The Social Norms Approach To Preventing School And College Age Substance Abuse: A Handbook For Educators, Counselors, And Clinicians

The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse offers educators, counselors, and clinicians a handbook for understanding and implementing a new and highly successful alternative to traditional methods for preventing substance abuse among young people. The proven "social norms" approach outlined in this book identifies young people's dramatic misperceptions about their peer norms and promotes accurate public reporting of actual positive norms that exist in all student populations. The contributors to this important book are the originators, pioneers, and active proponents of this new approach. Many of them have successfully applied the social norms approach in secondary and higher education settings and as a result have promoted healthier lifestyles among adolescents and young adults across the United States.

H. Wesley Perkins, is one of the originators and foremost leaders of the social norms approach to substance abuse prevention and health promotion. Currently he is professor of sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. Perkins is the author of dozens of journal articles, is a frequent speaker and consultant for educators and health professionals working with youth and young adults, and has been honored with several national awards for his work in preventing alcohol and drug abuse in colleges and universities.

Tables and Figures.

Preface.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION.

1. The Emergence and Evolution of the Social Norms Approach to Substance Abuse Prevention (H. Wesley Perkins).

PART TWO: CASE STUDIES OF COLLEGE EXPERIMENTS TO REDUCE ALCOHOL ABUSE.

2. The Northern Illinois University Experiment: A Longitudinal Case Study of the Social Norms Approach (Michael P. Haines, Gregory P. Barker).

3. The Hobart and William Smith Colleges Experiment: A Synergistic Social Norms Approach Using Print, Electronic Media, and Curriculum Infusion to Reduce Collegiate Problem Drinking (H. Wesley Perkins, David W. Craig).

4. The University of Arizona’s Campus Health Social Norms Media Campaign (Koreen Johannessen, Peggy Glider).

5. Applying the Social Norms Model to Universal and Indicated Alcohol Interventions at Western Washington University (Patricia M. Fabiano).

6. The Rowan University Social Norms Project (Linda R. Jeffrey, Pamela Negro, DeMond S. Miller, John D. Frisone).

7. The Small Groups Norms-Challenging Model: Social Norms Interventions with Targeted High-Risk Groups (Je anne M. Far, John A. Miller).

PART THREE: EXPANDING SOCIAL NORMS INTERVENTIONS TO OTHER COLLEGE STUDENT APPLICATIONS.

8. Perceptions, Norms, and Tobacco Use of College Residence Hall Freshmen: Evaluation of a Social Norms Marketing Intervention (Linda C. Hancock, Neil W. Henry).

9. A Social Norms Approach to Building Campus Support for Policy Change (William DeJong).

PART FOUR: YOUNG ADULTS AND SOCIAL NORMS WORK BEYOND THE CAMPUS.

10. Misperceptions of Peer Alcohol Norms in a Statewide Survey of Young Adults (Jeffrey W. Linkenbach, H. Wesley Perkins).

11. The Montana Model: Development and Overview of a Seven-Step Process for Implementing Macro-Level Social Norms Campaigns (Jeffrey W. Linkenbach).

PART FIVE: THE SOCIAL NORMS APPROACH IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL POPULATIONS.

12. The Imaginary Lives of Peers: Patterns of Substance Use and Misperceptions of Norms Among Secondary School Students (H. Wesley Perkins, David W. Craig).

13. MOST of Us Are Tobacco Free: An Eight-Month Social Norms Campaign Reducing Youth Initiation of Smoking in Montana (Jeffrey W. Linkenbach, H. Wesley Perkins).

14. Using Social Norms to Reduce Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Two Midwestern High Schools (Michael P. Haines, Gregory P. Barker, Richard Rice).

PART SIX: FURTHER APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES FOR THE SOCIAL NORMS MODEL IN PROMOTING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING.

15. Parents’ Perceptions of Parenting Norms: Using the Social Norms Approach to Reinforce Effective Parenting (Jeffrey W. Linkenbach, H. Wesley Perkins, William DeJong).

16. Applications of Social Norms Theory to Other Health and Social Justice Issues (Alan David Berkowitz).

17. The Promise and Challenge of Future Work Using the Social Norms Model (H. Wesley Perkins).

About the Editor.

About the Contributors.

Index.