The substance of youth - the place of drugs in young people's lives today

By Perri 6, Ben Jupp, Helen Perry and Kristen Lasky, November 1997

4. Authority

We investigated whether young drug users have less repsect for and trust in authority than non-users. Drug taking, on this hypothesis, need not reflect actual rebelliousness, as it may have done for some hippies in the 1960s or punks in the 1970s but may simply be a symptom of apathetic alienation from authority in general.[33]

Trust and respect for authority figures in general
The Synergy data show that a strong belief in the value of authority (for example, believing that 'deferntial rules should be obeyed') is less common amongst those who have ever tried drugs than it is amongst those aged between 15 and 24 in general (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Most young people do not place a high value on authority, particularly those who have ever tried drugs (percentage placing a high value on authority)

Source: Synergy
Note: Because this index is an aggregation of questions, the scores can only indicate relative attachment among different groups (see Appendix 2).

In our detailed interviews, a minority of recreational users expressed particulalry high scepticism of authority. Richard (24, recreational user), an accountant from Brighton, said his respect for and trust in doctors is:

no more than [for] anyone else. They've no authority apart from in medicine.

Alex (23, recreational user) is a former promotions manager from Brighton who is currently unemployed. He said:

a professional doesn't have my respect for being a professional. I think respect in the past was really fear and awe.

A slight correlation was found between trusting doctors and worrying about the health effects of taking drugs.[34] This may mean that when people trust doctors, they do listen more carefully to health warnings. A slight correlation was also found between moral outlooks on drug use and attitudes towards authority figures. For example, those who trust teachers more were slightly less likely to advocate the legalisation of cannabis.[35]

Overall, our research found a high level of respect for teachers, doctors and voluntary organisation workers amongst all groups.[36] In some groups, respect for these figures was higher than trust in them.

Trust and respect for the police and the law
Investigating attitudes towards specific authority figures suggests the only significant general difference between non-users and recreational users is in their attitudes towards the police. There was less trust and respect for the police among drug users than non-users. Eighteen of 30 non-users trusted the police "a lot" or "a bit", compared to only 8 of 34 recreational users and 9 of 37 problem users (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Non-users have a greater trust in the police than recreational or problem users

Source: Demos
Note: The differences between non-users and both recreational and problem users are significant at the 95% confidence level.

Susanna (18, non-user), a student from Leeds, said:

People should respect the police more. There should be more walking on the streets and people should look up to them more.

Justin (21, non-user), a full-time student from Leeds, said he trusts the police a lot:

You always go to them when things are at a low point, and they are here to serve you. I've always had respect for people in authority, probably because of the way I was brought up, my schooling.

Fourteen of 34 recreational users and 23 of 37 problem users said they distrusted the police "a lot", compared to 3 of 30 non-users. Much of this distrust was attributed to personal experience or the experience of friends. Respect for the police tended to be slightly higher than trust, particularly amongst recreational users (73 per cent of non-users, 50 per cent of recreational users, 30 per cent of problem users). The general finding is that recreational users tend to be somewhat wary of the police, but many still respect the institution of policing.

Debbie (17, recreational user), a student from Kingston, said she distrusts the police a bit:

From what my friends say - I know some who have been treated badly, but they seem all right to me. And through the media you get the impression [the police] are quite racist.

But she said she neither respects nor disrespects the police:

If I see them walking down the street I don't look down on them, but I don't feel inclined either way.

Michelle (20, recreational user), from Wythenshawe, is registered at college but does not go. She said:

I distrust the law in general really. I don't trust it to put away the ones who really mess up people's egos - ponces and perverts. Judges are just thinking about the cost of damages [to property] not to lives. Sometimes they're arrogant and ignorant and don't look at you as an individual.

Problem users tended to trust and respect solicitors more than recreational users and non-users, probably because problem users' contact with solicitors is positive, to the extent that it often revolves around minimising the negative results of a run-in with the law.

Trust and respect for voluntary organisations
Generally, there was a high level of trust for voluntary workers. Alison (20, non-user) is a student from Kingston. She said she respects voluntary organisation workers a lot:

for doing what they believe in without getting paid. My friends and I were going to go to hospitals to visit people. I'd do things like that that don't take too much time. I did it a couple of times because my mum did - she's a teacher and was visiting a sick [student] of hers.

Trust and respect for teachers
Overall, trust and respect for teachers was high. Of those who distrusted teachers, disprportionately more were problem users (Figure 9). An analysis of interviewees' narratives suggests this reflects the disrupted or difficult experiences of childhood common to most problem users, more than it does their actual current feelings for teachers and the skills that schools can offer.

Figure 9: Views about teachers

Source: Demos
Note: The differences between non-users and both recreational and problem users are significant at the 95% confidence level.

Ben (21, problem user), from Leeds, said he respects teachers a lot:

I didn't at the time. But now I feel I should have. They're there doing a service. They don't have to - they could walk out the door at any time.

But he said he trusts teachers only a bit:

At the time, I had a big problem with them...I was more bothered about my mates.

Trust and respect for social workers
Overall, respondents trusted social workers less than most of the other authority figures considered by the research. Anne (19, non-user) is an unemployed single mother from Wythenshawe. She said she distrusts social workers a lot:

I haven't had any experience of them, but I don't trust them because you always fear stepping out of line and losing your daughter. Rather than tripping up in front of them, fix it yourself.

But she said she had some respect for social workers:

They do get badly abused children out of circumstances no one else could.

Conclusion
The research found that traditional rule-obeying views are held strongly by only a small proportion of young people and by even fewer who have ever tried illicit drugs.

We also found far lower degrees of trust in the police amongst those who use drugs. This was accompanied by a greater rejection of traditional, deferential attitudes towards authority amongst those who had ever tried drugs, but no greater sense of alienation.

Professionals such as doctors and teachers who are arguably less associated with 'authority' seemed an important source of contact - actually or ideally - for many young people. However, amongst all groups, authority figures enjoy greater degrees of respect than trust. Developing a sense of trust for an individual is a less passive process than feeling respect, and requires an experience of positive personal contact.[37] We do not suggest that trust in authority figures will stop most young people trying drugs. But some professionals could be important agents in helping prevent young people move from recreational to problem drug use.