Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Learning Sciences and Human Development

Committee Chair

Carol A. Markstrom

Committee Co-Chair

Aaron Metzger

Committee Member

Kristin L. Moilanen

Abstract

This thesis looks at the protective benefits that involvement in adult-led in-school extracurricular activities had on the use of drugs and alcohol by 8th, 10th, and 12th grade American Indian adolescents in Arizona. This population has been chosen because they have a history of oppression, substance abuse, and prejudice. These adolescents represent an extremely at-risk population due to historical trauma and the present-day responses to this trauma. The researcher used data previously collected by the Arizona Youth Survey in 2010 and looked at it through the lens of Hirschi's Social Control Theory and the protective model of resilience. Hirschi's theory states that deviance is caused by a lack of a bond to society and can possibly be prevented by (a) attachment, (b) commitment, (c) involvement, and (d) belief (Hirschi, 2002). Participation in adult-led in-school extracurricular activities can enhance the type of bonding Hirshi identified. The protective model of resilience explains how a particular resource might reduce the negative effects of a risk factor present in an individual's life thereby minimizing the chance for problem behavior outcomes such as substance abuse (Bernat & Resnick, 2009). The researcher found that an adolescent's participation in adult-led in-school extracurricular activities was: (a) related to a lower instance of risky substance abuse activities such as being drunk or high at school and (b) related to a lower engagement in the individual's use of drugs and alcohol.

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