Meth Use and Attitudes of Freshmen at a West Texas College by Erica Goss Irlbeck, B.S. A Thesis In AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER’S OF SCIENCE Approved Chad Davis, Chair Cindy Akers, Committee member Scott Burris, Committee member Judy Oskam, Committee member John Borrelli Dean of the Graduate School May, 2007 Copyright 2007, Erica Goss Irlbeck Texas Tech University, Erica Goss Irlbeck, May 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people played an integral role in the creation of this thesis. My committee, family and fellow students helped me tremendously to complete this work. First, thank you Scott for being so extremely supportive of this endeavor to continue my education. Your understanding of me figuring out what I want to do when I “grow up” amazes me every day. You have no idea how much I appreciate your love and patience while I have worked on this thesis. I owe a HUGE thank-you to my committee: Dr. Chad Davis, Dr. Cindy Akers, Dr. Scott Burris and Dr. Judy Oskam. I am clueless without all four of you. All of you are amazing teachers, but more important, I have gained four new friends. To Dr. Davis: thank you for walking me through every step of this process and for putting up with my constant questions. You have been a great resource, constant encourager, and good teacher. To Dr. Akers: you have been extremely helpful through the entire thesis. You have such wonderful ideas and experience, and you are a very calming force to me, even though you probably don’t realize it. I also owe you a huge thank you for encouraging me to begin my Master’s degree. To Dr. Burris: thank you for allowing me to bug you constantly with SPSS questions. I have no idea how you hold so much knowledge in your head! To Dr. Oskam: you are an amazing teacher and a wealth of ideas. This study has become so much better because of your input. Thank you for still wanting to be a part of this study, even from so far away. ii Texas Tech University, Erica Goss Irlbeck, May 2007 Although not a member of my committee, I have to thank Dr. David Doerfert for walking me through chapters one through three. You have been an excellent resource and I value your input and wisdom. Dr. Baker, Mary Lou Flom, and Irita Winn have also been tremendously helpful during this past year—thanks for taking care of me! I owe my family a HUGE thank you for being so supportive of my efforts. Mom and Dad, thank you for your constant encouragement, money, and dedication to me completing my Master’s. Mom, I guess this proves that if you bug me long enough (eight years) about something, I’ll eventually listen to you. Erin and Evin, you have provided a constant stress relief and outlet for my frustrations—thank you. I also want to say thank you for those who dared share an office with me: Rachel Bobbitt, Lindsay West, Kim Cooper, and Courtney Carter. I know I talk a lot, laugh too loud and sing way too much, but all of you handled it like true friends. All four of you helped me immensely with this work. And Bobby—thanks for formatting this silly thing! Finally, I must thank God for any intelligence he may have bestowed upon me. I also must thank him for the new gift of patience, which I did not possess until I began working on a thesis. There are many others who contributed to this work, and without the dear friendship of “Emily” and “Josh,” I might not have ever chosen this thesis topic. Your family, faith, and love are inspirations to all families who have endured addiction. This work is for you. iii Texas Tech University, Erica Goss Irlbeck, May 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................viii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTERS I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 Background and Setting.............................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem............................................................................ 2 Research Questions..................................................................................... 6 Definition of Terms..................................................................................... 7 Limitations of the Study.............................................................................. 9 Basic Assumptions...................................................................................... 9 Significance of the Problem...................................................................... 10 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................... 11 Methamphetamine..................................................................................... 11 History........................................................................................... 12 Meth Use and Attitudes Statistics................................................. 13 Demographics ............................................................................... 17 Meth Use................................................................................................... 18 Side Effects ................................................................................... 19 Addiction....................................................................................... 21 Meth Labs ................................................................................................. 21 Meth Labs in Rural Communities................................................. 23 Environmental Impact of Meth Labs ............................................ 23 Law Enforcement and Meth Labs................................................. 25 Meth Availability and Drug Trafficking................................................... 30 Meth in Rural America ............................................................................. 34 iv Texas Tech University, Erica Goss Irlbeck, May 2007 Why Meth is Common in Rural Areas ......................................... 35 Social and Family Issues............................................................... 37 Rural Crime Related to Meth........................................................ 38 Drug Education and Prevention in Rural Areas............................ 38 Drug Education and Campaigns ............................................................... 39 Conceptual Framework............................................................................. 43 Two Way Symmetric Model of Communications........................ 43 Campaign Theory.......................................................................... 44 Theory of Effects .......................................................................... 44 Significance of the Review of Literature.................................................. 45 III. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 47 Research Questions................................................................................... 47 Research Design........................................................................................ 47 Qualitative Methodology .......................................................................... 48 Population ..................................................................................... 49 Instrumentation ............................................................................. 49 Data Collection ............................................................................. 50 Data Analysis................................................................................ 50 Quantitative Methodology ........................................................................ 51 Population ..................................................................................... 51 Instrumentation ............................................................................. 51 Validity ......................................................................................... 53 Reliability...................................................................................... 55 Data Collection ............................................................................. 55 Data Analysis................................................................................ 57 IV. FINDINGS........................................................................................................ 58 Audience ................................................................................................... 58 Demographics ............................................................................... 59 Hometowns ................................................................................... 60 Involvement in Agriculture........................................................... 62 Findings related to Objective One ............................................................ 63 Findings related to Objective Two............................................................ 69 Drug Knowledge Levels of a Recovering Meth