There is no abstract available for this thesis.

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Background This paper provides an updated review of the literature on drug prevention programmes (from 2001 to July2011) and reports the findings from these previous studies on the effectiveness and nature of present drug prevention practices. Relevant data on the effectiveness of drug prevention intervention among adolescents has been summarised and examined. In addition, this paper identifies various essential elements that have the potential for creating and providing effective drug prevention strategies, whether to prevent substance misuse or to minimise the harm caused. Different prevention strategies will also be discussed, including: social influence approach, refusal skill training, and motivational interviewing. Design The paper will conduct a review of the previous literature. Aims This literature review proposes to: 1. Review all of the published evidence from research which was conducted between 2001and 2011 on the effectiveness of drug prevention programmes for adolescents. 2. Identify findings and recommendations regarding the content, approaches, format, theoretical bases, and methods associated with an effective drug prevention program. 3. Discuss any potential or proved effective components on a drug prevention program in tackling such drug abuse problems. Methods Two searching engines (i.e. PubMed and Medline) were used to find the relevant papers and journals which have been published within the past ten years (i.e. 2001 to 2011). Studies about the evaluation of the effectiveness of drug education and prevention strategies, targeting the most vulnerable group (i.e. aged between 12 and 25) were included. Results Twenty four studies met the criteria and were reviewed in depth. Thirteen of them evaluated the effectiveness of school-based interventions, including the school-based drug testing program. The remaining papers evaluated the effectiveness of non-school based prevention interventions in different approaches such as social influence, parental cooperation, refusal skills education, and life skills training. Conclusions Social influence approaches were evidenced as the most effective intervention to prevent drug abuse. Interventions that are conducted interactively (e.g. simulated scenario and role-playing) are more effective than providing normative information. Gender differences were found in some of the interventions. However, it is recommended that further research should be conducted to evaluate these results. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

No description available.

The thesis was designed to determine the nature, type, and scope of drug use existing on the Ball State University Campus. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to a ten percent stratified random sample of undergraduate students with a proportional allocation of ten percent from each of the four college years.Results of the survey revealed drug use (use for other than medically prescribed reasons) by 31.5 percent of the sample. Ball State students who used drugs were likely: To be 21 to 22 years of age, to be males, to be juniors, to major in the Science of Humanities, to be divorced, to specify “none” for religious affiliation, to live in off-campus unapproved housing, to have a grade point average of 1.5 to 2.0, to have parents with incomes of $15,000-$20,000, to have begun their use of drugs as college sophomores, to have received their first drugs from friends, to have used, to be currently using, and to anticipate continuing to use the drug, marijuana, and to give curiosity as their main reason for using drugs.

In this paper we will discuss our unsuccessful attempt to conduct a self-report study of delinquent behavior in an urban multi-racial high school in Portland, Oregon. Much of this report reflects our preparation in conducting a self-report study and our analysis of why if failed. The contention of this study is that delinquent behavior, and not juvenile delinquency is the major problem facing youth serving agencies and the public. The purpose of this study is an attempt to refine an often used method of measuring delinquent behavior – the self–report. Favoring a self–report technique of data collection rather than an analysis of rate variations, a comparison of matched samples or a study of subcultures, tends to ground this study in a “radical non-intervention” approach to the field of delinquent behavior. This particular approach views delinquent behavior as widespread throughout society rather than concentrated among the economically disadvantaged or in a certain subculture of the adolescent population.

No description available.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Criminology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The problem was to identify the differences in attitudes of public school students at various educational levels toward selected drugs, and to determine the relationship between those attitudes and students' knowledge of drugs.