Conflict Theory: How Changes In Indian Communities

Alcoholism is one of our nation’s largest social issues to date, and carries with it many negative aspects, the most dire being death at the hands of this disease. Alcohol and alcoholism have been part of societies for centuries. This habit was brought over to the new world when the first settlers landed on the shores of what was to become America. Furthermore, in bringing alcohol to this new land an entire nation of Native American Indians were introduced to a product that has affected them more negatively than any other to date, and continues to suffer from today and probably well into the future.

Native American tribal communities are one of the most disadvantaged and socially vulnerable groups in the United States. Widespread poverty, alcoholism and lack of services are common throughout Native American tribal lands, leading to high social vulnerability on many levels. In addition, tribes and their indigenous traditions may be particularly vulnerable to damage caused by environmental change, as “tribal cultural practices and religious beliefs are rooted in the

Historical trauma is a concept that refers to the wounding of generations due to traumatic experiences such as boarding schools, forced displacement, and genocide. Responses to this distress manifest in a number of social issues. For example, alcoholism and substance abuse could be recognized as attempts to numb unresolved grief. Other manifestations of emotional responses to this trauma include abuse, depression, domestic violence, and suicide. A framework for understanding the effects of historical trauma on communities is provided by Evans-Campbell (2008) in her article, “Historical Trauma in American Indian and Native American Communities”. These three levels include individual-level impacts, family-level impacts, and community-level impacts.

Despite concerted efforts to improve alcohol and drug abuse prevention and clinical programs as well as decades of research, available information suggests that the prevalence of problematic substance use has not appreciably changed in many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities (Novins et al., 2011). The severity at which the problematic issues persist varies in each of the communities but overtime it has been categorized as a long-standing problem. According to a recent report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA 2010), 14.8% of this population

As with many races and ethnicities, Native Americans have had the front row seat in social injustices related to gender and race from the social institutions in the United States. Native Americans faced much discrimination along with other groups when it came to educational institutions and businesses. In education, many young children had lower math and writing skills leading to fewer high school diplomas (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). In labor, Native Americans had high unemployment rates and a lower labor force than the rest of the demographic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). They also have problems with poverty since more than twenty-five percent of this group live below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Additionally, there are high rates of violent victimization and contributing factors such as childhood trauma that lead to overall high deaths. A major contributing factor to these deaths is alcoholism which exceeds the US rates by seven times (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). Many of these statistics indicate great injustice. Furthermore, according to the Indian Health Services, American Indians have lower health and life expectancy when compared to the rest of America (2015). These staggering statistics point out some prevalent inequalities in modern social institutions that exist with Native Americans.

Native American people have a unique struggle in society. This stems from cultural epidemics like drug addiction, alcoholism, obesity, and rampant suicide, but also systemic racism and a sort of cultural lag. This is not meant to be a critique of culture, simply an observation of the condition of the families I have helped serve over the course of this internship. To be “Native” has become a slew of stereotypical representations. Stereotypes do not represent reality, but they do affect how individuals view themselves, and limit their ability to become anything but what they are expected to be. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy. If Native American children grow up in a closed network, such as a reservation or a boundary, they are presented

Ward et. al. explores alcohol and other drug abuses specifically in Native American college students. Using referenced data, the author clarifies that while Native Americans are one of the lowest percentage of groups that use alchol, they have the largest percentage of being a binge drinker. Relavent information clearly compares alcohol abuse in the Native American college population to that of the average US college student. The paper gives a transparent view of the data and thorough discriptions of what they deemed as alcohol “use” and “binge drinking”. Ward’s findings showed that there was no statistical evidence that Native American college students were more likely to binge drink than non-Native American students.

The American Indian/Alaskan Native people have a heritage that is rich in culture and history rich in conflict, strife, and triumph (Indians.org, n.d.). The American Indian/Alaskan Native have come a long way compared to their ancestors, however, the culture continues to struggle today with disparities such as poverty, poor health, demographic and social challenges, and a severely limited health care system due in part by lack of funding for health

Consequently, at the community level with the traumatic impact that has resulted in alcoholism, sexual abuse and the fracture of the American Indian family system, we have lost the benefits of a wholesome community and all they have to offer in cultural diversity and preservation of nature. The side effect of these traumas is; broken homes, dysfunctions and moral decay in communities. In this case, the alarming rate of sexual abuse of children in Native American communities. Whenever, a child is sexually abused, the entire society is affected by the

Native Americans as a whole have been typecast as drunks ever since the coming of the white man’s “fire water.” TS Naimi, MD et al. reports that alcohol is responsible for 11.7% of all American Indian and Alaska Native deaths, compared to 3.3% for the U.S. general population (939). This disturbing discrepancy reinforces the age old notion of the “drunk Indian.” Generalizations aside, is there some truth to this stereotype? Are Indians more likely than other races to be drunks? Of all the races, “Native Americans have the highest prevalence (12.1%) of heavy drinking…A larger percentage of Native Americans (29.6%) also are binge drinkers” (Chartier and Caetano 153). Although some research has been done on genetic causes, little is

Alcoholism and the abuse of drugs in Native American culture has been a serious issue for decades. There are many arguments for the origin of the massive use of alcohol in Native American communities. Some argue that these issues stemmed from the dark history of the Native Americans, others believe that there are cultural patterns and sociological reasons to why this issue became so large. All of this addiction leads to an abundance of _____ .

The impact of various kinds of substances to cultural groups has historically been precipitated by the significance of particular substances on different cultural groups (Moore, 2010).This is mainly because the long term usage of these substances leads to the integration of the consumption of the substance into the cultural patterns of the given group. One such group that has been affected by the extensive usage of a particular substance is the Native American community. According to the Associated Press (2014, August 28), as noted on the MSNBC website, out of ten deaths among the Native American population, one is Alcohol related. Additionally, the prevalence of Alcohol consumption among the Native American population relates to

A sharp drop occurs at 40, and the people in the community of both genders that continue drinking after 40 are most likely dependent on alcohol, and their rates of dependence is approximately double the rates of dependence for whites in America within the same age group (Ross, ed., 2013). A lifetime of alcohol abuse that begins early in life leads to a large number of Native Americans becoming alcoholics and developing dependency on alcohol, and this is especially the case because of the high prevalence of binge drinking in the

Native Americans on the reservations are at socially and economically disadvantage compared to persons who reside in metropolitan cities. Life advancement opportunities and individual accountability for better living standards are almost non-existence in many Native American communities. The environment that is around young adolescents are very

Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism have caused a major chaos for the people in the Native American culture. Furthermore, the Native Americans have gone through massive physical and emotional problems that cause an unfortunate stereotype that has further troubled the Native communities of North America. By this stereotyping the Natives, it extended the image that all Indian people are afflicted