Sociological Imagination and Problems Varsity Students Face in African Countries Essay Example

married couple alone but once it affects other members of the society then it becomes more of a social issue. The second example I would give is alcohol consumption where it will be seen as a personal problem if an individual becomes addicted to alcohol due to his/her problems. Once there is an increase in the number of society members that become alcohol addicts due to societal factors, then it will be viewed as a social/ public issue.

There are plenty various problems that students in different universities face daily in South Africa and other African countries. The main problem I have chosen to focus on is alcohol addiction. The reasons behind why I chose this main focal factor is because a few of my friends experienced it; one of them being my sibling.

I would like to believe that the problem of alcohol addiction ranges from being a unique one to being a problem that is shaped by external societal factors. Obviously, the problem of an individual being an alcohol addict is definitely shaped by larger societal structures, definitely belongs to society.

Alcohol addiction is increasingly becoming a big problem in the society world-wide. Most people or rather, most individuals would describe alcoholism as the lack of control on alcohol consumption or the inability to control alcohol intake due to dependency on alcohol. Most articles highlight the idea of a large population of youth (focusing on university students) and unemployed people (again focusing on qualified university graduates) being vulnerable to becoming alcohol addicts.

I firmly believe that the sole reason for this problem that my friends encountered is due to the fast paced life of a varsity student;

the stress and anxiety, the increasing tension of modules, educational failure, funding, depression; and the whole process of re-socialisation as an individual enters this total institution (in this case university), sometimes proves to be too overwhelming and difficult to adapt to. This eventually culminates with individuals turning to alcohol as sort of a comforting item or rather, a stress reliever.

Sociological factors also influences the whole life of a student to a large extent. Individuals obviously are introduced to a new way of living (which is different from their preferred way of living).

Factors like peer pressure (for example: my friend wanted to fit in so badly to his new found friends upon entering university and he ended up developing alcoholism), depression, academic failure and sexual harassment (ranging from a minor to a large extent/degree); all collaborate to exposing university individuals to alcohol, hence the reason why I believe that most problems that we face as varsity students are shaped in a way by larger societal structures.

I have read up that there are various treatment options that are available to help get your life back on track if you had been identified as an addict too. University students that have become addicted to alcohol need to consult with general practitioners or psychiatrists