A Practical Guide to Alcohol Abuse Prevention: A Campus Case Study in Implementing Social Norms and Environmental Management Approaches.

Despite increased attention given to alcohol use and its negative consequences on college campuses, national data indicates that there have been only small decreases in levels of alcohol consumption for over two decades. This guide describes how one university was able to decrease heavy drinking on campus by 29.2% during a four-year period. Their prevention efforts were a blend of two approaches: social norming and environmental management. A social norms campaign was used to educate students about the amount of drinking norms on campus since contrary to what they perceived, heavier drinkers represented the minority while moderate drinkers represented the majority. The environmental management or public health approach emphasized the responsibility the college had in creating prevention policies that established and maintained a healthy and safe environment. The approach involved identifying individuals and organizations on campus that had a stake in alcohol prevention and gaining their public support for policy development and prevention efforts. Suggestions are provided for the development of a social norms media campaign and the evaluation measures that can be part of the planning process for implementing a social norms model. (Contains 22 references and a list of 13 resources.) (JDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. A Ploctka WW2 to A echo Abuse Prvendom