Sociological Like Labelling Theory: The Application Of Strain Theory

The condition of drug addiction is ongoing and devastating, marked by an uncontrollable urge to seek and use drugs despite the severe negative effects they cause. It's a situation that can dominate someone's life, impacting mental and physical health as well as every aspect of their existence required for stable living with purpose. When a person becomes trapped in addiction, it may slowly escalate from using drugs recreationally or powerfully to abusing them, leading to dependency which controls one's life. This disorder is a deep test of self-management and the ability to withstand powerful drug desires. Knowledge about addiction is very important for creating good actions and helping people during their recovery process. Many sociological
The concept behind strain theory is that when there’s a gap between what society wants such as wealth or success and the means to these things are difficult, individuals might feel strained and feel the need to use shortcuts to obtain these riches in life. This tension could result in deviant actions because people are attempting to reach these desired objectives using unorthodox or non-accepted means. This strain is caused by individuals' inability to achieve their desired goals, which is exactly the motivation required to motivate someone to commit to drugs as an escape or coping mechanism, thus leading to exposure and inevitable addiction. Generally, “drug use is one way adolescents mitigate negative emotions brought on by aversive environmental stimuli” (Drapela, 2006). These negative stimuli can be any drastic event in one's life. Enough to swing someone in the wrong direction, strain theory presents a logical and presentable notion that a lot of drug abusers suffer heavy amounts of strain in their lives and that their abuse of drugs is simply a method to deal with their trauma. Strain can come in three main forms “(1) the failure to achieve positively valued goals; (2) the removal of positively valued stimuli; and (3) the presentation of noxious or negative stimuli” (Greco and Curci, 2016). All three of
Conflict theory, as it relates to drug use, suggests that drug abuse and the resulting legal and social consequences are outcomes of structural inequalities within society. Conflict theory presents an understanding of drug use that highlights the influence of social and economic power battles in forming individual actions. As per this perspective, society's arrangements are naturally uneven as they concentrate advantages on specific groups rather than distributing them evenly among all members. These disparities could possibly result in growing stress and fewer opportunities for less powerful communities, which could make them resort to using drugs as a means of finding relief or expressing their dissent against a system that suppresses them. The people who are most affected by drug use and addiction usually come from disadvantaged communities. They experience poverty, lack of education, unemployment, or underemployment. The criminalization of drugs also impacts them greatly as “they face high arrest rates and severe legal consequences” (Coomber & Moyle, 2019). Conflict theory views drug use as an unequal power distribution in society. It suggests that “when some people have more resources and opportunities compared to others, it creates a situation where those without these advantages are pushed towards illegal activities such as substance abuse” (Robinson & Scherlen,