The Role of Resocialization in the Disposition of California College Students toward the Legalization of Marijuana

Abstract

Previous research on marijuana consumption indicates that peer influence plays a significant role in an individual’s decision to try it; however, there is little research that focuses on the role of the collegiate environment as a tool of resocialization in the disposition of college students toward marijuana. The author argues that it is through a process of resocialization that an individual will begin to become more liberal on certain issues. From the perspective of a resocialization process, the author proposes that (1)attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, specifically in the belief that the use of marijuana by a student or other students within the college environment is not deviant in nature and is, on the contrary, a socially acceptable behavior; and that (2) college students that had been re-socialized to perceive marijuana use as part of a collegiate style of life will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. Using data drawn from a 2009 availability sample of 220 CSULA students at various stages of their college education, this paper found,through a multivariate regression analysis, that respondents who had received more college education were more likely to support the legalization of marijuana.These findings clearly demonstrate a correlation between the dependent variable and key independent variable, supporting the hypothesis that attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, at the very least, on this specific topic of support for the legalization of marijuana. From the re-socialization perspective, when exposed to a collegiate environment, most individualswill experience a transformation in previous socialized perceptions, which is significant as the implications of marijuana’s legalization suggest a relief in the current economic crisis plaguing college students across the country.