Drug Abuse and How They Affect Childs Development - Research Paper Example

Drug abuse and how they affect child’s development Today’s youth are facing many risks such as drug abuse, violence and HIV/AIDS. Dealing with these risks before they become problems can be quite stressful. One of the goals that should be looked at is that of helping the public to understand the causes of drug abuse and to prevent its onset (Thornton, 2000). The way parents approach their duties to their children makes a major difference in whether the young ones will experiment, abuse or become addicts. Parental alcohol and child maltreatment has a major relationship effect and it is becoming increasingly evident as this increases the risk to the child (Webster, 1998). The abuse of a substance to the extent that it becomes compulsive substantially with the emotional, social, or occupational functioning is known as drug abuse. It is also the use of any legal or illegal drug to an extent where it is detrimental to ones health or life. All these definitions imply a negative judgement of drug use in question. Drugs associated with these terms include; alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, and opium alkaloids. The use of these drugs may render one a criminal as well as possible exposure to physical, social, and psychological harm. Drug abuse falls in four other categories which include: public health definitions, mass communication, vernacular usage definitions as well as political and criminal justice definitions. Drug use does not make one a bad parent. Many people and especially Australians use alcohol for example in a low risky way that has little or no impact to their children. Others cope remarkably well yet they use drugs more heavily. Studies show that generally mothers addicted to drugs care for their children the same way as those not addicted. In simple terms these mothers tend to use less physical punishment and are strict in parenting. However, they have some fears about their children’s future and think they have not been the good parents they could have been. According to Burke & Vaughan (2005) using drugs affects ones parenting and may also affect child’s development and behaviour of which this is a problem. For instance, a child might miss on breakfast or lunch simply because the drugged parent did not rise up in the morning as appropriate to prepare some. Smoking parents expose their children to second hand smoke. Using drugs while pregnant harms the unborn child’s health. This is because most drugs such as alcohol and tobacco cross the placenta and can bring about foetal distress, abnormalities, miscarriage, low birth weight, development delays and in other occasions premature labour. In Scotland today, thousands of children are living chaotic, violent and perilous lives all because their parents are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Brandon Muir is an example of these children, her parents were heroin addicts. These parents did not structure around the child’s needs for routines of meals, school or bed time but around buying drugs and using them usually more than once a day. Though parental drug addiction does not necessarily mean inability, the chart shows the upward trajectory of child’s protection registering neglect due to lack of parental care associated with the misuse of drugs. To help these suffering children, the child welfare has to be incompatible with parental drug use. These parents have to decide whether they are to continue with their habits or retain their children. The society has a major role to play in such situations as they offer support though this should be for a limited time and backed by legal sanctions. This is through adoption to end the damage caused to children who seesaw in and out of the institutional care. A message is passed to parents that change needs to happen or otherwise the children will not be returned home. The government ought to look for means to warn parents and to bring a clear message home to parents that drugs and child welfare do not mix and if they do the outcome is dangerous. Babies who are born by drug dependent women have their own issues that are difficult to handle. These include higher rates of infant death syndrome, infections, speech pathologies and behavioural disorders related to problems in the nervous system such as hypersensitivity to environmental stimuli. Withdrawal of nicotine soon after birth makes the babies less responsive and less cuddy. The two main behaviours seen in the earlier weeks of a narcotic addicted infant include sleep disturbances and tireless sucking behaviour. The parents report feelings of confusion and incompetence when their babies are in such conditions. They can neither console nor comfort their babies. Overfeeding of the infants at such a situation may lead to colic and other tummy upsets thus stresses the parent-infant relationship. The issues leading to infants’ withdrawal include imperceptible to convulsions, vomiting and a continuous high pitched cry. There is a scoring system found in public hospitals that can range different points to different symptoms and also shows how severe the symptoms are. It is also used to determine if the patient is to be admitted to antenatal nursery for observation or be taken to neonatal intensive care unit. These babies may also be given phenobarbitone for withdrawal symptoms which is often commenced in the hospital and gradually withdrawn when they are discharged. It is well known that these first few months of parenting are difficult to all parents thus without the right support, this particular group of parents begins to self-medicate for them to get through the difficulties. Families where parents have drug and alcohol issues have significant emotional investment in the welfare of their children thus they demonstrate a more intrusive and a threatening parenting style. This style may lead to attachment disorders and later quire behaviour. This poor attachment leads to difficulties in the lives of these children in future. Thompson et. al. (1997) describes one of the earliest identified risk factors to the lives of the infant is the parental substance abuse. This results to child neglect as well as to child abuse. Neglect can be both physical and emotional and has been observed before as the main risk factor for the families where the parents are known to abuse drugs. It is the stemming from the parents inability of a parent to give all the attention needed in a child’s development and nurturing good behaviours. This inability is caused by issues such as history of abuse, social cultural stresses, relationship stresses etc., but the main issue is that of substance abuse such as the chaotic lifestyles and social instability where the routine is just about picking up drugs and neglecting the needs of an infant. There is also the symptom of being out late at night or the blunt emotional feeling which means the parent is unavailable most of the time. These parents find it difficult to balance the needs of their children with those of drug use. With inappropriate support, the issue becomes critical and this is followed by gradual escalation of drug use and thus lessening the ability to meet the developmental needs of the baby. These developmental needs include learning about the world from the interaction with their caretakers who in this case are the parents as the children learn by mimicking what their parents are do. However, parents who abuse drugs have often had inconsistencies and incongruence in response to parental care such that the infants’ expectation which usually develops in those earlier relationships becomes distorted (Nutt & Blakemore, 2007). Sroufe’s self regulation model is helpful for looking at the effects of infants brought about by parental drug abuse. It is also used to determine the basic requirements that enable the infants to meet their developmental needs. In reference to this model, infants’ development issues are about motor and state control. In order to facilitate this, parents need to tune their attention to their child and to respond in a synchronous way as well as helping their children deal with environmental stimulus. Children between the ages of one to four months need to have well defined routine in relation to what happens in their environment to facilitate learning. This includes deep sleep and alertness. Parents with issues of drug abuse and who have no support from outside find it more difficult to provide this kind of routine to their children since they can also not manage their state of mind and affairs (Sussman, Dent and Stacy, 2002). Four to six months infants are meant to learn how to manage tension. At this stage, babies become frustrated and will often want to be pampered and carried around by their mothers. Mothers who have these children and at the same time are dealing with their own tensions of substance use find it extremely difficult and are usually unable to facilitate the routines at this stage and often find it confronting. After six months, it is important to establish an effective relationship between the mother and the child. Mothers should be able to tolerate clinging behaviours and at the same time support the search for independence. At this time night walking and difficulty in settling becomes more pronounced again and again. Parents experiencing stress due to the substance abuse find it hard to cope with this state and are less able to tolerate the behaviour or to facilitate the development of their children. When a child gets to 10-15 years they are liable to copy behaviours that they see in their parents. This stage is very dangerous to the fact that most children go to an extent of taking what their parents leave and are very curious so they end up being involved. When the child gets to teenage life, the behaviour is unstoppable since they learn from their parents as well as from the peers. This becomes a social problem and morally weak and later a crime. Conclusion Recently, research shows that at least one parent of more than six million children or nine percent of children is into drug abuse or depends on alcohol or illicit drugs. 10 percent of children who are 5 years and below live with parents addicted to drugs. These parents are more likely to report household conflicts as compared to those who are not drug abusers. Young ones who live with their parents abusing drugs are more likely to become addicts in future and still children who begin taking alcohol at 15 years and below are five times likely to develop drug or abuse related problems in future than those who start at early twenties. It is a fact that the addiction to alcohol is a disease and when a member of the family gets this disease, the rest of family is affected negatively. Children whose parents have issues with substance abuse have greater risk of physical illnesses, injuries and drug abuse at an earlier stage of development. References Burke, P., & Vaughan, B. (2005). Adolescent substance use: brief interventions by emergency care providers. Vol. 21, ed.11, pp. 6-77. Nutt, D., & Blakemore, C. (2007). Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse.  Pp. 47–53, Lancet. Sussman, S., Dent, C., & Stacy, A. (2002). Project toward no drug abuse: A review of the findings and future directions. American Journal of Health Behavior, 26, 5th ed, Pp. 354–365. Thompson, E., Horn, M., Herting, J., & Eggert, L (1997). Enhancing outcomes in an indicated drug prevention program for high-risk youth. Journal of Drug Education, 27, pp. 19-41. Thornton, T. (2000). Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action. Centers for disease control and prevention. Atlanta, GA. Webster, C. (1998). Preventing conduct problems in Head Start children: Strengthening parenting competencies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. vol. 66, pp. 715–730. Read More