College Drinking: Reframing a Social Problem / Changing the Culture

It differs from other studies of college drinking by dispelling the myth that the problem is universal. Dowdall's research reveals that the incidence of alcohol abuse varies enormously between colleges, and in doing so identifies interventions and policies that have been effective, and those that have failed. His study is also unique in looking "upstream" at the broader cultural, organizational, and social forces that shape this behavior, where most studies focus only on "downstream" behaviors that start well after students have selected their college and started drinking.