Don Haskins on Racism Essay Example for Free

Don Haskins on Racism Essay The final buzzer rang off in Maryland’s Cole Field House basketball court. Many watched a game of Texas Western Miners and Kentucky Wildcats on March 19th, 1966, and yet most didn’t realize they just witnessed sports ethics redefine itself. It was a championship, an all or nothing statement for the players of Texas Western. The coach of the Miners, Don Haskins, had just won the NCAA title with five African American starters. They won a mere sports game, but it would prove to be much more than that. A hero of integration, Haskins revolutionized college basketball by the way he indentified a player, by skill and not color. The 1960’s was a time of many cultural controversies that aspired to what America is today. It was not only about Vietnam, the hippie escapades, or the latest eight-track of the Beatles. The decade has been dubbed the civil rights era. Culture was starting to see African American integration from the help of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. However not all heroes are recognized immediately, and Don Haskins, whether he planned it or not, helped pave the way to equality in sports. Before Haskins started to coach at Texas Western, the college recruited and played African Americans when it was typical for teams to have full-white roster and oppose integration into basketball (Schecter, 1998). No one imagined the day when five blacks would start at a pre-dominantly white college. Many whites actually did not want to have African Americans on their team at all in fear that it would cause integration through all civil aspects. Frank. Fritzpatrick, author of And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, concurs, â€Å"When Negroes and whites meet on the athletic fields on a basis of complete equality, it is only natural that this sense of equality carries into the daily living of these people† (1999). Once they got on the court, the blacks were still held back and treated unfairly. One of the seven black Miner players, Harry Flournoy, stated â€Å"All the best players on the team were black, but there was this unspoken rule that no more than three blacks could play at once. It was rough, but that’s the way it was† (Schecter, 1998). However, once Haskins came to Texas Western he followed its footsteps of recruiting black players; he sought out only the best players while ignoring the color of the players’ skin. Gathering players around the country, Haskins found skilled African Americans such as David Lattin, Harry Flournoy, and the five other players of 1966 title game. Fitzpatrick explains â€Å"they wound up being the core players for a basketball backwater team from El Paso that would force the all-white team from â€Å"pedigreed Kentucky† to crack† (1999). For four years, Haskins coached the Miners and played black players. With the fifth season being wildly successful, Haskins struck awe in white crowds as he started all black players in the championship. I remember walking out that night listening to the Kentucky fans saying, We have to get some of them,' today’s Maryland coach Gary Williams said. Thats what they called the black players ‘them’ but they had to admit that they could play. Haskins changed the game of basketball when he started those five black players. Whether he knew that it was going to change civil rights from then on, he played them to prove Kentucky Coach Adolph Rupp wrong. â€Å"Coach Haskins told us that Rupp has said in a press conference before the game that five black players couldn’t defeat five white players. Coach Haskins decided only the African American players would play that night, said Litten. † (Championing Divsersity, 2006). Contrary to the public eye, Haskins stated I wasnt trying to make a statement, he often said about beating Kentucky. I was trying to win a game. However, Feinstein argues, â€Å" of course he was trying to make a statement. But Haskins had made it long before that night. Hed made it when he got to Texas Western in 1961 and began recruiting black players from everywhere† (2008). Some believe that night did not move Americans until it was brought up years later. Lattin just wanted to win a title, but neither he nor Haskins could have guessed it would help alter history. It never seemed to cross their minds until approached later as addressed in this newspaper article, â€Å" ‘it wasn’t a big, overwhelming event until years later when people looked back and said it was the sports equivalent of the board of education decision. The racial connotations and overtones weren’t really played out all that much at the time but I still think it was one of the most notable games I ever covered’, said photographer Rick Clarkson. †(Championing Diversity, 2006). With there being truth in what Clarkson said, it did not take until the event’s movie, Glory Road, for integration to ensue in the NCAA. Haskins and the Miners pushed the motion ever further that March night. â€Å"If you want to get down to the facts, we were more white-oriented than any of the other teams. We played the most intelligent, the most boring, and the most disciplined game of them all† (Fitzpatrick, 1999). No one could have said it better then the Miner’s Willie Worsley. They deserved the title. Haskins set out to be a basketball coach, not a hero. He recruited the best players he could find, knowing others would object their presence, but didnt care. Haskins wanted to win.

free america :: essays research papers

free americaa  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is freedom really free? We all say we live in a free society, but if you walk across the street with out a cross walk you could be arrested! How can that be freedom, when you look at it that way It dosent really seem free. There has been major achievements in history to make our world free with out question. We the American people have strived for centuries to keep America free we fought the British to be free and create a beautiful country , we fought for the freeing of the slaves in the Civil War, also the nazi’s in World War Two who where trying to put a fascist government rule on Germany and the world. (The exact opsite of freedom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They say that Freedom comes at a price ; why a price on freedom dosent that defeat the purpose? Wont that negate freedom if you have to give something up for it? Freedom seems to me to be something that is with out price, unexchangeable for anything ,any reason, any objective. Its irreplaceable in all expressive senses it possesses and represents. It retains and upholds liberty, independence, privilege, and license to be and to live your life as you see suitable. Freedom is open to anyone who will fight for its existence if that fight is only to say that they yearn for it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the most part we see freedom as free, if we want to go out at 3:00 a.m. in the early morning for ice-cream and shotgun shells we are â€Å"Free† to do just that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We as American citizens are accustom to many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted such as the freedom to speak out against anyone who is trying to infarct upon our civil liberties, the right to choose who will represent us to the rest of the world, and the freedom to make and change any rule set forth if it does not apply.

Skewed Unemployment Rate

Define the Problem: The real national unemployment rate is higher than the U. S. Department of Labor’s December figure shows. When the underemployed and discouraged are added to the unemployment numbers, the national unemployed rate rises to 16. 6%. This causes morale to be low and Americans seem to be giving up. Variables Identified by Order of Influence: 1. The government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work. The unemployment numbers don’t account for part-time workers or people seeking advanced degrees to improve their chances of landing a higher paying job. 2. More jobs were reported created than were really actually reported. Problem Statement: Unemployment fell by almost half a percentage point in December, dropping the national unemployment rate to 9. 4%, according to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, January 7, 2011. Unemployment has been high but relatively stable throughout 2010, ranging from 9. 5 to 9. 9%. December’s figure of 9. 4% is the lowest unemployment rate for all of 2010. The official unemployment index, based on a monthly survey of sample households, counts only people who reported looking for work in the past four weeks. The national unemployment rate wrapped up 2010 by significantly dropping to 9. 4 percent in December, the lowest level in 19 months despite a constant 9 percent unemployment rate for 20 months in a row, a new post-World War II record. There are two main reasons for the skewed unemployment numbers. The first key reason for the drop was that the government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work. It doesn't account for part-time workers who want to work more hours but can't, given the tight job market. And it doesn't include those who have given up trying to find work. The second reason is that more jobs were reported that were grossed. Meaning jobs were posted but never existed and thus lowered the actual job openings lowering the unemployment rate. It's bad enough that the nation's jobless rate is 9. 4%. But the real national employment rate is even higher than the U. S. Department of Labor's December figure shows. The truth is that even the broader measure of unemployment doesn't fully capture how difficult the job market is for U. S. workers. It doesn't include self-employed workers whose incomes have shriveled. It doesn't look at former full-time employees who have accepted short-term contracts, without benefits, and at a fraction of their former salaries. And it doesn't count the many would-be workers who are going back to school, taking on more debt, in hopes that advanced degrees will improve their chances of landing jobs. The purpose of this report is to discover and offer a solution; if for no other reason, to provide a better education on how the U. S. Department of Labor manipulates the actual employment rate. Definition of Terms BLS- Bureau of Labor Statistics Corporate Outsourcing- Creation of jobs overseas by American businesses. Literature Review Many researchers have studied statistics of unemployment, available jobs, and causes related to the influx of unemployment in recent years. The following resources were very interesting and useful for my research. (IStockAnaylais. com, New Haven Register) This source discusses the issues regarding job growth over the last 2 years. Wall Street views this report as that the job expectations fell short of everyone’s expectations and the unemployment rate was likely skewed by seasonal factors. Public jobs grew at a steady rate but the government slashed many jobs due to congressional mandates set at an earlier time period. Work hours were also mentioned throughout my research of this article. Shorter work weeks having many worthy job seekers and economists scared and with the decline work hours many are starting to stay in panic mode. This article touched many key points regarding the number unemployed as well as the averages associated with the overall hours worked in a normal work week. (Newsday. om) Provide me with handy research data. I found this article to be instrumental for my research. This article covered the overall drop in the unemployment rate and it’s significant in ones respect because a falling unemployment rate during the job market recovery has often just reflected a rise in the number of discouraged workers – those unemployed people who have given up looking for a job and thus aren't included in the unemployment rate. Economist cautioned no t to expect too much too fast and to stay upbeat. The article also mentioned the difference between the recessions, stating this period was different because of the low amount of work hours involved. According to the article many Americans were involuntary forced to work part-time and counted as employed. Factor in these involuntarily underemployed workers plus the burgeoning number of discouraged job seekers, and California's real unemployment rate is 20%. Many people have been unemployed for lengthy periods of time and have giving up all hope. These people were also not reported in the overall national unemployment rate. EmployeeIssues. com) reported the unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance, because they can’t find full-time jobs or their work hours were cut. The article went into detail regarding how much the average part-times wages were and how people were unable to maintain adequate healthc are coverage for their immediate families. The article went on to say the unemployment rate also does not include â€Å"marginally-attached† unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they stopped looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or their collective perception that there simply are no jobs. With the average person collecting unemployment for 26 weeks the article countered that by giving numbers more in the 33 week range for collecting benefits. There were many factors involved with work hours and other limiting issues covered within this article which supported my research. (Examineer. com) contained valuable information vital to my research. Some major issues were discussed within this article to include one final example of the disconnect between government reporting and the reality of the situation comes in the world of Unemployment Insurance. In many states across the union, unemployment benefits have been extended to unprecedented lengths. In Michigan, one could maintain their benefits for more than two years depending upon their circumstance. However, normal unemployment benefits are granted in intervals of 26 weeks for those who held the same position for one year. Here is the denominator to this equation. Anyone who has been collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will not be counted among the unemployed. Thus, those who are still receiving state benefits in their 27th week are considered ‘out of the labor force' or 'employed'. Summary The issue that comes to the forefront of the debate on the reality of unemployment in the United States is that of honesty in government disclosures, the ability to skew statistics to create false optimism among the populace and the overall contradiction of cumulative job losses against a declining rate of unemployment. To understand this fully, one must understand how the government classifies citizens in their surveying as well as the political implications associated with this monthly report. There are millions of people out there without jobs, who have exhausted their benefits, who are simply not being counted. The above resources will help me determine the actual cause and how it will impact the struggling economy’s advancement towards a manageable workforce and improved lifestyle. Report the Findings Many researchers have studied statistics of unemployment, available jobs, and causes related to the influx of unemployment in the recent years. The following resources were very interesting and useful for my research. The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. This alternative measure creates a much higher number. The federal government uses metric analysis to determine unemployment numbers each month, and sometimes per week. However, those metrics are skewed by political anomalies put in to try to make the numbers fit the agenda. For example, the nefarious birth/death rate assumptions which have no true basis for statistics, but in reality keep the numbers low to form a more positive or less negative outlook on unemployment. According to (Newsday. com) the overall drop in the unemployment rate was significant in one respect because a falling unemployment rate during the job market recovery has often just reflected a rise in the number of discouraged workers – those unemployed people who have given up looking for a job and thus aren't included in the unemployment rate. But this was not the case so much in December 2010. We're on a growth path,† said Ken Goldstein, economist for The Conference Board, a Manhattan business research group. But he cautioned not to expect too much, too fast. â€Å"It has gone up a lot because a lot of people have been put on short hours,† said economist Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization. â€Å"And there are a lot of discouraged workers. † Shortened work hours are, in fact, one of the ways this recession is different from the ones in the early 1980s and early 1990s, Burtless said. Another difference is the huge number of people who have been permanently laid off. â€Å"Some people have lost their income altogether, and others have seen a drop in hours even if they remain employed,† Burtless said. â€Å"It was a double whammy for labor income. † The two trends are especially apparent in California, where the official unemployment rate is 12. 6%. Severe layoffs in early 2009 wiped out 100,000 jobs a month, according to Michael S. Bernick, a research fellow at the Milken Institute and a former head of California's labor department. The number of people working less than 35 hours a week has exploded. The recession has left 1. 5 million Californians involuntarily working part time, though they are classified as employed. Factor in these involuntarily underemployed workers plus the burgeoning number of discouraged job seekers, and California's real unemployment rate is 20%. Another difference in this recession — and a likely reason for the high number of discouraged job seekers — is the number of people who have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. The Wall Street Journal) reports that 7 million Americans have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more, and the majority of them — 4. 7 million — have been out of work for a year or more. California, the number out of work more than 27 weeks is almost 900,000, more than the population of San Francisco. â€Å"That largely reflects how more severe this recession has been than of 1982 and of the 1990s,† said Bernick, who has worked in the job-training field since the late 1970s. Now, although severe layoffs are no longer occurring, hiring has not picked up significantly, the labor market is still very, very slow,† Bernick said. â€Å"Each job (opening) brings tens, usually hundreds, of applicants. † According to (EmployeeIssues. com) â€Å"The unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance, because they can’t find full-time jobs or their work hours were cut. Counting part-timers and full-timers, the average workweek in December was unchanged from November at 4. 3 hours. Average hourly earnings increased by 3 cents to $22. 78. † The unemployment rate also does not include â€Å"marginally-attached† unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they stopped looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or their collective perception that there simply are no jobs. The number of involuntarily part-timers was around 8. 9 million in December, down from about 9. 1 a year earlier. The number of marginally-attached unemployed workers was a little over 2. 6 million, up from about 2. million in December 2009. Among the marginally-attached, about 1. 3 million were so-called â€Å"discouraged workers† who gave up looking for work due to their shared perception that there are no jobs, about the same as in November but up by about 389,000 from a year ago. The BLS counted a total of about 14. 5 million workers as unemployed in December, down by 556,000 from November and thus, why the unemployment rate dropped from 9. 8 to 9. 4 percent. The average period of unemployment was 34. 2 weeks, up from 33. 9 in November and 29. 3 a year ago. The number of long-term unemployed workers, those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, increased from about 6. 3 to 6. 4 million in December, accounting for 44. 3 percent of the unemployed workers that the BLS counted as such. State unemployment benefits typically last only 26 weeks without state or federal extensions. The job growth, while encouraging, did not match economists' expectation that the nation would have added 150,000 to 200,000 jobs last month. Hopes were high, especially after payroll and staffing firm ADP reported earlier this week the economy added 279,000 last month. We underperformed a bit on the job front,† Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist at Data Core Partners in New Haven, said of the government report. Job figures and the unemployment rate come from surveys of businesses and households. â€Å"The numbers which carry more weight are the job numbers, by far,† Klepper-Smith said. â€Å"It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs. † The une mployment rate, meanwhile, likely was skewed by seasonal factors in December, he said, since â€Å"there is no good justification fundamentally for a four-tenths-of-a-point decline. According to the (Examiner. com) one final example of the disconnect between government reporting and the reality of the situation comes in the world of Unemployment Insurance. In many states across the union, unemployment benefits have been extended to unprecedented lengths. In Michigan, one could maintain their benefits for more than two years depending upon their circumstance. However, normal unemployment benefits are granted in intervals of 26 weeks for those who held the same position for one year. Here is the denominator to this equation. Anyone who has been collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will not be counted among the unemployed. Thus, those who are still receiving state benefits in their 27th week are considered ‘out of the labor force' or 'employed'. Explanation of Findings What these findings paint is an unrealistic picture, continuing claims and the jobless rate help provide a snapshot of the overall condition of employment. While the jobless rate can, over time, somewhat track the more prominent unemployment rate found in the monthly labor report produced by the BLS, it has its flaws. The Labor Department provides the following explanation: â€Å"Some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed. † That is, they're not counted as unemployed, but likely would be in the BLS report. Therefore, fluctuations in the jobless rate might not necessarily be reflective of what the trend in the unemployment rate will look like in the monthly labor report. Initial claims data are used to detect emerging employment trends. Outsized gains garner attention because they suggest looming employment weakness, which could spread to the rest of the economy. Outsized decreases imply impending employment strength. This data series is volatile. Extreme weather conditions create commensurate extremes in the data. This can happen for two reasons: either weather conditions prevented people from filing, or it temporarily or permanently put them out of work. Seasonal adjustments sometimes do an inadequate job of capturing seasonal changes. It can take several weeks for the data to be considered representative of what's really going on in the economy. The unemployment rate is calculated as (# of unemployed people)/ (# of unemployed + # of employed people) as calculated by the surveys run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (assuming you're in the US, most developed countries have similar statistical bureaus that run similar surveys). I haven't checked what the BLS definition is, but in Australia unemployed means that you were actively seeking work or were waiting to start work – the idea being that this excludes people who are unable to work, or retired, or otherwise wouldn't get jobs even if there were jobs to get. In that sense, the unemployment rate has nothing to do with how many jobs there are out there to lose. However, the movement in the unemployment rate could certainly reduce not because the economy is improving but because it can't get any worse. Also, there's some argument over the definition of â€Å"employed†, since international convention allows for anyone who worked at least one hour to count as employed, meaning that people with part-time or casual jobs with very few hours would be able to work more hours if they were available may be â€Å"underemployed† (which is not measured in the unemployment rate). Recommendation for Change There are millions of people out there without jobs, who have exhausted their benefits, who are simply not being counted so the government can look like heroes. I suggest all people who have exhausted benefits write their congressman so they can be counted. If the people don't speak up, then nothing will be done. Nothing is getting better. There are no jobs (unless you are in the health care field), and the economy still stinks. A simple solution would be for the state to continue having people who are unemployed to claim weeks online even after benefits are exhausted. This would require a simple upgrade to the state's already-existing database, to include ineligible claimants as well. If all states did the same, a true jobless figure could be attained, and the seriousness of the problem would be brought to light. Corporate outsourcings of American jobs are what have hurt our country's financial infrastructure, nothing else. If we don't stop them now, it may not be our country anymore in the future. The people need to wake up and start writing. Don't believe the drivel they feed us every day!

Drug Addiction Functionalism - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3068 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/03/22 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Drug Abuse Essay Did you like this example? Abstract Addiction seems to be a hot-button issue of society as of late, particularly with the influence of the opioid epidemic. Opinions on addiction and therefore addicts range from the utmost sympathy to utter disgust, and it seems to be a frequent social battle on whether or not addicts deserve treatment or an unceremonial death. While people bicker on what current addicts deserve or what their lives should look like, there is arguably not enough attention focused on the trials and tribulations that addicts go through on a daily basis, or perhaps how addiction grasps people in the first place.. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Drug Addiction Functionalism" essay for you Create order Why do some addicts have a story that evokes sympathy, while others are regarded as similar to trash? How does addiction persevere, despite our best and most modern attempts to facilitate recovery and sobriety? Social theory can provide a variety of answers to said questions, but functionalism, and more specifically strain theory, may provide some telling answers. Functionalism was expanded in the early 1900s by sociologist Emile Durkheim. Essentially, the understanding of functionalism is that everyone has a place within society, and that some people need to hold the more undesirable roles within society to make it work. The nature of functionalism dictates that it is normal for conflict to exist in the way that it does; our society has been set up a way that facilitates functionalism. According to Durkheim, we exist in organic solidarity, meaning that our modern society causes people to rely on each other now more than ever. He contrasts this with the idea of mechanical solidarity, which was more of a pre-industrial society, in which people were generally more individualized and tended to their own needs. Durkheims ideas here do make sense think of how many people we interact with for our needs. We go to the grocer or order take-out for dinner, we visit doctors, we buy our furniture, and so on and so forth, when in pre-industrial society, we would have tended to all of these needs simply within the family unit. Durkheim claims that the more solidarity that exists within a society, the less deviance will occur. Another of Durkheims points within functionalism is that of the social fact. He describes a social fact as a societal norm or belief that is constructed by the structure of society, and is beyond one individual to change. On the flipside of this is the idea of anomie, or a lack of social facts within a given society. These ideals within functionalism are noteworthy and applicable to society today, and certainly fit in with the understanding of addiction. A subset of functionalism can provide even more insight to how addiction and addicts function within our society. More specifically, strain theory, proposed by Robert Merton, claims that people resort to deviance as a result of the inability to achieve what society regularly recognizes as success. Traditional success, particularly in the United States, often refers to wealth, independence, strong interpersonal relationships, and plentiful other traditional social facts. Merton proposes that since people begin with different tools in life to achieve this success, people will either attempt to achieve it in a deviant manner, or will deviate from the idea of the traditional success as a whole. Consider someone born into a neighborhood of poverty, perhaps raised by a single parent, attending a school that doesnt receive much funding, as compared to a child born into wealth, attending a private school, with two supportive parents. Of course these children have different opportunities to reach the traditional success that society mandates. People on the bottom rung of the ladder in society, generally those born into poverty, must take various approaches to become equal to others, and Merton pinpoints five different reactions that the bottom rung people may opt to take to achieve. Firstly lies the idea of conformity, in which people accept the culture that exists around them, and do their best to legitimately achieve success (Caliwan). Innovation, a second social reaction, occurs when individuals accept the societal structure around them, but try to come up with alternate ways to achieve success (Caliwan). Ritualism occurs when the oppose happens an individual does not accept the societal norms in which they exist in, but go through the motions of achieving success anyways, as theyre unsure what other route to take in life (Caliwan). Sometimes, people decide to reject both the ideals of society and the traditional means of getting to them, and retreatism then takes place (Caliwan). Lastly is rebellion, which is similar to retreatism, but adds in the variable of individuals attempting to rewrite both societal norms and how to achieve them (Caliwan). Though Durkheim views deviation and crime as normal, functioning parts of society, Merton offers a more in-depth explanation regarding why people resort to these types of activities. Addiction is certainly considered an act of deviance, especially in the United States. According to Barry, McGinty, Pescosolido, Goldman, who conducted a study to assess differences in attitudes regarding addiction and other mental health issues, findings reported that: Respondents held significantly more negative views toward persons with drug addiction. More respondents were unwilling to have a person with drug addiction marry into their family or work closely with them. Respondents were more willing to accept discriminatory practices against persons with drug addiction, more skeptical about the effectiveness of treatments, and more likely to oppose policies aimed at helping them. A scientific study may solidify those facts, but plenty of us have interacted with people who make these types of studies seem nearly irrelevant for confirmation in the first place. Theres always that coworker, that aunt or uncle, or the Facebook friend you have whos more like an acquaintance, who has an opinion to chime in on addiction. With the public space of the Internet and social media, people may be feeling more free now than ever to admit to their opinions on such health epidemics. The fact of the matter is that people do not perceive addicts in a positive light, generally because they believe that addicts have gotten themselves into that situation by behaving deviantly and taking drugs, and therefore do not believe that they deserve help or sympathy (Barry, McGinty, Pescosolido, Goldman, 2014). Sadly, drug abuse is not on the decline, either according to Scot Thomas and the American Addiction Centers, over seven million Americans struggled with substance abuse in 2014 alone. Even more disheartening, only about 10.9% of addicts received proper treatment at a recognized facility in 2013 (Thomas, 2018). Interestingly, almost twice as many people who are unemployed struggle with addiction than those who are fulltime workers, and about half of the population of American prisons and jails suffer from addiction (Thomas, 2014). Even worse, relapse rates for those who do seek treatment fall at about 40-50% (Thomas, 2014). Thomas cites reasons for addiction to be ge netic or environmental, but sociologically, it is reasonable that functionalism and strain theory can offer an interesting take on why people get addicted in the first place. As aforementioned, Durkheim claims that deviance within society is normal. As deviance is needed to keep a society running (who else can you point fingers at and make an example of what not to become?), as are addicts. Addicts do fulfill a number of roles within society, as well. Firstly, addicts are often considered a burden on the healthcare system. As addicts can cost the United States healthcare system over 193 billion dollars annually, it is difficult to argue this point (Thomas, 2014). They fill the role of patients, keeping doctors, nurses, and hospitals with people to work on. Those facing addiction also often attempt to go to rehab at one point or another, or over and over again. Addiction rehabilitation centers arent cheap, either detox alone can cost upwards of $1,500, and in-patient rehab is estimated to cost approximately $12,000-$60,000 for people requiring 60 to 90 day programs (Thomas, 2014). Rehab centers supply jobs to many people, and therefore more money can kick back into the economy a clear profit can be seen to be made off of addicts. Lastly, addicts have to get their drugs from somewhere. The SAMHSA National Report from 2017 details that 53% of opioid users get their drugs from a friend or family member, but 35% were also prescribed the drugs legitimately. Addicts who are abusing controlled substances also provide work for the doctors they visit to get prescriptions, the pharmacies that they pick up the drugs from, and the pharmacological companies that produce the drugs. Of course, the traditional idea of an addict sneakily buying dope in an alleyway in some shady city has yet to totally die, and the dealers in this way end up making a profit as well. The dealers likely got the drugs from another dealer, or directly from a doctor or pharmacological company, and these companies benefit once again. Lastly, policies on the legality of drugs and their possession or sale have a lot of influence in the lives of addicts, as well. Minimum sentencing drug laws of course play a huge role in the incarceration of addicts and dealers, but drugs tend to flow into prisons, as well (Connor Tewksbury, 2016). Through the incarceration system, however, drug addiction is generally not treated, facilitates the movement of more drugs, and does not rehabilitate drug users (Chandler, Fletcher, Volkow, 2010). Though addicts may be seen as a waste in society, a lot of money certainly can be made off of them. There will always be people who disagree with the social facts, but what provokes descent into something like addiction? Here we can apply Mertons strain theory for a thorough and clear explanation. A conformist, according to Merton, wouldnt get caught up in drug usage in the first place. As they accept societal norms and the means to achieve them, they would stick to the notion that drugs are bad. An innovator, on the other hand, may partake in dealing drugs, but likely would not end up using. Innovators accept social facts, which leads them to want to pursue traditional success, but unconventional means could lead to activities like hustling, which would generate income, but the commitment to social facts would probably keep most innovators from becoming addicted. Ritualists dont seem as likely to partake in drug usage, either as they accept the means to achieve, they likely hold down legitimate jobs and partake in socially acceptable hobbies. Those most likely to become addicts seem to be the rebels or the retreatists. Rebels, rejecting both norms and means to achieve, almost seem to be a wild card in Mertons theory. They attend to their own ideals of what their lives should look like. However, retreatists appear to be more likely than any other group to become addicts. As retreatists have opted out from both accepting social facts or trying to achieve them, they can be seen as those who dont care. Retreatists are more apt to live in unconventional ways, and as theyve more than likely already been born into poverty, theyve already become more at risk to become addicts, anyways (Thomas, 2014). One fascinating article attempts to pinpoint how addicts actually become fully addicted to drugs. The article notes three distinct steps that take someone from a casual user to an addict, being individual vulnerability, degree or amount of drug exposure, and and loss of control (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Individual vulnerability may include aspects like genetics, exposure in the household, levels of poverty, or individual impulse controllability. During the degree of drug exposure, the brain is overactivated and realizes that drugs are a highly rewarding stimuli (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Even with sporadic use, a learning process occurs within the brain, solidifying that drugs make it feel good. Once drug use becomes more intensified, sustained, [and] escalated, the body becomes used to have the drugs, and the brain becomes used to being stimulated (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Piazza Deroche-Gamonet attribute likelihood for addiction to be related to a hyperactive dopaminergic system and impaired prefrontal cortex system, biological factors that help to solidify addiction. Lastly, during the loss of control stage, it is assumed that long-term drug exposure has occurred, and that long-lasting loss of synaptic plasticity in reward areas in the brain has happened as well (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). When the brains reward pathways are disrupted, it may become more difficult for an individual to feel pleasure from completing tasks that they used to enjoy, or from setting goals. Substances have corrupted these pathways, and influenced how individuals may react. The authors state that drugs are now not only wanted and needed but pathologically mourned when absent, an emotional statement that rings true within addiction (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Although this is only one theory as to how addiction solidifies itself within a person, it is interesting to see how this theory alone fits into Mertons ideas of strain theory. Consider the idea of an innovator, who has decided to achieve traditional success by making their money hustling drugs. Along the way, the hustler ends up doing a little partying, and sampling some of their product. After sampling enough times, an innovator may lose sight of the success that they were striving for when their reward pathways are interrupted, and may instead find more pleasure using than working for something better, as they once were. A rebel may also turn to drugs, as they are not held in high opinion by the general public, and drug usage is not a social fact that Americans hold high and proud. As rebels reject traditional social facts, they may try drugs as a way to defy the society in which they exist in. Once again, the corruption of the reward pathways in the brain may take a rebel from actively working to change the reality in which they live, to trying to find the next high as quickly as possible. Lastly, a retreatist may dabble with drug usage simply because they have opted out of societal norms, and, like the rebel, want to partake in an activity that is known to exist outside of the realm of normalcy. As the retreatist is not actively working towards the traditional goal of success in the first place, they may get stuck using drugs instead as they didnt have the goal of wealth or social mobility in the first place, what harm is it to them to use drugs? Again, although this is only the examination of one article, it is clear to see how Mertons theory is easily applicable to the science of how addiction actually occurs. Social roles may also play a part in why addicts remain addicted, as well. A research study done by Tingle, Cruwys, Frings analyzes the power of labelling with in addiction. According to the article, once someone identifies themselves as an addict, they are more likely to use and to actually become or to remain as such (Tingle, Cruwys, Frings, 2015). On the other hand, when people committed to labelling themselves as recovered or sober, they ended up more likely to remain as such in that regard (Tingle, Cruwys, Frings, 2015). The article reinforces the idea that certain social roles can be powerful for an individual, and that once an individual feels concrete within their own defining role, they are more apt to stay there. Focusing treatment on identifying ones self as recovered or sober may actually help people to become. Though functionalism and strain theory are certainly useful at understanding what may cause people to become addicts and what may be keeping them remaining as such, it does not offer many solutions on how to help. Durkheim, in believing that deviance is normal, would therefore not inherently see an issue with addiction. Addicts are, after all, filling a social role that generates a lot of money for others. Merton, though explaining in detail how people may compensate from their bottom rung realities to try and achieve the American Dream, does not offer guidance on how to change those most likely for addiction, such as the rebels or retreatists. Getting clean isnt easy in the first place, but functionalism and strain theory do not offer much advice to avoid becoming an addict, nor in the sobriety aspect, either. Social roles are functional within functionalism by its very definition, and if social roles are aiding the economy and other people are benefitting, why seek out to change the suffering of some others? Though the insights of the discipline are very telling and some aspects may be able to be used in treatment, there simply isnt enough emphasis on changing the deviance in the first place. As Durkheim deems it necessary, there of course is not a lot of emphasis on preventing or changing societal phenomenons that stem from said issues, like addiction. Functionalism and strain theory provide a great amount of insight as to how addiction may be purposeful within society, and how certain people may be vulnerable in the first place. Mertons analysis on the five types of deviance lend a lot of knowledge to the field of addiction, and provide background on why people may turn to drugs in the first place. Durkheims ideas of social facts, social roles, and solidarity also play a major part in defining the cause and the benefit of addiction. Conclusion Scientific studies may aid in confirming this information yet again as well, but unfortunately, these social theories do not provide adequate enough advice to prevent or to treat addiction, other than upheaving the structure of our entire society as we are aware of it, which is generally unlikely to occur. If these theories did offer any insight on how to change users, anyways, it would require massive changes in policy, law, and the understanding of addicts as we know it, as well. While modern medicine keeps moving along to try to treat addicts, there will always be an argument that they dont deserve it in the first place. Maybe this is due to personal opinion, or perhaps its due to the knowledge that the economy and certain people are benefiting off of addicts in one way or another. Either way, it is unfortunate that the argument keeps coming back to whether or not addicts deserve treatment, or how they got addicted in the first place, that keeps us from focusing on how to better the lives of addicts and how to treat people in a holistic, beneficial way at all.