Adolescent Reasoning about Drug Use

Abstract

In this study, adolescents' reasoning about drug use was investigated from a social-cognitive perspective. In an interview and classification task, adolescents were asked to (a) evaluate drug use in comparison to other social and moral transgressions; (b) distinguish between soft and hard legal and illegal drugs; (c) conceptualize drug use in relation to acts of self-harm, such as suicide; (d) weigh legal, societal, physical, and psychological consequences of drug use; and (e) evaluate authorities' jurisdictions to prohibit drug use. Sixty adolescents, evenly divided between males and females, in Grades 10, 11, and 12 participated. Age and gender differences emerged regarding adolescents' judgments about drug use and whether individuals have the right to harm themselves. The findings have implications for research on adolescent social reasoning and for drug education programs.

Risk-taking behaviour in adolescence: a literature review

“…robson (1994) considered the link between sensation-seeking and risk, especially in relation to what for adolescents 'are the precursors for a craving for excitement and distain for risk ' (1994: 8). Killen et al (1991) found that youths do not view risky behaviours as bound by societal conventions, but rather in terms of morality and personal choice. The emphasis on personal choice is consistent with concepts of identity formation and the development of autonomy, which are seen as classic behaviours of adolescence.…”

The morality of socioscientific issues: Construal and resolution of genetic engineering dilemmas

“…The domain account of social knowledge would suggest that socioscientific issues are inherently moral because they involve objective, prescriptive, and generalizable standards. Although domain theory has been used as an investigatory framework by several researchers (Blair, 1997;Killen, Leviton, & Cahill, 1991;Nucci & Turiel, 1993;Smetana, 1989;Tisak & Turiel, 1988;Wainryb, 1991), it suffers from singular reliance on one particular philosophical perspective, namely Kantian morality (Schneewind, 1998). The Kantian model occupies a significant place in the history of moral philosophy, but it does not subsume all approaches to morality.…”

Applying an Extended Version of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Illicit Drug Use Among Students1

“…Conner and Armitage (1 998) found that in 9 out of 10 studies, moral norm was a significant predictor of intentions after TPB variables were controlled for and that moral norm added an average of 4% to the prediction of intentions. Moral norms should have an especially important influence on the performance of behaviors with a moral or ethical dimension (Beck & Ajzen, 1991;Kurland, 1995), such as drug use (Killen, Leviton, & Cahill, 1991). In support of this view, Conner and McMillan (1999) found that adding a measure of moral norm to the TPB explained approximately 1% of the unique variance in intentions to use cannabis over and above traditional TPB variables.…”