The Efficacy of the Social Norms Approach to Substance Abuse Prevention Applied to Fraternity Men

Abstract

Students tend to overestimate the amount of alcohol consumed among their peers and often drink to that imaginary level. The social norms strategy, designed to correct norm misperceptions, has been correlated with a decrease in reported consumption in the general college population. However, it has had little or no impact among Greek students, the group that consumes the most alcohol. The authors investigated and subsequently found three possible flaws in the application of the social norms strategy that may account for the failure to decrease binge drinking among fraternity men: there is no predominant, healthy drinking norm in this population; students are influenced more by people within their network(s) than by others; and binge drinking is the norm in this group and may serve to perpetuate the problem. The findings, though preliminary, provide the first step in developing interventions beyond the social norms approach to address binge drinking among fraternity men.

Key Words:

• alcohol
• college students
• fraternities
• perceptions
• social norms

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Colleen A. Carter

Colleen A. Carter is coordinator of health education with the Emory University Health Service in Atlanta, and William M. Kahnweiler is associate professor and coordinator of Human Resource Programs, Public Administration and Urban Studies Department in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, Atlanta.