Young People At Risk

Why do young people participate in behaviours that put them at risk?
Young people may participate in risk taking behaviours for a number of reasons. Peer influence is one factor that may encourage young people to put themselves at risk. This is because if an individual witnesses their peers actively engaging with risky behaviour, they may identify the behaviour as positive rather than taking into consideration the consequences. It has been found that young people identify alcohol with positive social situations, with alcohol being seen as a part of socialising, having fun and negotiating friendships (Johnson, 2011). Young people also claim that if they drink alcohol excessively, they feel more relaxed. They also see excessive drinking as a
Drinking alcohol has been found to help build a young person’s social identity (Demant and Jarvinen, 2006). This suggests that although it may put a young person at risk, they are willing to do so in order to be accepted in their peer group. This idea has also been linked to young people taking sexual risks to build their identity and popularity within their social group (Furman, 2002; Pellegrini, 2002). The peer group was also found to be one of the main sources of information for young people when it came to learning about sex and relationships (Chung et al, 2005; Currie et al, 2008; Macdowell et al, 2004). It has been found that there is usually a similarity between an individual and their peers sexual behaviours during teenage years, with perceived peer norms seeming to be followed (Yu, 2010). Young people in their early teenage years want peer acceptance and are willing to conform to their social groups norms, even if it means involving themselves in risk taking activities (Berndt, 1982). For example, if an individual’s peer group participate in risky sexual behaviour, the individual will be more than likely influenced by their behaviour and mirror it. Peer influence has also been found to be a factor
It was also found that popular films can portray teen smoking, drinking and drug taking as ‘cool’ and positive, which has been found to influence young people to participate in such behaviours as they see no wrong in it (Stern and Morr, 2013). Mollborn and Sennott (2015) found that some peer groups accept sex in teenage years as the norm, and may go as far as seeing contraception as negative as it makes it less risky. It has been found that some people participate in unprotected sex as they get caught up in the moment and are spontaneous, without thinking of the risks they are taking and the long-term consequences that could come from it (Bell and Bell, 1993; Holland et al, 1998). In addition to this, it was found in a study that some young people believe that carrying condoms may make them seem promiscuous, so they do not (Holland et al, 1998). They may also think that by using oral contraceptives such as the pill, they are protected from sexually transmitted infections, when they are not (Garside et al, 2001). There are a number of theories that may explain why young people participate in risk taking behaviour. Akers’ Social Learning Theory (1985) provides one explanation, as it looks at the idea that young people learn risk taking behaviour from different influences, and are not