Alcoholism Among Middle-Aged Men Living in Richmond Hill, Queens
Abstract
For a long period, the middle-aged Guyanese men in Richmond Hill have struggled with several types of addictions and substance abuse. The most significant of them is alcohol abuse, which emanates from cultural factors, stressful life events, and peer influence. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to determine the relationship between alcoholism and the culture of Guyanese men. Also, the author purposes to determine the relationship between alcoholism and increased occurrences of social ills, as well as how to solve the problem. In this context, the author collects qualitative data and gathers the required information after analyzing responses from the online platform. The responses are gathered from a study population that includes the male gender between the ages of 25 to 30 years and excludes the female gender. The author finds that cultural factors, availability of alcohol, peer influence, and stressful life events contribute to alcohol abuse in Richmond Hills. Besides, the existence of biological factors and a lack of stringent rules are among the top reasons that cause alcohol abuse. Nonetheless, the author affirms the hypotheses by concluding that there is a significant relationship between alcoholism and a rampant increase in risky behavior and social ills. In the end, the author recommends that the government should restrict alcohol intake to control the situation and prevent the increase in addiction cases.
Keywords: Alcoholism, Guyanese, abuse.
Alcoholism Among Middle-Aged Men Living in Richmond Hill, Queens
Hypotheses
H0: There is no significant relationship between alcoholism and increased occurrences of social ills in Richmond Hill.
H1: There is a significant relationship between alcoholism and increased occurrences of social ills in Richmond Hill.
Results
After the collection of questionnaires, data was summarized, analyzed, and presented graphically in the form of charts, tables, and graphs. The study assessed the prevalence of alcohol consumption among the middle-aged Guyanese men with the intention of suggesting interventions to reduce consumption, promote rehabilitation, and enhance mental health. Most respondents submitted their questionnaires after completion. Therefore, the turnover rate was 90%, as shown in table 1.
Table 1
Response Rate
Nature of Participation
Number of Respondents
Percentage Return Rate
Submitted responses
90
90%
Uncommitted
10
10%
Total
100
100%
Tool Validity
The data was organized in a 4-point likert scale with 50 items (questions). Consequently, the questions were grouped into 10 subgroups, having 5 closely related questions. The 90 responses translated to a total of the same number of rows and a content validity index of 0.82. Also, the reliability coefficient calculated from SPSS was 0.85. Ultimately, the results affirmed that coefficient of alpha reliability was 0.8320, and therefore, the validity was 0.93.
Table 2
Demographic Characteristic of Participation
Since the study was aimed at determining the socio-demographic factors associated with alcoholism in Richmond Hill, Queens U.S.A, it was essential to get accurate information about the age of respondents, as shown in table 2. From the results, the majority of men are between the ages of 27-28.
Table 3
Demographic Information
Age of Participants
Number of Respondents
25-26
17
27-28
43
28-30
30
Total
90
Types of Consumers
The figure below shows the effects of consumption drawn from the questionnaires. While few people admitted to consuming and being rational, most of them confessed to abnormal drinking and irrational behavior.
Ethical Considerations
It was mandatory to incorporate the use of informed consent, a permission letter, and the inclusion criteria. Through the latter, the participants’ rights were considered. For instance, the purpose of the research and procedures to be conducted were explained to the subjects. Besides, the target population was aware of the possibilities of discomfort, emotional harm, dignity threats, and privacy invasion while filling the questionnaire. Also, individuals were given a chance to participate in the study voluntarily through informed consent. On the other hand, the inclusive criteria covered the key geographical and demographic characteristics of the study population. The research involved an in-depth investigation of alcoholism among middle-aged Guyanese men between the age ranges of 25-30. Therefore, there was a need to ask permission to use a questionnaire from an outside source. Moreover, only residents of Richmond Hills were allowed to participate in the study. Data from the participants was collected in anonymity. Lastly, all participants were informed of the goal of the research and about the target population.
Recommendations
The study is recommended for researchers who seek to determine the main causes of alcohol abuse in Richmond Hill, its implications, and the most affected age group in the region. Besides, the research is a suitable secondary resource for government agencies and non-governmental organizations that investigate the correlation between alcoholism and social ills, including homicide, suicide, and sexual assault.
The government should find a means to restrict the consumption of alcohol in the Richmond area and sensitize people about its effects. Individuals should know that alcohol is harmful to their health as it may damage essential body organs, leading to death. Most importantly, strict measures should be taken against parents who introduce their children to alcoholism at a tender age since the practice encourages the consumption and addiction to drugs. Parents should be encouraged to be good role models to their children by upholding societal moral values. Besides, the government should place stringent rules to prevent a rampant occurrence of social ills.
The government should restrict the sale of alcohol to adults and enhance the measures through stringent protocols, licensing, pricing, packaging, and regulation of opening hours. The protocols should prevent the establishment of selling points around homesteads or within reach of children below the age of 18.
Lastly, the government should devise effective measures to rehabilitate the addicts. The rehabilitation process will significantly reduce the rates of crime, social ills, and irrational behavior amongst middle-aged Guyanese men living in Richmond Hill. Also, the government should deploy a professional therapist who can help middle-aged men to manage stressful life events. Therefore, the middle-aged men will not see the need to find alternatives such as the consumption of drugs to alleviate stress.
Limitations
The study is only limited to Richmond Hill, and it involves individuals living in the area. Thus, the data collected cannot be applied to neighboring areas since it does not reflect people living outside the city. However, the research problem and purpose were specific to this particular population. Besides, studying the Richmond area provides a researcher with an opportunity to obtain accurate results and concentrate on a different community in the future.
The small sample size was another limitation during the research. The study involved 50-100 Guyanese men, between the ages of 25 to 30 years. The small-sized data limited the establishment of significant relationships since statistical tests require larger sample data in representing the population distribution of a generalized group of individuals.
Projective techniques lacked during the research. The unstructured and indirect investigation methods identified the respondents’ motives, intentions, and urge without direct questioning. Therefore, there was no way to escape personal and upsetting questions. As a result, the turnover rate was 10 percent since the respondents felt that they did not have the opportunity to express themselves without feeling embarrassed. Thus, the subjects feared to project their emotions and expressing themselves as expected.
Finally, self-reported data could not be verified independently during the research. Therefore, the data collected from the questionnaires had a potential bias, such as attributing negative behavior to external forces but taking credit for positive outcomes. Also, there was a significant risk of selective memory and exaggeration of ideas where a participant may have failed to remember past experiences. Additionally, the use of anonymous responses could have resulted in more than one feedback from one user. Thus, it was hard to maintain the credibility of the responses and the anonymity of the users.
Positive Social Implications
The study is beneficial to not only alcohol consumers but also the entire community. For instance, nurses can assess adjustments of an individual’s personality and develop a care plan to help them recover. Besides, the researcher gets an opportunity to learn the skills, knowledge, and attitude required to handle patients handling addiction to alcohol. Alternatively, the study enables individuals to identify the risk group for alcohol consumption. As a result, preventive measures against the issue are executed by creating awareness about the consequences on individuals’ health and social well-being. Additionally, nurses plan and conduct special training and education within the community. From the program, Guyanese men will learn to handle problems without the pressure to take alcohol. Moreover, training against alcohol will help the population to become productive and avoid shame, anxiety, and depression.
The study enables people living in the Richmond Hill area to understand the root of the addiction to alcohol. The manufacturers frequently advertise alcoholic drinks and provide large-sized containers to the community. Therefore, by understanding that such promotions could potentially increase intake, the state can reinforce regulations against rampant marketing on social sites. Besides, the restrictions should limit the age for purchasing alcohol, which reduces the level of consumption. Decreasing the sizes of packaging is another way to lower the consumption rate. Also, alcohol should be banned in social functions such as sports since children and youth are usually present. As a result, the young ones are protected from environments that allow open-intake of alcohol. Finally, for addicts, a counseling session and protocol should be availed to help them recover procedurally through the process without experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
Conclusion
In summary, the abuse of alcohol is one of the most significant social challenges affecting Guyanese men living in Richmond Hill, Queens. Its availability, cultural factors, stressful life events, and peer influence contribute to the fact that it is a significant problem. Also, there is sufficient evidence to support the alternate hypothesis. In most cases, excessive consumption of alcohol leads to an increase in social ills and risky behaviors, including homicide, suicide, and sexual assault in the area. Therefore, the government should restrict the sale of alcohol to specific hours to reduce levels of consumption and addiction. Besides, the state should devise effective measures to rehabilitate the addicts and place stringent rules to prevent rampant occurrences of social ills. Through informed consent, participants could make voluntary decisions. However, limitations were encountered during the study, including small sample size, self-reported data, generalizability, limited use sampling, and projective techniques. The latter enabled respondents to open up without feeling embarrassed, unlike questionnaires that were used during the research. Also, they are unstructured and open-ended, which allows participants to freely express themselves.