The Effects of Campus Alcohol and Drug Prevention Programs on the Behaviors of University Students
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1994 The Effects of Campus Alcohol and Drug Prevention Programs on the Behaviors of University Students Darrell D. Irwin Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Irwin, Darrell D., "The Effects of Campus Alcohol and Drug Prevention Programs on the Behaviors of University Students" (1994). Dissertations. 3479. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3479 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1994 Darrell D. Irwin LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO THE EFFECTS OF CAMPUS ALCOHOL AND DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAMS ON THE BEHAVIORS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY BY DARRELL D. IRWIN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY 1994 Copyright by Darrell D. Irwin, 1994 All rights reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Much of the foundation for this work was initiated by the members of my dissertation committee, whom I would like to acknowledge for their efforts. Dr. Richard L. Block, my dissertation chair, has encouraged me to research the topic of substance abuse and the effect of substance abuse on our society. Dr. Block has guided me in the better part of my graduate research. Dr. Thomas Regulus and Dr. Talmadge Wright have each fortified this body of work by their scholarly efforts. I am grateful for the input the committee has made to the completion of this piece of research. I also acknowledge the help given to me by several readers of the material at various stages, the computer center at Loyola University and fellow scholars whose encouragement meant a great deal to me at various stages in the dissertation process. Lastly, the continued support family members and my wife, Lia Hoffmann-Irwin, ensured that I could complete the last act in this dissertation. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iii TABLE OF CONTENTS • . iv LIST OF TABLES . v Chapter I. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE 1 II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND RELATED LITERATURE • • • 3 2 III. METHODOLOGY • 82 IV. THE PREVENTION PROFILE: ANALYSIS OF STUDENT DATA . • . 105. v. UNDESIRABLE CONDUCT AND EDUCATIONAL CONTROL 142- VI. THE IMPACT OF PREVENTION ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES . 191· VII. "SLACKERS" AND FRATERNITIES: THE CULTURAL CHALLENGE TO PREVENTION AT UNIVERSITIES . 253 VIII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION . 304 APPENDIX A. CORE ALCOHOL AND DRUG SURVEY 326 B. PREVENTION ISSUES SURVEY 327 C. CONTINUATION OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG CORE SURVEY LETTER . 3 2 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 329 VITA 342 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Courses in the Sampling Frame - LU . 91 2. School Demographics 94 3 . Demographics of 1991-92 Sample Compared to National 1989-90 . • . 107 4. Percentage of Surveyed Students Reporting Ever Having Used; Used in Past Year; Alcohol or Other Psychoactive Substances . 111 5. NU Findings on Maturation and Drinking Within the Last Year . 114 6. LU Findings on Maturation and Drinking Within the Last Year . 114 7. T-tests of Age and Drinking at NU and LU - 1991-92 . 116 8. T-Tests of Gender and Drinking at NU and LU - 1991-92 . 117 9. Bivariate Relationships between Knowledge and Exposure to Drug Prevention and student Drinking Variables at LU . 121 10. The Effect of Awareness on Student Binge Drinking in the Last 2 Weeks at NU 124 11. The Effect of Awareness on the Frequency of Student Drinking in the Last Year at NU 124 12. The Effect of Awareness on Student Binge Drinking in the Last 2 Weeks at LU 125 13. The Effect of Awareness on the Frequency of Student Drinking in the Last Year at LU 125 14. The Effect of Prevention at NU on Alcohol Use in the Last Year by Age Group . 129 v Table Page 15. The Effect of Prevention at LU on Alcohol Use in the Last Year by Age Group . 129 16. Percentage of Students saying Alcohol or Drugs Should Not be Available • • . 132 17. Bivariate Relationships between Knowledge and Awareness of Prevention and Support for a Substance-Free Environment . 133-34 18. Frequency of Binge Drinking Episodes: NU and LU • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 135 19. T-tests of Social Interaction and Drinking at NU and LU . 137 20. The Effects of Age Group on Problem Behaviors . • 173-74 21. The Effects of Prevention on Problem Behaviors . 177-78 22. Behavioral Report Discipline Cases 1990-1992 . 183 23. Prevalence of Use of Alcohol and Drugs at Universities among Aware/Non-Aware Students 203 24. Statistical Significance of Use of Alcohol and Drugs at Universities among Aware/Non-Aware Students . • . 205 25. ADAPE Workscope 1992-1993 227 26. Percent of Students who Report Universities, Parents and Peers would "Strongly Disapprove" of Sanctioned Activity . 246 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE Alcohol and drug prevention programs on college campuses have proliferated at an explosive rate since the United States Congress enacted the Drug-Free School and Communities Act of 1989. The Drug-Free School and Communities Act required universities to certify to the Department of Education by October, 1, 1990 that they adopt and implement prevention policies on the illicit use of drugs and abuse of alcohol by students, staff and faculty. The purpose of this study is to examine whether university prevention efforts, generally programs utilizing education, counseling and peer social support, impact on the alcohol and drug use of students and result in a measurable change in that alcohol and drug use. The study is informed by data which examine the views of college students toward the prevention of alcohol and drug use. If the impact of prevention programs is found to be great enough to produce the desired changes, then researchers in the drug field may predict a reversal in the unusual recent increase of alcohol and drug use among college students (Johnston, 1993; Gliksman, 1988). Findings at the elementary and secondary levels have provided 2 preliminary empirical support for prevention programs, but little is known about the effects of prevention among college students whose daily experiences make the goals of prevention difficult. In addition, I discuss the university view toward alcohol and other drugs; i.e., whether to manage, control or prohibit them. This is an initial exploratory study of prevention efforts to intervene with a university student population and actively affect changes in alcohol and drug use in the university student culture. Prevention requires a great effort at re-educating and ''policing the desires" of a typical college student whose high-risk patterns of behavior associated with substance use are deemed objectionable by those with authority at the university (Watney, 1987). This dissertation uses extensive interviews with university students and survey data to empirically evaluate the impact of campus alcohol and drug prevention programs on the students' drinking and drug use. At Lakefront and Northern Universities, two private Midwestern universities, ethnographic study of university student interactions within peer groups and prevention programs and statistical analyses of survey data are used to assess the effect of prevention programs on student behaviors and attitudes and the extent of their drinking and drug use. The growth of campus-based prevention has led to rising expectations for a future decline in alcohol and drug use of 3 college students. This study will focus on the actual changes in the college drinking culture, and the specific changes in the Lakefront University institutional culture after a Department of Education F.I.P.S.E. (Fund for the Improvement for Post-Secondary Education) grant guaranteed the university financial support to begin a campus-based prevention program. The Department of Education's F.I.P.S.E. grants encourages universities to develop standards and operate programs to reduce current student substance abuse and prevent future drug and alcohol problems. Nationwide, in 1991, the FIPSE awards totaled $10.1 million. The F.I.P.S.E. grants for comprehensive campus-based programs required a final report on what prevention activities were implemented and a pre-to-post survey of student drug use during the period covered by the grant (Werch et al, 1992). After receiving FIPSE grants, both Lakefront and Northern were required to conduct the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (CORE) survey which is designed to elicit college students' attitudes, behaviors, and use of alcohol and drugs. Statement of the Problem The basic research problem can be framed in very general terms; how do university students perceive, react to, make sense of or rebel against the rules on alcohol and drug use mandated by the federal government and implemented by the university? What is the connection between 4 university students, who alcohol educator Gerardo Gonzalez views as a "population at risk" for substance abuse, and the student culture, which he labels a "microcosm of society"? Is a "healthy student community" concept appropriate for college drinking groups (Burns, 1989)? The fact that these questions continued to go unanswered while alcohol and drug prevention programs multiplied was what interested me in conducting this study. What I propose to discuss in the chapters ahead are: what models of prevention programs are found on university campuses; what generates student violations of prevention policy and how frequently do they occur; which legal, social and academic problems are associated with the alcohol and drug use which appears in the college student population; and what peer social group involvement generates and inhibits these behavioral problems.