Alcoholism: Nature vs Nurture

Alcoholism: Nature vs Nurture

Abstract

Alcoholism is currently one of the significant socio-cultural aspects of modern society. The primary debate, however, is the factors that lead to an individual’s drinking behavior. Existing pieces of literature are classified into two: the first category states that alcoholism is by nature, where the child inherits the traits from the biological parent. The other type of literature indicates that alcoholism is by nurture, where the environment shapes the behavior of an individual. Based on human behavior theories such as the self-determinant theory and biological concepts, alcoholism is a trait that is impacted or learned from the environment, rather than being inherited from the biological parent. The aim of this research, therefore, is to describe how the environment affects the behavior of an individual towards alcohol intake. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative data that is obtained from secondary sources such as journals and reports. All the sources are from Academic Search Premier (Ebsco), PSYCHarticles, and SocINDEX, which contains peer-reviewed articles that eliminates bias and increases the credibility of the data obtained. To increase the validity of the research, the study used those studies that ignored the biological aspect of the correspondents, such as complex DNA composition. Instead, the study focused on the role of parenting in the development of character, where the parent might be the biological or the guardian. This strategy was efficient in understanding the perspectives of the correspondents who were not aware that it was possible to inherit such characteristics. In doing so, the correspondents are assumed to be objective as they would not blame their DNA for their behavior. The research reveals that environmental factors can either directly or indirectly cause an individual to become an alcoholic. These external factors include traumatic childhood experiences, socio-cultural trends, peer pressure, and parenting.

Alcoholism: Nature vs Nurture

Introduction

The topic of alcohol addiction is a significant area of discussion in society. In particular, determining whether an individual’s alcohol addiction is determined by nature or nurture has become a substantial area of study. As described by Ref1, nature is the set of traits, abilities, and capabilities that an individual inherits from biological parents that go on to affect their level of addiction.

On the other hand, ref1 describes nurture as the aspect that the environment is the primary determinant of an individual’s behavior, especially how they manage addiction. Existing pieces of literature, such as ref2 describes that particular genres are resistant to certain drugs while others are not. In one of his report on the topic, ref2 states that approximately 88% of the participants in the research who suffered from alcohol addiction were born by addicts. The researcher, therefore, noted that the individuals had copied the traits, abilities, and capacities from their biological parents. Ref2’s theory, however, has been criticized by several approaches. One, ref3 states that a part of the brain controls addiction referred to as HY, which cannot be inherited from biological parents. The HY, the author states, is in its neutral state when an infant is born and can be shaped in any way. Ref3 states that it is the environment that shapes the HY, which controls aspects such as language and culture and not biological inheritance. The aim of this essay, therefore, is to describe how addiction is caused by nurture by specifying early age traumatic events, socio-cultural trends, peer pressure, and parenting as the significant environmental factor leading to alcohol addiction.

Early Age Traumatic Events

Behavior is shaped during young age. As described by Ref1, most of the social practices are learned rather than inherited. This is because behavior is coded rather than genetically acquired. In a report aimed to understand factors leading to substance addiction, 100 participants were used as the population sample. The population was composed of people between 20 and 60 years who were suffering from substance addiction. The findings of this research showed that approximately 73 correspondents had a traumatic event in their childhood. The study further revealed that there was no particular pattern of whether the incident involved victims of substance addiction. This research findings, therefore, shows that people who underwent traumatic childhood had a more likelihood of getting involved in substance abuse. As described by ref1, traumatic events such as the loss of members of families, being bullied at school, sexual orientation, poverty, disabilities, among others were the significant causes of substance addiction among the correspondents. Such events meant that the correspondents lived in fear, shame, denial, and most importantly, rejection. To such victims of a traumatic childhood, substance abuse provided them with a tranquil escape from their misery. Ref1 further states that alcohol, in particular, is regarded by the majority of the people as an affordable stress reliever. Therefore, most of the victims of childhood trauma ultimately seek refuge in alcohol as they can escape their pain. However, as most of the traumatic events can be recurrent, the victims develop addiction by frequent use. In the long run, their childhood trauma affects their adulthood with addiction, which slows their development in essential areas such as career and family development.

Sociocultural Trends

The society that an individual grows in has adverse effects on their perception of alcohol and substance abuse. As described by ref3, sociocultural events form the core elements of the accepted code of behavior in a particular community. It is, therefore, possible to find a specific substance is considered illegal in some countries and legal in others. For example, marijuana is a commercial crop in Jamaica, but is illegal in the U.S. Therefore, in a society like Jamaica, most people will tend to use Marijuana because the community accepts it as a popular product. In most states in the U.S., however, an individual is perceived as abusing the product and is punishable by law. Similarly, most European cultures such as in Ireland and Scotland consider a glass of wine as an essential dinner commodity. Therefore, most members of such family are unable to call out on addiction as it is an underlying commodity. As described by ref5, addiction is based on sociocultural trends. In this case, the author states that every particular society develops its norms and the extent to which a certain level can be referred to as an addiction. As children grow in an environment that considers alcohol as “an agreeable” beverage, the majority of them are unable to control their intake later in life. Besides, it can be argued that such societies where alcohol is a socially accepted beverage will, in most cases, fail to call out the behavior in their children.

Consequently, there lacks the social conviction of good and right, which is essential in therapeutic recovery among alcohol addicts. Hence, the author points out that it is the socio-cultural trends that are aligned to perceiving alcohol as a natural product that has led to an increase in addiction. On the other hand, developing counties regard alcoholism, especially for top brands as an expression of wealth. Therefore, alcoholism becomes a coveted behavior to identify with a particular social class. Such sociocultural trends are the primary reasons why societies such as Ireland and Scotland, and South Africa have the highest level of alcohol addiction.

Peer Pressure

The Self-determination theory by ref6 describes the theoretical framework that peer pressure has on addiction. The theory states that it is the need for competence, autonomy and relatedness that are most relevant in understanding why people copy behavior expressed by others. As described by the author, competence refers to the expression of particular characteristics that shows one’s ability to be viewed as fitting of a specific status. In most case, competence affects teenagers who are in their early stage of exposure. At this stage, most of the teenagers are under the supervision of their parents or guardians and are perceived as children. In cases where his peers avoid such an individual due to parental control, most of the victims seek substance abuse to change their status. In the aim to prove to their peers as mature enough to defy parental control, most teenagers engage in alcohol consumption as an expression of competence.

In terms of autonomy, ref6 states that it takes a high level of self-control to be an active member of a social group without using what other members abuse. The author says that it is human nature to alienate what people cannot control. Therefore, most members of a social group will tend to be alienated in cases where they do not consume drugs such as alcohol. In the aim of saving such friendships, an individual will tend to become a drug abuser.

The third concept of the self-determination theory is relatedness. As described by Ref6, relatedness focuses on how humans are motivated to engage in activities to gain a relationship with a famous figure or a particular trait. In the younger generation, in particular, participating in parties and such events is regarded as a better and fun personality. People who attend or host parties tend to become more popular among their peers. On the other hand, people who do not host or attend parties are alienated and seen as “not cool”. Such classifications affect most of the teenagers between 15 and 19 years; hence they end up engaging in alcohol consumption to be relatable with the “cool culture”.

Parenting

The role of parenting in the growth of a child is one of the most researched topics. Existing pieces of literature, such as ref6, states that the parent has a crucial role in shaping the perception of a child towards drug abuse. The author says that the parents are the first practical examples in a child’s learning curve. In a study conducted by ref6, which involved 50 participants who were alcohol addicts, the findings showed that there is a high connection between parents who are drug addicts and the same behavior in their children. In this report, 85% stated that their parents were alcohol addicts. A further study on the 85% of those that indicated that they came from alcohol addict family showed that 91% of them experienced their parents drinking since a young age. The participants were either sent to fetch alcohol from the store or asked to put some in the glass. Although 88% of the parents did not give their children alcohol, the children became exposed and consequently becoming addicts. The findings of the research show that early exposure to alcohol, especially when it involved parents, the children adopted the behavior in their adulthood. It can be argued that the copying of behavior in alcoholism is due to the role played by the parent as a role model or as a first teacher.

Conclusion

The topic of alcoholism and its causes is one of the most debated areas in society today. Besides, a significant amount of research has been invested in the area. In particular, most of the study aims to identify whether alcoholism is developed by interacting with nature or genetic inheritance. Although children can inherit characteristics such as height and other internal features such as resistance to diseases, alcoholism is a trait resulting from environmental interactions. Based on the existing literature, alcoholism is determined by traumatic events at childhood, sociocultural trends, peer pressure, and parenting. However, this research would want to recommend several areas of research. One, this research found out that there is a category of alcohol addicts that are not in any categories aforementioned in this study. Therefore, it would be essential for future research to execute an in-depth analysis of the groups eliminated in this study, such as those that did not have traumatic childhood among other factors that are proven to cause alcoholism.

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