Does Substance Use Increase Violence in Adolescents? Essay -- illicit

With different types of violence happening in all aspects of human life, and our perpetrators seemingly getting younger it brings to bear the question what role substance use has in crime. Crime comes in many forms, for example Cyber Bulling, Assaults, Intimate Partner Violence to name a few. Adolescent Suicide Cyber Bullying and Physical Assaults Suicide is the third leading cause of death (Murphy et al. 2012) If it is a crime or not is debatable. Suicide has historically been treated as a criminal matter in many parts of the world. However, the decriminalization of individual suicides has occurred in western societies (Wikipedia). Alcohol/ Illicit drug use is the prime behavior or risk factor associated with bullying and suicide. Conversely Victimization as a result of bullying shows an increase potential to adolescent alcohol/ drug use (Mitchell et al. 2007; Windle 1994). Other results from the studies of bullying victimization, and Alcohol use suggest that experiences of bullying creates an adverse cognitive process that increases the chance that an adolescent will use alcohol/illicit drugs. Using alcohol as a mechanism to deal with undesirable effects is reflective of research done in the past about the cause of adolescent substance use (Sher, Grekin, and Williams 2005). There are other studies that have shown subst ance use may have a cyclical relation in the ongoing effect of victimization and victimizing. The result is that substance use may facilitate young people that are already having suicidal thoughts to act upon them by decreasing inhibitions and raising destructive behaviors (Gould et al. 1998). Association Between Adolescent Drinking and Adult Violence The usage of alcohol plays a substantial part in t... ...the conï ¬â€šict in adolescent dating relationships inventory. Psycholog- ical Assessment, 13, 277–293. Wolfe, D. A., Scott, K., Wekerle, C., & Pittman, A. (2001b). Child maltreatment: Risk of adjustment problems and dating violence in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 282–289. Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Ruggiero, K. J., Danielson, C. K., Resnick, H. S., Hanson, R. F., Smith, D. W., et al. (2008). Prevalence and correlates of dating violence in a national sample of adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 755–762. Xue, Y., Zimmerman, M. A., & Cunningham, R. (2009). Relationship be- tween alcohol use and violent behavior among urban African American youths from adolescence to emerging adulthood: A longitudinal study. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 2041–2048.