Analysis of the Social Construction of Substance Use - Essay Example

It’s all about the Bigger Picture Insert It is all about the bigger picture Critical Analysis of the Social Construction of Substance use 1. Introduction In Australia and worldwide, the lives of men, women, children and family groups have been, and continue to be destroyed by illicit use of substances. The precise cost of this practice is immeasurable in financial terms and is devastating in social terms to men, women, children, families, friends, and individuals (Collins, 2006). A study looking at 123 aboriginals with a representation of about 270 women in the age bracket of 15 years and above in the area of Perth and Carnarvon in the Western side of Australia had a clear indication that 52 % of the population were heavy alcohol drinkers with a representation of about 37% of heavy women drinkers in this area and about 46 % percent of the men were heavy alcohol drinkers. However, among these, 14 % of the women were harmful alcohol drinkers and 21 % of this male too were harmful drinkers. The hazardous alcohol drinking was stipulated to be ranging in the alcohol consumption of 280 g to 420 g of absolute alcohol consumption among the men and a range of regular alcohol taking of 140 g to 280 g among the women. Due to the effects of alcohol consumptions between 1997 and 1998 there were reported cases of hospitalization from alcohol consumptions of 43032 episodes in the country (Blignault & Brider, 1997) . 2. The social and economic consequences of substance use It is simpler to quantify the health and safety and economic implications of substance use in Australia than the social and legal issues and the cost to society. For example, tobacco is the principal cause of premature death and hospitalization in Australia. However, alcohol related incidences caused more deaths among children and young people than all illegal drug related events and tobacco (Collins, 2006) In early childhood, as evidence shows, the child’s development can be impeded by parental tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use. Investment needs to be made to develop and monitor health programs to address these issues. One good example of a successful program was the structured home visit initiative to give encouragement and support to mothers before and after birth in Australia. The mothers were deemed at risk through alcohol and drug problems (Nair, Schuler, & Black, 2003) Over the last twenty years, Australia has become ever more concerned with drug related harm to the social fabric of its society and by the cost to its economy incurred by the use of licit and illicit substances. It was reported that in 2004/2005 the total social cost of drug abuse was $55 billion. By far and away the biggest proportion of this was tobacco accounting for $31.billion (56.2%) and alcohol $15.3 billion (27.3%) whereas illicit drugs were $8.2 billion (14.6%). Research has shown that there are four principal types of substance use patterns that present risks to health, safety, social development and economic consequences. The World Health Organization as cited by Loxley et al (2004) developed this classification. The first category defines how the drug is administered. Oral ingestion is the least associated with harmful results and is slow to be absorbed into the blood -stream and central nervous system. Smoking and inhalation are apt to produce more immediate effects as does injection. The risk of harm through injection overdose is a particular hazard. Many serious illnesses are associated with prolonged use of drugs especially alcohol and tobacco (Loxley & Toubouron, 2004). 3. The Role of The Social Worker as a pro-active reformer in Substance Programs Intervention plays a vital part in countering the abuses children can experience through substance misuse in the family. Social workers, caregivers, school and community can give the connective and protective factors the child must have for security and wellbeing. The social worker or primary caregiver plays a pivotal role in shaping the present and future wellbeing and happiness of the child. The quality of the relationship can help children overcome their adversity (Owens & Shaw, 2003), and child maltreatment. As children advance into adolescence, strong peer support, and school connections have increasing importance. For young people living with dysfunctional families a strong dependable connection with school and a supportive teacher can provide vital protective assurance and act as a buffer against a troubled family life. (Owens & Shaw, 2003) It is of paramount importance for the social worker and other support personnel to appreciate the role relationships, family and environment play in a child’s make up and development, as exemplified by Uri Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory in 1990. This theory has recently been renamed ‘bio-ecological systems theory’ to emphasize that the child’s own biology, immediate family and community and environment are prime factors in shaping and determining development. (Collns & Lapsley, 2008) 4. Examples of Australian projects and programs to treat substance problems Few studies in Australia have evaluated parenting programs targeting parents misusing substances. Generally, these have been ecologically based and focus on multiple levels of family behavior. There has also been research into the effectiveness of home visit programs to improve children’s lives in multi-problem homes. The literature reviews come under the term ‘home visiting interventions’ which studied the effect of home visits to young mothers with infants, it reported promising results (Nair, Schuler, & Black, 2003). There have been further promising studies analyzing the effectiveness of concentrated interventions with families where parents misuse substances. However, further research is needed to produce concrete results. A meta-analysis of 23 studies using parent counseling to prevent physical and emotional trauma to children. The counseling was proved to be moderately successful and fostered child caring attitudes and behavior towards children (Collns & Lapsley, 2008). Their main findings were: delivering parent training in the home resulted in better outcomes compared to those in the clinic, interventions that focused on teaching specific child management techniques were most effective in changing child-raising practices but were less effective in changing other aspects of parental functioning; and individualizing the interventions to the specific needs of families’ enhanced outcomes. (Collns & Lapsley, 2008) In a further meta-analysis a comparison of the results of 77 published evaluations of parenting programs noted four important outcomes (Kaminski, Valle, Fittene, & Boyle, 2008): requirement of real life practice with the parent’s own child, teaching skills related to emotional communication-active listening skills, helping children identify and appropriately express emotions ,teaching parents to interact positively with their children learning the importance of positive, non -disciplinary interaction, analyzing skills that promote positive parent child interaction, such as following the child’s interests, offering children a range of recreational options, showing enthusiasm, and providing positive attention; and disciplinary consistency The Australian government has laid down some broad guidelines and processes to follow for social workers and other support agency staff. Great care should be exercised to foster trust and engagement. The Family Partnerships Model is a relationship between the parent and helper. The model recommends the process and qualities the helper needs to employ to engage and connect with families to establish trust and confidence. The role of the social worker to gain that trust and confidence is pivotal and at the core of any government’s endeavor to alleviate and address the substance use problem. The caliber and character of those caregivers is central to the success of that program and the effectiveness of the implementation. (Collns & Lapsley, 2008) Proper training and education of these key personnel is paramount. In The Aboriginal Families and Caregiver’s Training Project (AFACT), 2005 the role of the support personnel and social workers was stressed as crucial as the level of alcohol and drug abuse in this community has reached critical levels. (Kaminski, Valle, Fittene, & Boyle, 2008) 6. Summary and Conclusions Substance use and misuse represent a huge problem all over the world, in both developed and underdeveloped environments. There is a huge cost as is well documented in financial terms but, perhaps, a greater cost in human terms, which is immeasurable and can destroy the fabric of a nation for generations. Governments need to have the will to tackle the problem or face the disintegration of families that ultimately will affect the prosperity and social well-being of its people. In March 2012, The Australian National Council on Drugs, the principal advisory body to the government on drugs and alcohol policy programs, released a statement and fact sheet endorsing the following directives: increase in financial support and access to the availability of scientifically accepted evidence based treatments for people with drug and alcohol related problems, support trials and development of new treatments for people with drug and alcohol related issues when supported with appropriate ethical evaluation methods, belief in importance of a comprehensive range of treatments to meet individual needs and circumstances of people trying to overcome their drug and related problems. This government backed initiative and endorsement is crucial for any program to have a chance of succeeding. The paper in depth analyzes the issues of the society’s construction and usage of substances which are illicit in relation to the norms and expectations of a healthy and normal society. It further looks at the possible mitigation and preventive measures as backed up by fully researched upon by the government and professional in the sector. Works Cited Blignault, I., & Brider, C. (1997). Abstinance and Alcohol use among Urban Aborigins In West Australia. Drug and Alcohol Use Review , 365-371. Print Collins, D. (2006). International Guidelines for the Estimation of the Avoidable cost of Substance Abuse.Health,Canada. New York : Routeledge. Print Collns, D., & Lapsley, M. (2008). The costs of Tobacco and Illicit Drug Abuse in Australian Society in 2004/2005. Cabera: Routeledge Open Source Publishers. Print Kaminski, J., Valle, L., Fittene, J., & Boyle, C. (2008). A meta-analytical Review of the Components Associated with Participatory Programme Efficiency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psycology , 567-569. Print Loxley, w., & Toubouron, J. (2004). The Prevention of Substance Use and Harm in Australia,A review of the Environment. Canberra: Open source. Nair, P., Schuler, M., & Black, M. (2003). Cumulative Environmental Risk in Substance Abuse in Women. London: Oxford Printing Press. Print Owens, E., & Shaw, D. (2003). Poverty and Childhood Adjustmentsin The US. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Print Read More