Drug Use and Ethnicity in Early Adolescence

248 Pages·2002·2.014 MB·English

by  William A. Vega, Andres G. Gil (auth.)

Drug Use and Ethnicity
in Early Adolescence
LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH IN THE
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
An Interdisciplinary Series
Series Editors:
Howard B. Kaplan, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Adele Eskeles Gottfried, California State University, Northridge, California
Allen W. Gottfried, California State University, Fullerton, California
DRUGS, CRIME, AND OTHER DEVIANT ADAPTATIONS:
LongitudinalStudies
Edited by Howard B. Kaplan
DRUG USE AND ETHNICITY IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE
WilliamA. Vega,AndresG.Gil,andAssociates
A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring
delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only
upon actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.
Drug Use and Ethnicity
in Early Adolescence
William A. Vega
Universityof California Berkeley
Berkeley,California
Andres G. Gil
FloridaInternationalUniversity
Miami, Florida
and Associates
Kluwer Academic Publishers
New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow
eBook ISBN: 0-306-47147-7
Print ISBN: 0-306-45737-7
©2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow
All rights reserved
No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher
Created in the United States of America
Visit Kluwer Online at: http://www.kluweronline.com
and Kluwer's eBookstore at: http://www.ebooks.kluweronline.com
To our wives
Roena and Margarita
whose support made the completion of this work possible
and appreciation to Roena Ravelo-Vega
for her editorial assistance and insights
Associates
Frank Biafora, Department of Sociology, St. Johns University, Jamaica, New
York 11439
Elizabeth L. Khoury, Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Coral
Gables, Florida 33146
Bohdan Kolody, Department of Sociology, San Diego State University, San
Diego, California 91941
Eric Wagner, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314
George J. Warheit, Department of Sociology and Department of Psychiatry,
University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146
Rick S. Zimmerman, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington,
Kentucky 40503
vii
Preface
This book presents new and important information about adolescent drug use. The
book is intended for human service professionals, teachers, researchers, and
students interested in the issue of early adolescent drug use and its causes and
pervasiveness in a multiethnic population. Today, the field of adolescent drug use
research relies on integrative models that permit competing explanations of drug
use. This approach promotes flexibility in testing hypotheses pertinent to adoles-
cents of very different social and cultural backgrounds or personal characteristics.
Longitudinal studies, including the one presented in these pages, have identified
many risk and protective factors or processes that are linked to adolescent drug use.
We review these throughout this book and present new information from our own
research. Our point of departure is to extend and elaborate descriptive research and
models of adolescent drug research to cover the unique and diverse experiences of
adolescents who are Hispanic, African American, and White non-Hispanic.
The ultimate goal of this book is to stimulate new thinking about the pathways
to drug use. American society is changing; assumptions about family, school,
peers, and other social context variables that influence adolescent drug use need to
be revisited and updated. We believe it is possible to achieve improved general
explanations of adolescent drug use only if we can account for the uniqueness of
ethnic group socialization and organizational patterns in the context of their
environments. Due to the demographic changes in American society and changing
patterns of drug distribution and consumption, our venerable models that explain
adolescent drug use may also need reshaping. Adolescent drug use does not exist
apart from the many other social features and partitions that characterize American
society. Socioeconomic status differences, skin color, ethnic group identification,
and language use are key factors operating to create and sustain social differences
in the United States. The way these factors are transforming adolescent socializa-
ix
x Preface
FigureP.1.Drugusevulnerability.
tion into drug use, especially for ethnic minorities, is only beginning to be
appreciated or investigated. This volume is an initial step in that direction.
Figure P.1 presents a model of drug use vulnerability that structures the
theoretical and empirical approaches taken in this book. The various components
of the model are interactive. Therefore, the model serves as a basis for generating
hypotheses and general research questions that are set in the context of ethnic
adolescent experiences in group and social environments. The logic of our model
is to integrate its components using three core explanatory theories, which are
summarized below. A comprehensive review of supporting theories is presented
throughout this volume. Many of the factors contained in the drug use vulnerability
model were measured in repeated field questionnaire administrations, and are part
of the data base presented in this book. Additional contextual information is drawn
from documentation found in other special studies, institutional reports, and news
media presentations.
Theoretical Models Used in the Research
Self-Derogation/Self-Esteem
The research model for this book was guided by three theoretical models. The
first was the derogation-self-esteem model, often referred to as the esteem en-
Preface xi
hancement model, derived from the work of Kaplan and his colleagues (Kaplan,
Martin, & Robbins, 1985; Kaplan, Johnson, & Bailey, 1986; Kaplan, Johnson, &
Bailey, 1987). Very briefly, this model hypothesizes that adolescents charac-
teristically behave so as to minimize the experience of self-rejection and, at the
same time, to maximize experiences that enhance their self-esteem. The model
hypothesizes that when adolescents perceive self-rejection they are motivated to
alter the interpersonal circumstances responsible for these feelings. Negative
assessments by valued others such as parents and teachers are hypothesized to
produce subjective distress that, in turn, produces changes in behavior intended to
reduce or eliminate negative self-evaluations. If these efforts are unsuccessful,
there may be a subsequent willingness to seek alternative normative standards, for
example, a disposition to deviance as well as a tendency to form ties with deviant
peers. It is in this context that delinquent behavior, including drug use, is hypothe-
sized to emerge. Our research addressed these issues in detail, and the findings are
outlined in several of the chapters that follow.
Acculturation Stresses, Conflicts, and Gaps
The second class of theories tested in the research focused on acculturation-
related issues. In the case of Hispanics, several hypotheses derived from earlier
research were utilized as guidelines. For example, a number of investigators have
reported that acculturation adjustment factors are related to personal problems
including social deviance and substance use (Amaro, Whitaker, Coffman, &
Heeren, 1990; Burnam, Hough, Karno, Escobar, & Telles, 1987; Rogler, Cortes, &
Malgady, 1991). These findings prompted the testing of three major acculturation-
related hypotheses. The first postulates that there will be positive relationships
between increased acculturation into the social values and normative standards of
dominant American social groups, thereby increasing drug use. The rationale for
this position is the belief that American attitudes and norms regarding substance
use are more permissive than those of the more traditionally oriented norms of
immigrant families.
The second hypothesis postulates that there will be positive relationships
between high levels of acculturation stress and conflict and drug use. The rationale
for this postulate is derived from the literature that indicates that unmitigated
acculturation strains and stresses are related to social disorganization and personal
dysfunctionality and, further, that these processes are conducive to a wide variety
of social deviance including increased substance use. The third hypothesis postu-
lates that there will be a curvilinear effect between acculturation levels and drug
use because those who are bicultural—r ather than monocultural Anglo—o r His-
panic will have optimal cultural adjustment and, therefore, less personal distress
and lower drug use than their counterparts. An important variation of these
formulations is embodied in the work of Szapocznik and his colleagues (Szapocz-