African American Femal Adolescents and Substance Abuse - Assignment Example

African American Female Adolescents and Substance Abuse What is considered substance abuse? Substance abuse is the detrimental usage f any substance more commonly called a drug, for altering moods. It is also called by various others names, including, Illicit drug abuse, hallucinogen abuse, narcotic abuse etc. (Christos Ballas, 2008) People who indulge in drug abuse take these substances to ‘feel better” and they feel a sense of euphoria that is their purpose. Over-the-counter drugs are quite common when indulging in substance abuse and people who are involved in this, buy these drugs and take them in whatever quantities they wish. This is extremely harmful, as these drugs are not prescribed to them. There is a difference between use and abuse of drugs. Abuse can even cover very normal everyday things like coffee and cigarettes. Marijuana, cocaine, heroin etc are all illegal drugs, but these are not the only things hat come under substances that are taken for substance abuse category. Whenever, a person des an excess of whatever drug/substance he is taking, this comes under the category of substance abuse, regardless of the fact that the “drug” is something as “hard’ as cocaine, or as common as coffee. (Buddy T., 2006) Some of the commonly used drugs are: Cocaine Heroin Hydrocodone Inhalants Marijuana LSD Ecstasy Steroids OxyContin Methamphetamine Alcohol Cough and Cold medicines Nicotine Amphetamines (Steven Dowshen, 2008) Risk Factors: Risk factors relate to what actually leads to drug use and abuse. There can be various reasons that can trigger a person, most commonly a teenage to indulge in the use of drugs and then getting addicted to them. Some scientists say that there are internal compulsions that are related to a person’s genes to indulge in substance abuse. Whereas, others say that it is more learned and it depends on the kind of environment a person is living in that causes him/her to abuse substances. This latter theory has to do with copying the behavior of people around the prospective drug user. (Debra Wood, n.d.) The most common causes of substance abuse are: Peer pressure: This cause relates to the social burdening or the social pressure that teenagers in particular feel. They tend to do what their friends are doing, and hence indulge in copying behavior. Social/environmental pressures: living in situations where taking of drugs is very common or when your own parents are indulging in such behaviors. Stressful situations: overworked people, stressed out students or even people who are extreme prone to worrying behavior, indulge in substance abuse to make themselves feel better and “at ease”. Psycho physiological rewards: people do substance abuse when they are addicted to the kind of feelings taking of drugs gives them. A sense of being over-joyed, happiness and euphoria are what drug abusers looking to find from their drug use. Hence, this becomes their ultimate motive, leading to their taking these drugs in excess. Role models: People look at their parents, and even best friends as their role models. They hence indulge in copying behavior and start taking drugs because they want to be like their role models. These can also include favorite singers, bands, wrestlers, sportspeople etc who are also involved in substance abuse. It usually gives these prospective drug abusers a feeling of “being cool like their role models are”. Media: what television programs, movies and the internet have to say about drug abuse also matters a lot. Usually, some movies show drug abuse a lot and this results in children and teenagers in particular to feel curious about what these “things” are. Hence, they try them t see what are the positive feelings attached to taking these drugs. We can hence also hold advertisements, teenagers indulging in like behavior in movies etc. also responsible for the viewers trying these drugs. Parental control: in some homes, parents are mostly away and off to their jobs. This sometimes causes children t do whatever they are doing without much parental interference. Sometimes, a no-caring environment can also cause teenagers to feel troubled and opt for other ways to feel dependent on. This is a prominent causal factor on the part of parents for being careless about their children and not caring about their lives and what they are doing without it. Early anti-social behavior: some children struggle to find a place in a social setting. These children often also fall into the trap of drug abuse when they believe they have no friends. This cause can be related to the cause underlined below of “depression”. Depression: psychological disorders occurring because of or related to depression can also be a factor for a suffering person to start taking drugs and other substances. Panic disorders: this is another disorder that is a psychological disorder that can result in drug taking behavior. It just is not pertinent to or restricted to teenagers, rather anyone who suffers from panic disorders has a chance f taking drugs to “ease himself”. African American Female Adolescents and Substance abuse: A study conducted by Jerris Raiford on African American female adolescents showed a high occurrence of substance abuse. The objective of this study was to rate the violence through dating depicted by the use of gender and power through the use of drugs by African American females as compared to any other females of separate ethnicities. The study sought to prove the above hypotheses. Also, three frameworks were designed. These were related to the power, gender phenomenon. These were division of labor, division of power and the structure of cathexis. These are related to acting on the societal as well as the institutional level. The main cause of these was the inequity between genders, on a financial basis as well as on a social level. Physical contact with such circumstances also in relationships with the opposite sex, produced results that showed high violence in females of this ethnicity. It was found also, that such females being exposed to similar circumstances felt no control over their situations and hence developed a fear of not being in control, resulting into insecurity issues. Individual factors relating to how well a person can take stress, injustice, inequality; or what her genes say about psychological factors also were found relate to the use of drugs thereafter. It was hence found that these females of the African American region were prone to violent behavior because of these basic factors: Financial factors because of under or unemployment. Physical factors: which include sexual harassment, abuse, physical control by the partner etc. Social factors: gender differences, no understanding, ill support given by family structures and relatives/friends, poor relationships overall, feelings of de-grading etc. The results of this study showed a significance level of violence inflicted by the females’ boyfriends or male partners. Four main factors were analyzed and labeled responsible for such behaviors. These factors were: Stereotypes related to gender, beliefs and actions Power dynamics, relationship between the couple Social factors, and also of media intrusion and the depiction of women’s health as careless in their environment Other sociodemographic factors It was also found out that a lack of knowledge and ignorance towards not knowing what their rights were was also a factor that led to the increasing violence related to dating. These females did not know much about female power or roles, and what their rights were. This made them feel even more ignorant and helpless with their situations. They also had started accepting whatever physical abuse they were subjected to by their counterparts. This made them associate such actions with those of love and caring. Given all the factors and theories above, it was concluded by the researcher that there was definitely a correlation between dating violence and drug abuse. The females under study were found to take marijuana, other tranquilizers and amphetamines. And they were fund to be two times more vulnerable to indulging in such drug taking behaviors. Drug use was fund to be on an increase also. It was concluded that men wanted their females to be under the effect of tranquilizers to have an even greater control over them. Exposure to X-rated movies was another factor, also including the early view of such movies at a young age responsible for drug taking behavior. This was because the power of control and dominance over these women increased when these people viewed pornography and pornographic images. This gave men a feeling of dominance over women. The researcher in the end concluded that a proper education system and knowledge enhancing programs would be of much help in such areas, or to such females suffering from depression and henceforth drug abuse. These would empower them and give them a feeling of being in control also through knowing their rights in society. (Raiford, Jerris L., Wingood, Gina M., DiClemente, Ralph J., July/August 2007) Issues related to adolescence substance abuse: There are many effects of drug abuse, all of them negative. There are both individual and family related disturbances that are the cause of drug use and abuse. First and foremost, it can cause financial problems in the people who indulge in substance abuse. In adolescent females in specific, there is always a greater chance of harming fetus through the excessive use of drugs. Maternal drug use hence can produce difficulties and developmental growth problems in their prospective children. Such children are also at a great risk of acquiring fetal alcohol syndrome. Adolescents in substance abuse, have a higher chance of indulging in violent and aggressive behavior. Negativity, hyper sensitivity and attention seeking behavior are also probable causes. Such persons/adolescents are also more likely to experience anxiety and panic attacks. They take drugs to ease stress; however it could also have an opposite effect on them. Ill neuropsychological performance is also another result of drug taking. (Jrank.org, n.d.) There are also biological and physiological effects of drug abuse in adolescents and abusers in general. Some of these include itchy skin, allergies, snorting, blood thickening, irritation of the eyes, and risk of catching serious illnesses like AIDS etc. (Jonathan A. Schneider, Michele Van Vranken, 2004) In the heterosexual community, drug taking is quite common. It is to say that any adolescents, girls that is get prone to activities like prostitution due to drug abuse. This is usually the result of low finances especially for living and taking care of oneself, which also includes their buying drugs for themselves. (Cleghorn. F., Bartholomew, C., 1988) There are also many biological diseases and disorders that can happen in drug abusers. This list includes: Prenatal difficulties and ill infant growth in the case of women Cancer Liver and kidney problems Cardiovascular effects Hormonal effects Gastrointestinal effects Mental problems Breathing problems Eventually even death also (N.I.D.A., 2008) Prevention of drug abuse: It is a popular saying that prevention better than cure. In the case of substance abuse also, it is always better to prevent people and adolescents from indulging in substance abuse from the beginning. Prevention is hence a lot better than curing patients suffering from disorders/negative effects that were mentioned above. Now, the question is how it all can be done. There are many communities and websites also that support such people and provide help to them to deal with drug abuse problems. There are many factors that can help a drug abuser deal with his/her drug problems. These include: self-discipline through support groups parental interference and hence control achieving academically and getting motivated to continue with that anti-drug communities robust relationships with neighbors, family and friends Research shows that adolescents increase drug abuse when their risk factors like poverty, environmental factors all increase drug abuse on their part which can also be when there is a low level of protective factors a mentioned above in a list. A person’s gender and ethnicity have also shown relations with use of drugs. Usually, drug abuse begins when a person is a teenager and is exposed to an environment that shows vulnerability to the use of drug abuse. Hence it is imperative that when prevention is thought of it is done at an early at age, especially at and during the age of schooling. The latter is the case when peer pressure plays a huge role in a teenager/adolescent’ upbringing and he is more prone to do things as his friends do. Preventing is definitely important and has to be done. This either should be done an individual level or institutional through the use of support groups and anti-drug communities, is a choice that has to be made. But, drug abuse has t be stopped or taken control over in some way or another. (The Cleveland Clinic, 2008) References 1. Raiford, Jerris L., Wingood, Gina M., DiClemente, Ralph J. (July/August 2007) Prevalence, incidence and predictors of dating violence: A longitudinal study of African American female adolescents. Journal of Women’s Health, Volume 17, Issue 6, pp822-832, 11p. Web site: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=16&sid=76189da1-b245-4328-b44a-1218e315efce%40sessionmgr2 2. The Cleveland Clinic (2008) Preventing drug abuse among children and adolescents. Retrieved August 30, 2008, from Cleveland Clinic’s Web site: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/Substance_Abuse/hic_Preventing_Drug_Abuse_among_Children_and_Adolescents.aspx 3. Christos Ballas. (2008) Drug Abuse. Retrieved August 29, 2008, from About.com’s Web site: http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/Drug-abuse.htm 4. Buddy T. (2006) What is Substance Abuse. Retrieved August, 29, 2008, from About.com’s Web site: http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/drugs/a/aa030425a.htm 5. Steven Dowshen (2008) Drugs: What you should know. Retrieved August 29, 2008, from TeensHealth Web site: http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/know_about_drugs.html 6. Debra Wood. (n.d.) Your Health: Drug abuse and drug addiction. Retrieved August 29, 2008, from Aurora Health Care Web site: http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/yourhealth/healthgate/getcontent.asp?URLhealthgate=11896.html 7. Jrank.org (n.d.) Substance Abuse. Retrieved August 29, 2008, from jrank.org Web site: http://family.jrank.org/pages/1647/Substance-Abuse-Effects-Substance-Abuse-on-Families.html 8. Jonathan A. Schneider, Michele Van Vranken (2004) Retrieved August 30, 2008, from: http://www.kidshealth.org 9. Cleghorn. F., Bartholomew, C. (1988) Lilacs. Retrieved August 30, 2008, from: http://bases.bireme.br/cgi-bin/wxislind.exe/iah/online/?IsisScript=iah/iah.xis&src=google&base=LILACS&lang=p&nextAction=lnk&exprSearch=367078&indexSearch=ID 10. N.I.D.A. (2008) Drugs of Abuse and related topics. Retrieved August 30, 2008 from NIDA Web site: http://www.nida.nih.gov/consequences/prenatal/ Read More