Summary Of A Voice Crying In The Wilderness By Edward Abbey
872 Words4 Pages
Personally, I am very fond of what Edward Abbey says in his book, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness, about society. He states, “Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on top.” In my opinion, people in society who abuse drugs contribute to the scum in their society. The three major sociological theories/paradigms are: structural functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism. These three major sociological theories/paradigms mainly discuss how society is perceived and what happens to make them seem that way. People within a society who abuse drugs affect their society in many different ways. Throughout this paper, I will examine drug abuse through the three major sociological theories/paradigms structural…show more content… The official definition of structural functionalism is: “Society is perceived as a unified and functional place because of the contributions of its parts. This perspective and paradigm focuses on solidarity and stability.” Drugs affect the brain in many ways, some effects are short term and some are permanent. When a person becomes high they can barely function and they are not stabile. For as long as the high lasts, the drug user may lose control of their mind. Some people even lose control over their bodies. If a person becomes addicted to drugs and uses them daily, his/her life will fall apart. They won't be able to pass a drug test in order to get a decent job, which leads to a weaker workforce. Drug abuse also leads to people participating in illegal activities in order to have money to pay for their drugs. As a result, crime rates rise. According to drugwarfacts.org, “Of the 1,561,231 arrests for drug violations in 2014, 81% (1,297,384) were for possession of a controlled substance.” Generally, society agrees drug abuse is not a stable state. This state of instability may span generations as lives are affected one after another, parents to children, over the years. Drug addicted parents are often so tied up in their drugs and illegal activities, that these are the only values that are imparted to the next generation. On the flip side, stability can be inherited from solid, positive households. These households, not in the grips of drug abuse, can impart values like work ethics and religion to their