LEGAL ATTITUDES, PERMISSIVE NORM QUALITIES, AND SUBSTANCE USE - A COMPARISON OF AMERICAN-INDIAN AND NON-INDIAN YOUTH

Youthful drug use violates both formal law and informal norms for conv entional behavior. Analyses of influences on permissive drug attitudes and behaviors among adolescents should, therefore, focus on both atti tude toward the law and the informal normative climate of these youths . Legal attitude and norm qualities, however, can vary depending on th e cultural and situational context. We examine the effect of legal att itude and norm qualities on drug permissiveness attitudes, as well as actual alcohol and marijuana use of 196 adolescents comprising three c ultural groups: American Indian residents of a rural community, non-In dian residents of the same community, and transient Indians attending a job-training program in the community. In general, for all three gro ups, legal attitude primarily affects permissiveness toward drug use, while norm qualities of peers and personal permissiveness influence ac tual substance use. However, the three cultural groups vary in the rel ative salience of these variables.