The Causes and Effects of Abused Use of Alcoholic Beverages Among Criminology Students: Towards A Guide

Abstract

Some criminology students from all year levels have been exposed to alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages are like drugs that reduce a person’s ability to think rationally as it affects one’s judgment. Alcohol is a socially acceptable drink but often taken for granted by people. Not only does excessive consumption of alcohol has an effect to the community, it also affects the individual’s ability to make decisions and act normally. Consumption of excessive alcohol has short term and long-term effects. Most of the time, alcohol is addictive and can cause physical, psychological and physiological effects to an individual. Some causes of excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages are family problem, love life issue and stress. Some effects are dizziness, vomiting and headache. In the field of criminology with students undergoing training for discipline and orderliness, being involved in excessive drinking sessions are not encouraged. The researchers believe that getting the perception of the respondents on the causes and effects of abused use of alcohol can help in discouraging students from taking part in the activity. The researchers used the descriptive research method. There are two instruments that were used to accumulate data for this study. First is questionnaire. It can be defined as a list of carefully structured questions, chosen after testing, with the view of eliciting reliable information from the selected respondents. The objective of a questionnaire is to find out what the respondents do, think or feel about the study. The questions within the questionnaire were developed and structured by the researchers to gather valuable information which is relevant to the study. Second is interview. It is an act of asking questions in order to gather information. An unstructured interview was used by the researchers to collect valuable data from the selected respondents. The respondents are described according to different demographic profile. Majority of the respondents are from the age bracket 19 to 22 years old; 68% are male; 98% are single and 38% are first year students. As attested by the respondents on the causes of abused use of alcohol among criminology students, most responses were regarded as very good. As attested by the respondents on the effects of abused use of alcoholic beverages to the criminology students, most responses were regarded as very good. As attested by the respondents on the measures that may be proposed to address the problems encountered by the community in relation to abused use of alcoholic beverages, most responses were regarded as very good. The results of the study show the causes and effects of abused use of alcoholic beverages among Criminology students. These results give clear perception on the cases regarding the abused use of alcoholic beverages of the criminology students. It can be a basis for the school administration, community, and the families of the students to deal and resolved the problems that arises because of the abusive use of alcoholic beverages.