Binge Drinking: Use or Abuse?

Paper Summary:

The paper maintains that binge drinking all too often a risky, harmful and destructive activity and is therefore much more of a social problem than it is an innocent rite of passage. The paper contends that there are many preventive measures that could be used more effectively, such as stricter enforcement of laws against drinking and driving and more responsible beverage serving in public and private places. The paper suggests that the most effective way to publicize the harms and dangers of binge drinking would be to target such messages to consumers, at both individual and societal levels.

From the Paper:

"Haines and Spear (1996) define binge drinking as the consuming of five or more alcoholic drinks in a row. This increasingly common pattern of binge drinking on college and university campuses in particular, as a sort of "rite of passage" among college and university students in particular, moreover, is an area of growing concern: for college and university counselors; for medical staff; for administrators, and (in general) for mental health professionals and researchers in the behavioral sciences (Otnes, Treise, and Wolburg (1999). Weschler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Castillo (1994), in fact, consider binge drinking to be today's very worst health hazard on college and university campuses."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Binge Drinkers Have Highest Risk of Injury." March 1, 2006. About Health and Fitness. Retrieved April 7, 2006, from: http://alcoholism. about.com /od/binge/a /blacer060301.htm>.
• Broadbent, R. (Spring 1994). "Young People's Perceptions of their Use and Abuse of Alcohol." Youth Studies Australia. 32-35.
• Clark, Gregory, Durkin, Keith F., and Wolfe, Timothy W. "Social Bond Theory and Binge Drinking among College Students: A Multivariate Analysis." College Student Journal, Vol. 33, 1999. Retrieved April 7, 2006, from: <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5001892955.html>.
• Farringdon, Fiona Mc Bride, Nyanda, and Midford, Richard. "The Fine Line: Students' Perceptions of Drinking, Having Fun and Losing Control." Youth Studies Australia, Vol. 19, No. 3 (September 2000). 32-38.
• Haines, M., & Spear, S. F. (1996). Changing the perception of the norm: A strategy to decrease binge drinking among college students. Journal of American College Health, Vol. 45. 134-140

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