Graduation Date
1983
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Arts
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Samuel P. Oliner
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. William Devall
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. James W. Carroll
Keywords
Art
Subject Categories
Art
Abstract
This thesis attempts to provide a sociological understanding of the drug use problem in the United States. The research attempts to tie the social problem of drug abuse to traditional social movement models. Herbert Blumer (1971:298) in his article, "Social Problems as Collective Behavior," stated the following: Sociologists have erred in locating social problems in objective conditions. Instead, social problems have their being in a process of collective definition. This process determines whether social problems will arise, whether they become legitimated, how they are shaped in discussion, how they come to be addressed in official policy, and how they are reconstituted in putting planned action into effect. Sociological theory and study must respect this process.
Recommended Citation
Blatnick, Gary, "A Study of the Federal Response to Drug Use in the Twentieth Century Utilizing the Social Movement Theories of Herbert Blumer and Neil J. Smelser" (1983). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2375.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2375