Nick Mechling

Deviant Behavior
6/29/2014
This is a about marijuana use by the baby boom generation. Theres a few hypothesis
that the writers came up with: 1. Adults who are ambivalent about marijuana use by their peers
are more likely to have used marijuana in the past year. (Black, Joseph, 828) 2. Adults who are
experiencing healthe issues are more likely to have used marijuana in the past year. (Black,
Joseph, 828) 3. Adults who believe that the benefits of using marijuana outweigh the costs are
more likely to have used marijuana in the past year. (Black, Joseph, 829) They found that
males, were more likely to have used marijuana in the past year than females. (Black, Joseph,
829) They also found that minorities were more likely to have used marijuana in the past year.
(Black, Joseph, 829) They found that vets were no more likely to use marijuana than non-vets.
(Black, Joseph 2014) Also, being unmarried, and the perception that the benefits outweigh the
risk were things that were tied into marijuana use. (Black, Joseph, 829)Lack of health insurance
was only significantly associated with marijuana use. (Black, Joseph, 829)Rational choice
appears to influence current marijuana use for all groups. (Black, Joseph 2014) All of this, of
course, implies that if you are a minority, a male, or unmarried, ect. You are more likely to have
used marijuana in the past year.
I really didnt have any critiques for this essay. I thought it was very well organized. If I
had one it would be that it needed to be more focused around baby boomers. The description
refers to the users as adults, and it would appear that this is how the testing was done. I would
have preferred that they focused the age group a little better. Or, at least been more specific
when they were writing. This study is relevant because it plays on the rational choice theory. It
shows that there is a correlation between marijuana use and rational choice. Otherwise, it shows
that people are weighing consequences and still choosing that partaking in this particular deviant
behavior outweighs the cost of the consequences.

Black, P., & Joseph, L.(2014) Still Dazed and Confused: Midlife Marijuana Use by the Baby
Boom Generation, 35:10, 822-841.

The authors are studying the moral careers of members of constitutional militia group in the
Deep South. This study focuses on how members of the group come to identify themselves.
(Melder. 611) They found that this group was primarily comprised of veterans. The author
classified members of the group into a few different categories. The first one is the True
Believers. These are people that believe in what they are doing, and that what they say is true.
(Melder, 618) They are willing to die for their cause. (Melder, 618) The next is Verbal
Converts. (Melder, 618) These are the people who agree with the ideals, but are not around
much, or not as serious about the group as True Believers. (Melder, 618) The last is Fellow
Travelers. These people have almost no contact with members, but support the deals of the
group. (Melder, 619) These men rally around the idea that there is something wrong with the
government, that it was taken too much power and that no one is going to do anything about it
unless they stand up and do something. (Melder, 619) These men often meet at gun shows, or
gun ranges in order to gather group cohesion, and train. (Melder 611,621) They also use these
opportunities to exchange ideas like a swap meet. (Melder 621) Many of them feel that being
a part of a Patriot Group allows them to serve their country. (Melder 622) The implications of
his findings are that militia groups exist in different ways than what is traditionally thought of.
This is a talking militia as opposed to a marching militia. They sort of operate around
loopholes that dont allow militias in the traditional since. When theyre out and about together
theyre just a bunch of guys that happened to show up to the range at the same time. I think this
is an example of rational thought theory as well. They have found a way to make something
thats technically illegal, just barely legal. They have thought their way around it. Also, most of
the true believers are willing to die for what they believe. This means they have weighed the
consequences, and decided that death is better than turning from what they think, or what they
will do to defend their ideals. My main critique is that this is just an observational study.
There were no crosstabs done, and no real hypothesis or research question posed. He was just
gathering information for the most part. Other than that, I think its probably an understudied
subject, and was a very interesting read. This is relevant for that reason. I dont think many
people know very much about this particular deviant behavior. I can see this study being used to
better understand the ideals, practices, and reasons many radical groups like Al-Qaida , Green
Peace, and actual illegal militias do what they do.
Melder, Mark, O.(2014)The Moral Careers of Militia Group Participants: A Case Study , 35:8,
611-627