The Initial Use of Drugs in a Sample of Pre-teenage Schoolchildren: the role of choice, pressure and influence

Abstract

The traditional assumption that young people are introduced to illegal drugs as a result of peer pressure has been increasingly challenged in recent years with a number of authors arguing that peer selection and individual choice are more important influences. The present paper seeks to further our understanding of this issue by examining the accounts which a sample of pre-teenage children gave of their initial use of drugs. While peer pressure, a desire to conform to the group, and other attempts to influence them were found to be involved in a proportion of the cases, the dominant factors in initial use were personal choice and curiosity. It was also clear that curiosity, external influences and a desire to conform were not mutually exclusive and would often interact as part of a complex dynamic. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for drugs education.

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