College Drinking: Reframing a Social Problem

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Drinking has become recognized as one of the most important problems facing today's college student. Even though college drinking has increased only modestly over the past few decades, concern about its health, behavioral, and safety consequences has risen rapidly. This book examines college drinking as a social problem within higher education, based on interviews with many leading figures engaged in addressing the problem. It assesses the evidence about how many students drink or drink excessively, and what kinds of behavioral and health problems they have as a consequence. The book answers the crucial questions of why students drink and what mixture of personal and environmental factors shape college drinking. The complex links to campus crime and sexual assault are discussed fully. Key practical questions about effective prevention programs and countermeasures are answered in detail. Students and parents can take action to lower the risk of binge drinking by consulting an appendix, which explains how to use college guide data on 400 leading institutions or data about alcohol violations and crime available for several thousand colleges. Anyone concerned with higher education today will find a full discussion of the scope of the problem and what can be done about it.

Reviews

This is probably the best introduction to college drinking available. . . Recommended. All levels/libraries. * Choice *
In comparison to the other recent books on the topic, Dowdall's book is more broad based, yet also more comprehensive, and utilizes a wider range of scientific and professional resources, and provides more evidence-based suggestions for change to a wider audience. If there is a book that can reach all intended audiences (college administrators, governmental policy makers, practitioners, scientists, parents, and students), Dowdall's book seems to do it. Readers of varied backgrounds should all come away with useful information and suggestions for changes. * The Journal of Higher Education *
Dowdall has provided the reader with an excellent instrument for not only understanding the complexities of college drinking, but also how to develop prevention programs to address this complex social problem. * Journal of College Student Development *

Author Bio

George W. Dowdall is professor of sociology at Saint Joseph's University.