometimes Melanie and her peers go on a wild drinking binge when they go out for drinking. This is not advisable as it can be dangerous to health as well as leading to poor performance with regards to educational development. If alcohol marketers are urged to encourage people to drink rapidly, it will send a wrong message among the youths in particular as they would believe that it is a good thing to drink heavily. Consumers are in most cases influenced by the messages that are disseminated to them about a product by the marketers. Therefore, if they do not get such kind of message, they will tend to drink responsibly fully knowing the negative consequences of alcohol. They ought to be told that heavy consumption of alcohol can be hazardous to health and this will caution them to revise their manners of drinking. This campaign is also very effective in that it will send a clear message about consumption of alcohol which may have its own negative effects. The marketers in this particular case are the custodians of societal values and are obliged to send positive message about alcohol consumption. This would also be very effective in that it would attempt to encourage responsible behaviour as people tend to behave badly under the influence of alcohol. This campaign also encourages the consumers to determine on their own the good effects of alcohol drinking than by the marketers themselves which may not be very true that heavy drinking is good. The Portman group is also concerned with putting a ban on direct marketing of alcoholic drinks to children under the age of 18. At times some college students will be still young to be able to drink responsibly and this message should be made clear and available to that drinking is not advisable to people who are considered as under age. By virtue of not targeting the youths as their audience, the marketers will be attempting to clearly show that alcohol consumption is not meant for young people as they would not be able to behave responsibly after heavy drinking. Overally, this campaign is meant to educate the populace about sensible drinking every time. Alcohol has several negative effects to health as well as other social aspects. Whilst drinking is not completely banned, the major aim of the campaign is to influence positive behaviour among all the consumers to be responsible to themselves as well as the society at large. If people fail to be accountable after drinking, then the results are often disastrous which is not recommendable for the well being of the society and country at large. Youths in particular are often victims of negligent drinking as they would end up loosing focus on what is right or bad hence this campaign is very effective in attempting to influence behavioural change. Over and above, it can be noted that Melanie is influenced by various psychological as well as social factors towards her heavy drinking. Whilst she is aware of the dangers of heavy alcohol drinking, she believes that it is part of being a student and it will eventually pass when she has finished her studies. Her peers are very influential to her behaviour as they believe that drinking is part of the culture at university. They drink in order to enjoy the fun and drinking is regarded as a casual way of satisfying their needs to relax as well as play. 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