NCJ Number
187865
Date Published
1997
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This report provides information on issues related to substance abuse, violence, and harassment on American college campuses based on the expanded form of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey containing information collected from students from the years 1995 and 1996.
Abstract
American colleges have been strongly encouraged, since the 1989 amendment of the Drug Free Schools and Community Act and the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, to take steps towards reducing alcohol and drug use, increasing the safety and security of students, and reporting information on the extent of crimes on campus. The intent behind these steps was to reduce substance abuse and campus violence. Institutions of higher education have collected data on what is happening on their campuses in order to change campus environments and ensure the safety for all students. The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey instrument was designed, with funding by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to provide information regarding alcohol and other drug use. The survey instrument was expanded to gather information on the relationship of alcohol and other drug use to campus climate issues, including students' experiences of physical and sexual violence and harassment; second hand effects of drinking; extracurricular activities; personal behaviors surrounding alcohol and other drug use; beliefs about substance abuse; and perceptions of risk related to use. The survey project collected data from over 1,100 institutions of higher education and a total student sample of more than 800,000. Several findings were reported which included: (1) students carrying weapons on average consumed 8.3 drinks per week compared with 4.8 drinks per week for other students, and 50 percent of the weapon-carrying students reported episodes of binge drinking compared with 41 percent of those who did not carry weapons; (2) students who engaged in binge drinking practices were 3.5 times more likely to experience violence on or around campus than students who did not binge; (3) eighty-three percent of the students reported using alcohol in the last year, 70 percent within the previous 30 days, and 22 percent averaged three or more drinking occasions per week; (4) students reported drinking an average of 5.1 drinks per week; (5) forty-two percent reported episodes of binge drinking in the two weeks prior to the survey, 28 percent reported binge drinking more than once in the previous two weeks, and close to 6 percent reported more than five binge drinking episodes during the same time span (representing a minimum of 30 drinks in two weeks); (6) more than one out of every five students reported feeling unsafe due to other students' drinking; and (7) nineteen percent of the students reported using marijuana (third most widely used drug on college campuses) in the previous 30 days and 10 percent used at least once a week These type of campus surveys, reviews of institutional policies on alcohol and other drugs, assessments of campus safety resources, and the identification of vulnerable groups at risk of being subjected to violence and harassment can be beneficial first steps in constructively addressing the problem of violence, harassment, and weapons on our Nation's college and university campuses. References and Appendices