Association is Not Causation

           

          Halfway through reading Association is Not Causation, I came to the realization that the research done for the study clearly states that alcohol and drugs are not the direct cause of family violence. There are many other social factors that aren’t closely related to drug or alcohol abuse. The reading gave me an understanding on why society heavily relates alcohol and drugs to domestic violence and violence in general.

          In our culture it is widely believed that alcohol and drugs cause violent tendencies. I work at a big restaurant that has a club atmosphere to it and I could count numerous times where people have gotten into fights because they were “intoxicated”. Regardless of how much they drank or how drunk they thought they were, most people who come out and get into fights were actually looking for one before they had their first sip of alcohol. In the reading Association is Not Causation they do a lab experiment where subjects were put into two groups. One group received vodkas tonics and the other tonic and water. The group that was the most aggressive was actually the group who were drinking tonic-waters. 

      The study concluded that people are going to act out of expectancy whether they’re drinking or not. The effect depends I believe on personality factors. If you’re an aggressive person then you should know that and have limits for yourself. What I have grasped from reading the article and real life instances is that within our culture, people tend to act the way you think they’ll act. If in our society, people cut themselves off after a few drinks and realized when enough was  enough then I don’t think violence would be relevant. Understanding sociology helps understand that most people are products of their environment and will act accordingly.