StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Binge Drinking as a Social Problem in Britain - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Binge Drinking as a Social Problem in Britain" focuses on the critical analysis of how the British national newspapers have constructed 'binge drinking' as a social problem. It is clear indeed binge drinking is a widespread problem in Britain…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.2% of users find it useful
Binge Drinking as a Social Problem in Britain
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Binge Drinking as a Social Problem in Britain"

Analysis From the research carried out, it was clear indeed binge drinking is a wide spread problem in Britain. According an article by Robertson in the Guardian newspaper, most teenagers in Britain think that there is nothing wrong with binge drinking. This was evident in the fact that they frequented bars and clubs to take part in the happy hours when drinks could be sold cheaply. If not at these venues, most of the teenagers agreed that they would have no option but to take alcohol in their homes and this was not their preferred mode of dinking. These teenagers also knew the consequences of excessive drinking, with some admitting that they were likely to suffer ill health in future as a result of this habit. The drinking culture is quite prevalent given that there are parties on a regular basis where people go and consume large amounts of alcohol. Despite the hangovers that are as a result of this, most people did not mind this and soon went back to binge drinking with their pals. Most of the people started drinking at a young age because it was considered to be a sign of maturity and because it was done openly by their parents at meal times. There is also easy access to alcohol and people can buy it without any fear of compromise. Most of the drinkers also drink alcohol in pints and not in small amounts or units as recommended. Initially, drinking was mostly associated with males, but over time, more women have taken up the habit. It is common to see an image of a woman staggering while dressed in heels. According to Grubb, a Guardian blogger, this is a wrong depiction of the problem as drinking is spread evenly across both the genders and any measure to reduce drinking should include both the sexes. People who drink more are likely to lose control of their behavior and will most likely do things they would not do if they were sober. Binge drinking has resulted to an increase in the rate of violence in Britain. This seriously affected the security situation and the authorities have had to come up with ways by which they can tackle this problem.According to the Guardian newspaper articles, women who drank excessively were likely to develop complications if they are pregnant. They also have a higher chance of giving birth to underweight children and this reduced the chances of survival for these infants. The authorities have had to come up with official guidelines that are meant to restrict drinking for pregnant women. Social media has been at the forefront in promoting drinking among the young people with drinking contests receiving thousands of likes. This age group also has a perception that binge drinking is cool and they cannot have a good time unless they engage in binge drinking. All across the United Kingdom, there has been an increase in binge drinking and over the last decade the number of hospital admissions due to drinking related incidences has doubled. Given the group mentality of the youth most of them do not consider the health implications of this habit and are only concerned of having a good time presently, hangovers withstanding.Binge drinking has fatal effects and this has widely been documented in the media. Hotels are not strict when admitting young people to their establishments and most do not bother to follow up with the activities that these people are doing in the hotel rooms. The result is that over the years there has been an increase in the number of young people who have died as a result of falling over hotel balconies. Most of these accidents occur when the victims are drunk and are not wary of their surroundings.Campbell carried out interviews which involved mothers who were involved in binge drinking and they confirmed the reports that the habit led to poor parenthood. Over 20% of them confirmed that in the last one month they might have been too drunk to take proper care of their children. Most had tried to break away from this habit but found it difficult due to pressure from their friends. Discussion What was common in most of these instances is that most people started drinking due to the influence of their friends. When they attended social gatherings, majority of the people would be drinking large amounts of alcohol. As a result, the few that were not drinking could feel left out and eventually also start drinking. The end result is that everybody would be drinking. It was evident that people in social gatherings were likely to drink much more than people who were alone as drinking made such social gatherings more ‘fun’ than when alcohol was missing. Apparently it made people open up and they could relate more easily with each other. According to the law, teenagers cannot buy alcohol from liquor stores. However, what was clear was that most could easily get access to fake identification documents and this gave them the ability to buy alcohol. They were therefore able to be part of the drinking culture in Britain. Binge drinking cannot be said to be only due to excessive drinking among young people. In most households, parents openly drink in front of their children most particularly during meal times and when watching television. This makes the children believe that there is nothing wrong with this habit since their parents are doing it openly. There therefore begin experimenting with their friends and with time they get addicted to the habit and cannot change. They therefore contribute to the statistics of binge drinking and in future will indirectly influence their children to develop the same habits. Due to increasing feminism, women have become more liberal and are also engaging in this habit for pleasure. Binge drinking is therefore not only a preserve for men, but also women who have fully embraced the habit. Most young people who engage in binge drinking argue that this is their time to have fun since they do not have any pending responsibilities like older members of the society. They therefore do not mind getting drunk and having to deal with the after effects such as hangovers. Other countries have stringent laws when it comes to alcohol consumption with some such as the Arab countries prohibiting public consumption of alcohol. However, in United Kingdom the sentences for drunkenness and alcohol related crimes has been low and people still go ahead to engage in binge drinking. There have been several campaigns to warn people about the dangers of binge drinking, but none seems to have the effect required on the general population as sale of alcoholic products continue to increase. Works cited Campbell, Denis . "Binge drinking increases chances of underweight babies." The Guardian [UK] 13 Sept. 2013: n. pag. www.theguardian.com. Web. 7 May 2014. Robertson, Poppy. "What teenagers think about binge drinking." The Guardian [UK] 24 Apr. 2014: n. pag. Grubb, Sophie. "Students: let,s quit the binge drinking." The Guardian [UK] 28 Feb. 2014: n. pag. www.theguardian.com. Web. 6 May 2014. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Medium research : How have the British national newspapers constructed Paper”, n.d.)
Medium research : How have the British national newspapers constructed Paper. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1644891-medium-research-how-have-the-british-national-newspapers-constructed-binge-drinking-as-a-social-problem
(Medium Research : How Have the British National Newspapers Constructed Paper)
Medium Research : How Have the British National Newspapers Constructed Paper. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1644891-medium-research-how-have-the-british-national-newspapers-constructed-binge-drinking-as-a-social-problem.
“Medium Research : How Have the British National Newspapers Constructed Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1644891-medium-research-how-have-the-british-national-newspapers-constructed-binge-drinking-as-a-social-problem.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Binge Drinking as a Social Problem in Britain

Critique the Responses of Public Health and Health Promotion Agents

These initiatives could be developed at different levels: first, sessions would be arranged at schools of all levels for informing pupils on the effects of binge drinking, both the short and the long term ones; pupils should be given the chance to discuss with their teachers on the particular problem.... This paper ''Critique the Responses of Public Health and Health Promotion Agents'' tells us that the statistics related to the subject reveal that the adults who exceed the daily drinking level is quite high....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Binge Drinking among Students

The paper "Binge Drinking among Students" describes that Binge drinking has become a major problem in both sexes among young people.... The following is an intervention that I have developed as a health psychologist is aimed at curbing or rather reducing the levels of binge drinking among the youth.... The intervention that I intend to develop to curb the problem of binge drinking involves society trials that will be aimed at reducing this type of drinking among the youth in London....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Binge Drinking: The Culture Of Excess Leads in the USA

This essay "binge drinking: The Culture Of Excess Leads in the USA" is about The culture of excess: excess in the form of excess pocket money or financial reserves, excess exposure, and excess stress in the form of social acceptance lay the foundation for addiction and dependency.... Social drinking could also be one of the triggers for binge drinking.... In some societies, binge drinking often happens in groups.... ith time, the definition and reasons for binge drinking too have altered a little....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Binge Drinking Research Paper

One of the most common definitions, considered to be a standard one, belongs to the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) defining binge drinking as "four or more standard drinks for women and six or more standard drinks for men per drinking period"(cited in T.... The figure corresponds to some extent to the surveys in britain - 24-64% in males, 14-63% in females(Gill, 2002 cited in S.... During the past couple of decades, numerous definitions for 'binge drinking' emerged as a result of various research activities....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Binge Drinking in Britain

However unlike in Poland, the trend of binge drinking has been picking up in britain and it has come with various social and health complications.... Binge drinking has been a problem in other countries in Europe like Poland although the recent data shows that the trend has been reducing of late in the country.... binge drinking is slowly becoming a national disaster in the UK.... There are more and more people how are getting involved in binge drinking on daily bases....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Critically discuss being drinking among women and particularly among asian women

s a modern phenomenon, binge drinking is more of a problematic form of drinking as opposed to pleasurable drinking.... binge drinking is a relatively controversial topic in academic research due to the lack of standard definition precision as well as empirical cohesion.... There is little research about binge drinking in the minority population such as the Asian population due to cultural.... This paper examines the epidemiological research related to binge drinking among women and particularly among Asian women....
15 Pages (3750 words) Literature review

Health Promotion Campaign on Alcohol Consumption

This research "Health Promotion Campaign on Alcohol Consumption" focuses on describing what alcoholism and binge drinking is and how Health Promotion Campaign helps to prevent them.... he central discussion is focused on approaches that draw in an entire community to prevent binge drinking from turning into the disease of alcoholism.... he Health Promotion Campaign came into existence to try and minimize the ongoing problems associated with alcoholism and binge drinking among adults as well as the youth population within the United Kingdom....
17 Pages (4250 words) Research Paper

Binge Drinking among Teenagers

"binge drinking among Teenagers" paper analyzes a target audience of teenagers and provides epidemiology of binge drinking among these teenagers in the United Kingdom.... Current approximation discovers that about 44 percent of college students are resulted to be involved in binge drinking behavior.... Drinking among teenagers has been on an increase in recent years and it has been seen that binge drinking among teenagers is seen to be most affecting these teenagers in their future life....
7 Pages (1750 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us