Lessons Learned
Reasons for Accepting a Drug Offer
The five categories of reasons for accepting drug offers were: peer pressure/acceptance, curiosity, rationalization, was upset, and role model behavior. Peer pressure/acceptance included those explanations which attributed the decision to accept to the persuasive efforts of others or to a fear of rejection by one's peers if one did not. This included explanations such as "I wanted to be with the older guys," "everybody was doing it," and (I did it) "just to please them." It also included explanations referring to direct pressure such as (they said) "Oh come on, don't be out of the crowd." Curiosity described occasions when the respondents accepted to find out what the experience was like. Rationalization described those times when the recipient talked him or herself into trying the offered substance. This included statements such as "I thought I'll do it a little bit; hey sure, what the hell," "one cup or drink won't really do anything . . . ," and "I kind of forgot about the reasons why I wasn't going to, thinking that it wouldn't hurt." The fourth category included occasions when respondents said they accepted drugs because they were upset or feeling bad. Role model described subjects' explanations that she or he accepted the substance because his or her parents or some other role-model engages in such behavior and therefore it must be all right. For example, one respondent justified her decision by saying "Well, my parents always drink."
The most frequent reason given for accepting concerned peer pressure with a large number of respondents also acknowledged that they talked themselves into it. Further, these explanations indicate that many of the respondents entered the situation without having their minds made up with reference to the decision, and, therefore, they were vulnerable to others or their own persuasive messages.
As one teen recommends, "You really just have to associate with the type of crowd that will accept a "no." That's really it. Just avoid it unless , you know, you have a really good ability to say no and you don't care about the others' attitudes or opinions."