'Shoulder Tapping' - Source of Underaged Booze

There are many ways that underaged drinkers get alcohol and a popular one is called "shoulder tapping," when young people approach adults outside stores and ask them to purchase alcohol for them. This approach is more successful if the person approached is a young adult male, a new study has found.

For their research, University of Minnesota scientists used young adults (four females, one male) aged 21 years or older who appeared to be 18 to 20 years old. The "requesters" explained to adults entering retail stores that they did not have their IDs with them, and asked them to purchase a six-pack of beer for them.

During the first 102 attempts, the requesters approached the first adult entereing the store alone. During the next 102 attempts, they asked the first casually dressed male between the ages of 12 and 30.

"Only a small percentage – eight percent – of the general adult population entering alcohol establishments are willing to purchase alcohol for individuals who appear under age 21," said Traci L. Toomey, corresponding author for the study, in a news release. "This is an encouraging finding. However, we also found that a higher percentage of young males – 19 percent – were willing to purchase alcohol for underage youth."

"Although 19 percent may sound like a relatively low success rate, it means that a given youth has about an 80 percent probability of obtaining alcohol within eight attempts with randomly selected adults," said Joel Grube, director and senior research scientist at the Prevention Research Center. "The actual success rate is probably higher because youth are most likely selective in who they approach and where."

"Furthermore, one in five young men entering alcohol establishments in this area would have been breaking the law if our requesters had actually been under age 21," said Toomey, "There are serious implications for social provision of alcohol to a minor; in Minnesota it is a gross misdemeanor. If there is an injury or death related to the alcohol provision, the adult could be charged with a felony."

The authors had suggested for addressing the problem of adults buying alcohol for underaged drinkers.

"Given that only eight percent of the general adult population agreed to purchase alcohol for our requesters, communities concerned about underage youth obtaining alcohol through shoulder tapping should probably target their resources towards young males rather than the general adult population," said Toomey.

More Information:

• Young Males Are Most Willing to Purchase Alcohol for Youth
  
• Negative Self-Image Promotes Damaging Teem Behaviors
  
• Kids Most Influenced by Siblings' Drinking, Smoking
  
• Youth Drinking Spells Later Alcohol Problems

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