Language as an indicator of risk in the prevention of drug use

Abstract

Kenneth Burke argues that the symbols we use and the names we give to things are implicit plans of action. In this article we seek to create an awareness of the capacity language has to reveal those “plans of action”; that involve possible potential adolescent and preadolescent drug use. We contend that language has not been explored fully as a predictor of drug risk and, based on an analysis performed at the individual level and examined at the group level, extend language as a viable indicator of at‐risk individuals. In addition, we recommend that the metaphors and themes uncovered in the language of low‐and/or medium‐risk individuals be incorporated into drug prevention messages designed to dissuade the onset of drug involvement of young children and pre‐adolescents. If the “low‐risk”; metaphors and themes can be instantiated in the language of the target audience (the young children and pre‐adolescents), then perhaps, since language precedes attitudes and action, their “plan of action”; will be one of drug avoidance and refusal, not usage.