Attitudes of Social Work Students Toward Drug

¶ … attitudes of social work students toward drug and alcohol abuse and to determine what demographic characteristics or background experiences might influence perception of drug and alcohol abuse. The research has benefits for the social work community, as understanding such attitudinal influences can help social workers eliminate potential professional biases. However, there were several flaws and methodological limitations in the study that should be addressed before commencing further research in this area, and which limit the external validity of the study.

First, the sample was not representative of the entire population, but rather, focused on Boston University sociology students. Certain demographical groups were underrepresented and others were over-represented. Second, the research hypotheses were inherently flawed because they were not based on a thorough review of sociological literature or on sociological theory. For example, the first hypothesis, that participants from Muslim or Jewish backgrounds would be more likely to view substance abuse as a function of "weak will," is in particular devoid of reasoning: there is no indication of literature or theory supporting a hypothesis regarding the attitudes of Jews and Muslims toward alcohol and drug dependency. The remaining four hypotheses also require some theoretical explanation.

This study also did not suggest what the implications of the findings might be. For instance, if Jews and Muslims were found to hold different attitudes toward substance abuse, how would the social work profession change? Similarly, if personal experiences with family members with drug or alcohol abuse were found to impact attitudes toward therapy, then would such findings imply potential professional biases?

The current study also did not address the academic backgrounds or specialties of the respondents. Sociology students who are not specializing in addictions might hold different attitudes toward substance abuse problems because of a lack of academic understanding of addictions.

Finally, some of the survey measures should be revised. Some of the questions do not directly pertain to the research hypotheses, such as questions 21 and 22. Such questions assess the respondent's perception of drug users and knowledge of a drug's physiological effects, respectively. If such questions were "dummy questions," then that should be indicated in the final report of the findings.

Part Two: Conclusions, Future Directions

The current research was conducted using five main research hypotheses: 1. Respondents whose religious affiliation is Jewish or Muslim more so than respondents with other or no religious affiliation will agree that an association exists between alcoholism and a weak will; 2. Respondents whose family members or close friend have experiences with treatment for alcoholism more so than other respondents will agree that abstinence is a necessary goals of treatment for alcoholism; 3. Respondents whose family members or close friend have experiences with treatment for substance abuse more so than other respondents will agree that group therapy is an important part of treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction; 4. Younger respondents more so than older respondents will agree with the contention that alcoholism are a treatable illness; 5. Respondents with professional experience with individuals or families experiencing difficulties with alcohol consumption more so than other respondents will agree that family involvement is important in the treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction. All five research hypotheses were null based on the survey results; there were no significant relationships between any of the independent or dependent variables.

Future research should include more representative sample populations by administering the study at colleges and universities outside of the Boston area or at Boston-area schools with different demographics than Boston University. Surveys could be administered to students of social work at community colleges in various Boston neighborhoods in order to glean a more representative sample. A more representative sample would increase external validity of the study and account for more variations among respondents.