A Social Analysis of the Role of Informal Labeling on Student's Attitude towards Drugs

The problem of drugs is one of the most important and serious issues which has attracted attention from different economic, social, political and psychological perspectives at international level. Statistics also indicate that the rate of drug abuse has increased among different communities, especially adolescents and the youth in recent decades (Malekyvar et al, 2007). According to the UN Office for Prevention of Drug Abuse and Crime in 2005, Iran has the largest number of drug addicts in proportion to the population in the world and there is a high rate of prevalence of drug abuse (8/2%) in Iran (Ziaie, 2009). According to Iran Drug Control Headquarters, the number of addicts has been 1.2 million in 2007, including 1,137,600 men and 62,400 women. (The annual book of Drug Control Headquarters, 2009: 8). In addition, in 2009, 231,908 individuals were arrested in connection with drug-related offenses of whom a total of 10,378 individuals come from Mazandaran province (Ibid. 51). Also, studies have shown that there is a correlation between behavior and attitude. In other words, attitudes are considered to be antecedents of behavior. Positive attitude towards drugs reduces the negative aspect of drug abuse and normalizes its use and distribution. Since negative effects of anything are usually more visible than its positive effects, it seems that we are experiencing a wide range of cultural chaos in our universities (Serajzadeh Javahery, 2033; Serajzadeh and Babaei, 2009). In such a context, study of attitude towards drugs among students (male and female) would be an important issue and deserves serious attention. In addition, a relatively neglected area of research related to students’ deviant behavior is theories of social interaction and the role that stigmatizing views play in shaping deviant behavior and favorable attitudes of students towards these behaviors. Labeling approach has mainly focused on reaction of social observers towards individuals and their behavior and consequences of this reaction and has paid less attention to the deviant behavior itself. In addition, labeling theorists claim that the way of dealing with offenders is more related to the way that significant others regard their actions rather than the behavior themselves. In this study we try to find an answer for this question: how does informal labeling, conducted by parents, friends and teachers, may lead to favorable attitudes towards drugs among students? In addition to measuring the attitudes of students towards drugs, this research examines labeling theory and its explanatory power to realize students’ attitudes towards drugs.