Rehabilitation of People Who Suffer from Substance Abuse - Essay Example

Rehabilitation of People who suffer from Substance Abuse Introduction A cursory observation of the contemporary social trends facilitates the assertion that there exists a close relationship between drug addiction, alcoholism, substance abuse and crime as well as violence. Sometimes the dynamics of the imminent interactions between addiction and poverty tend to be intricate besides being complex, thus becoming extremely difficult to analyze as well as deal with the consequent social issues or problems. Yet, any viable effort aimed at effective treatment for addiction needs to take into consideration the linkages between these evils. Drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, violence, and crime are interrelated and possibly lead to severe mental illnesses. 2. Body Paragraph 1 Young people affiliated to poor and marginalized sections of the society are more prone to engaging in crime and violence. The use of substances and aggressive crime involves an interrelationship between the community-level variables and the mediating individuals. Valdez, Avelardo, Kaplan & Curtis came up with a hypothesis on the drug and alcohol abuse. They contended, “The drug and alcohol abuse is significantly related to aggressive crimes, but the specific social characteristics for an individual and the concentrated poverty levels for community-level will mediate this relationship (Avelardo, Kaplan & Curtis, 596)”. Valdez, Avelardo, Kaplan & Curtis (596), carried out a study in 24 cities. These cities contained people with different races, some with more people from a specific race than others. The study excluded female arrestees because they are less likely to be perpetrators of violent crimes (Valdez, Avelardo, Kaplan & Curtis 597). The samples included young men with low levels of education, from a wide range of ethnic and racial groups, who were the most charged with violent/ aggressive crimes in the US. The data combined measures of actions that are violent or/ and aggressive and self-reported alcohol use and drug urinalysis, with measures of ethnicity, age, city and socioeconomic positions for more than 20,000 respondents. Aggressive crimes included obstruction of police, family offenses, extortion, sex offenses (rape), threat, homicide, kidnapping, robbery, assault, and disturbance of public peace. The community-level poverty variables included unemployed males, the percentages of high-school dropouts, female-headed households, and households’ receiving welfare in that metropolitan area. The study showed that for a large national sample of arrestees, those who test positive for illegal drug use are negatively associated with aggressive crime. Poverty variables were significant in explaining the variation in the aggressive behavior across the 24 cities. The alcohol and drug use have robust effects on the violent/aggressive crimes in the cities with a high percentage of female-headed households, with a low percentage of households receiving welfare. In addition, concentrated poverty was more salient than race in explaining the relationship between substance abuse and violence. The low-income urban communities are characterized by joblessness, poverty, welfare dependency and crimes that result in multiple interlocking social problems (Valdez, Avelardo, Kaplan & Curtis 602). The community health centers provide healthcare to more than 12 million people, majority of whom are people of color, poor people or people with no insurance (Druss et al. 1779). Druss et al examined the trends in the delivery of substance abuse services at the community health centers in the US. They concluded, “The community health centers play a big role in providing substance abuse and mental health treatment services in the US (Druss et al 1782)”. Centers without the on-site care were often in the most vulnerable communities. The vulnerable communities constitute majority of people without medical insurance, few substance abuse clinicians, few emergency as well as inpatient services in the counties. Anecdotal reports suggest that there is a rise in the number of uninsured patients, with serious mental problems and general medical conditions, who visit these community health centers (Druss et al 1782). The availability of on-site care has a number of benefits including improved communication and reduced stigma for patients receiving treatment. Community health centers and mental health centers are required to provide treatment to all people in a particular geographical area, regardless of their ability to pay or their insurance status. The study found that a large number of community health centers have mental health centers in the same county. This suggests that improving the linkages could improve the rate of specialty expertise. These linkages are also important in improving the quality of treatment for an individual in the community mental health centers (Druss et al. 1783). 3. Body Paragraph 2 There is a complex and intricate relationship between poverty, crime and substance abuse, which if combined gives rise to an array of social evils. Alcohol tends to promote violence in some people whereas drug abuse is often associated with economic oriented crimes to acquire money to purchase more drugs. Living in impoverished neighborhoods amplifies the existing alcohol-violence and illegal drugs-violence relationships. Like poverty, social class, education and other measures of social inequity, the occupational status of individuals who abuse drugs and alcohol and commit crime is less stable than the occupational status of people who do not abuse drugs or commit crime. Many sociologists deem people who lose their jobs as most likely to turn to alcohol and drugs to cope with their frustrations or to make ends meet, hence find the solace they want. After a comprehensive review of a research on unemployment and substance use, Walters came up with the conclusion that, “There exists a relationship between unemployment and drug use and abuse (Walters 207)”. Employment has a dampening effect on crime in different trajectories. The effect appeared to be strongest in individuals who initially had good social and occupational skills and weakest in people following trajectories with life-course-persistent patterns. However, permanent or temporary employment had both a selection and directed effect on future criminality. Several studies conducted in the 1990s showed evidence of a relationship between drug sales in a community and the neighborhood decay. According to Golden, Robert, Peterson & Haley, “There exists a relationship between drug sales and property crimes (Golden, Robert, Peterson & Haley 104)”. Drug sales increase violence in the community and many people are afraid to use public spaces. Those who afford to move out from such neighborhoods do so leaving behind the poor people to face the growing problems. In general, geographical areas with low levels of education, low-income levels, high-income inequality and high poverty levels, experience high crime rates and substance abuse (Meerman 191). Many researchers have sought an answer to the effects of socio-economic factors to a region’s crime rate and rate of substance abuse. The average years of education, in the geographical areas compared, is a common ecological measure of an area’s economic status. Most studies show that geographical areas with a high number of average education years, the crime rate tends to be lower which also means that the rate of substance abuse is also low. Measuring the economic well-being of a region involves comparison of the average incomes for different geographical areas. The annual median family earnings is used to express the average income. Most studies found that regions with high average income rates, the crime rates were lower and so was the rate of substance abuse (Ellis, Lee, Beaver & Wright 60). Numerous studies sought to determine whether the degree of income inequality in various regions might be associated with the crime rates in those regions. The studies showed mixed findings, especially for violent crimes. Most research concluded that the crime rate was high for regions with higher income inequality. Another way of assessing the socio-economic status of a geographical area involves the use of a poverty index. The index, developed in the US, is based on the assumption that an average American family of a given size requires a certain minimum amount of income to make ends meet. This figure is unfixed as adjustments are made because of inflation. Families in regions whose income is below this monetary value are said to be living below the poverty line. Regions where most people live below the poverty line are associated with high criminal rates and high rates of substance abuse (Ellis, Lee, Beaver & Wright 60). 4. Body Paragraph 3 Any attempt to ameliorate salient social evils like crime does need to be broad-based, which takes into consideration the alleviation of a variety of factors like poverty and addiction. Use of illicit drugs is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Signs of intoxication or withdrawal include general self-neglect, under weight, smell of alcohol or carrying around alcohol cans throughout the day. Stimulant users appear depressed or anxious when coming down from the drug (Thompson, 15). The most common way for seeking treatment is self-referral. Self-referral is usually because of the client seeing the need to change, after the burden of continuing drug use becomes unsustainable. A number of clients seek treatment via the criminal justice system where they have mandatory requirements like drug testing. Drug rehabilitation requirements may be given by courts and failure to comply becomes a breach, which may have significant consequences. Interventions such as advice, motivational support and immunizations have a particular focus on reduction of overdose, drug related harm and mortality. Clients who are able and ready to accept treatment for substance misuse enter the structured community service involving active treatment. The structured treatment begins with an assessment to determine substance abuse and alcohol related problems, mental and physical health, involvement in crimes and social problems including families, employment and education (Thompson, 15). 5. My action I would like to help in shunning substance abuse to restore human dignity and prove that people can change. The community I chose is the Options Recovery Services located in Berkeley. Its mission is to rehabilitate the dignity of people who suffer from substance abuse. Options Recover Services provides services free of charge regardless of patients ability to pay. Many hands are needed, despite the funding it receives. There are several options to help. One can volunteer at the center for a certain amount, raise funds or donate vehicles. Moreover, one can shop at a participating eScrip Merchant. I decided to raise funds and collect some items on their wish list. I sent emails to my neighbors and friends about the project and the community that I am working on. Then I visited some of my neighbors to collect their donations, which included items like office supplies and house appliances. Luckily, one of my friends became interested in the project and decided to volunteer with me at the center for a day. 6. Conclusion Drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, violence and crime are interrelated, meaning that they do not exist as independent ailments, and they are rather the precursors of a range of social ills including severe mental illnesses. Thereby, any attempt to treat these issues ought to take into consideration the complex relationship existing between them. It is only when the subjects are facilitated with a broad based intervention, which takes care of most of the issues faced by them like addiction, poverty and crime that they could be rescued effectively, without suffering any possibility of a relapse. Work citedTop of Form Top of Form Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Druss, Benjamin G., et al. "Trends In Mental Health And Substance Abuse Services At The Nations Community Health Centers: 1998--2003." American Journal Of Public Health 96.10 (2006): 1779-1784. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 June 2014. Ellis, Lee, Kevin M. Beaver, and John P. Wright. Handbook of Crime Correlates. London: Academic, 2009. Print. Golden, Robert N, Fred L. Peterson, and John Haley. The Truth About Drugs. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2009. Print. Meerman, Jacob. Socio-economic Mobility and Low-Status Minorities: Slow Roads to Progress. London: Routledge, 2009. Print. Thompson, Jez. "Treating Addiction." Chemist & Druggist 277.6823 (2012): 14-15. Business Source Complete. Web. 21 June 2014. Valdez, Avelardo, Charles D. Kaplan, and Russell L. Curtis. "Aggressive Crime, Alcohol And Drug Use, And Concentrated Poverty In 24 U.S. Urban Areas." American Journal Of Drug & Alcohol Abuse 33.4 (2007): 595-603. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 June 2014. Walters, Glenn D. Drugs, Crime, and Their Relationships: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2014. Print. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More