Binge Drinking in Australia: Symbolic Interactionism Perspective

Introduction

This essay will discuss some of the phenomena of binge drinking in Australia context through symbolic interactionism perspective. For this essay to discuss binge drinking in the Australian context, it will look at statistics on binge drinking; it will also look at how binge drinking affects society, the age gap that is affected, the social groups it effects, the impact it has on society as a whole. It will give an overview of the three elements in symbolic interactionism theory and apply these theories to binge drinking; it will also define symbolic interactionism and apply it to explain the origins of binge drinking.

Social problem

Alcohol is the most consumed recreational drug in Australia because Alcohol is consumed across Australia it is not considered a drug and is considered socially acceptable in Australian society. However, most drinking that occurs in society is binge drinking (Australian Drug Foundation, 2014). Alcohol is  mishandle drug in Australia 86.2% of teenagers aged fourteen years and above have consumed alcohol once in their lives, 37.3% of this individuals go on to consume alcohol on a weekly or daily basis (Australian Drug Foundation, 2014). The age bracket for binge drinking is 70 plus years, binge drinking common platform is alcohol abuse (Australian Drug Foundation, 2014). Alcohol is prevalent in Australia because alcohol is prevalent it is not considered a drug or harmful, this leads to individuals drinking too heavy which leads to binge drinking (Hoops & Sean B, 2012). (Matthews S, Dietze P, Room R, Chikritzhs T, & D, 2013) (Roche ANN et al., 2009).

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Long-term and short-term binge drinking can be unsafe and damaging. Some of the short-term effects that come from binge drinking are hangovers, headache, loss of memory, nausea or vomiting, shaking. Some long-term effects that come from binge drinking are people needings alcohol feeling as If they are dependant on it, the risk of getting brain damage or liver diseases (Taylor et al., 2010 ). Binge Drinking can have these effects also, overdosing from alcohol poisoning, car accidents, injuries such as falls these effects can lead to severe injuries or death. Lengthy consumption of alcohol has been linked to sexual dysfunction issues and increased cancer risks such as throat cancer and stomach cancer (Taylor et al., 2010 ).

Binge drinking is consuming extensive amounts of alcohol over a short period with the intention of becoming intoxicated, with immediate results. Single occasion drinking and binge drinking are very different; binge drinking is continuous consumption of alcohol over days and weeks, this may lead to long-effects of alcoholism, Single occasion drinking is consuming alcohol on special occasions (Taylor et al., 2010 ). Binge drinking affects the community directly because some individuals may take to drinking during official work hours, and these individuals can not work productively because of the short-term effects discussed above (Taylor et al., 2010 ). Binge drinking can affect society in through infertility as the familys that binge drinks are suffering from sexual dysfunction (Taylor et al., 2010 ).