Mass Media and Drug Prevention: Classic and Contemporary Theories and Research (Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology Series)

This book tells the story of the mass media's potential in the war against drug abuse. It is based on scientific evidence on the use of media in health promotion and disease prevention. Past approaches--successes and failures alike--are included to help enlighten future programs of research and practice. Advice about the logical steps that must be taken to help alleviate the crisis of drug abuse is featured throughout. The book will appeal to social scientists interested in persuasion and the media Each chapter offers information to help the conscientious practitioner maximize persuasive effects of a mass-mediated presentation.

The contributors to this volume on the media's role in reducing drug use among adolescents are academics, graduate students, and individuals working in the public sector whose specialties are communications, psychology, or public policy. The papers present theoretical approaches and the findings from studies that concern the effectiveness of mass-media persuasion and the behavior of the target audience. Individual topics include the use in communication of the theory of reasoned action, the individual difference variable of sensation seeking, the effects of attitudinal ambivalence on susceptibility to attitude change and persistence, and theories of prevention research.

Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The backstory of the 2000 Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, the 17th such meeting, began in 1997, when at the call of the President and both houses of Congress the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) launched the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. This work tells the story of the mass media's potential in the war against drug abuse. It is based on scientific evidence gathered from the early 1920s to the present on the use of media in health promotion and disease prevention.