Students and the administration: examining the relationship between university policy and students' views on alcohol

UnrestrictedResearch on effective preventative methods of curbing underage and/or dangerous drinking on college campuses have met with mixed results. Creating effective interventions and policy on college campuses that addresses alcohol issues are often most effective when multiple influencing factors are taken into consideration. Research based in social, psychological, developmental and cultural perspectives has explored contributory factors leading to and preventing incidents of alcohol abuse. Often missing from this research is an analysis of student perceptions regarding these perspectives and alcohol abuse. This study will qualitatively explore the opinions and beliefs of student leaders in the fraternity community at a large, prestigious research university in order to examine how different perspectives can be used to more collaboratively work with fraternity leaders. Qualitative interviews will examine current student perceptions regarding both alcohol usage and how college administrators can better work with students to create more effective interventions. Masculine development and Social Norm theories will be used to analyze the results. Participants’ statements will also be analyzed for common themes and opinions pertaining to prevention techniques and current literature hypothesis. The findings from this study will be used to offer suggestions on future alcohol prevention strategies