Substance Abuse Among Youths in the UK - Essay Example

Substance Abuse Introduction (Part Substance abuse among the youths in the UK is among the most serious social challenges in the country. In many cases, it begins during adolescence, which means that younger people are ultimately an increased risk. It is estimated that around 90% of the youths under 18 seeking intervention for their substance abuse problems are dealing with cannabis alcohol or both (Newton, O’Leary-Barrett & Conrod, 2013). Myriad risk factors have been found to influence drug abuse in a variety of ways; for instance, when a teen is exposed to numerous risks, it drastically increases their propensity to abuse drugs. At certain stages of life, some risk factors can be more powerful than others can and during the teenage years, for example peer pressure is a particularly powerful motivator for negative and risky activity. In addition to peer pressure, other risk factors include risky behaviour, which makes teens ultimately vulnerable to the allure of drug use. Other factors that should be considered in the discourse about drug use include the background of the teen including their relationship with their parents and level of education (Chassin, Pitts & Prost, 2002). When designing interventions, it is important that social workers and teachers fully understand what drives specific teens to substance abuse. If for example they do it because of negative peer pressure, efforts can be made to bring about positive peer interactions. In the same way, if parents of caregivers have abused them in the past, the intervention strategy should provide them an opportunity to process the negative emotions that resulted in the habit in the first place. Literature Review (Part 2) Newton, O’Leary-Barrett & Conrod, (2013) review various empirical evidences in as far as adolescent onset substance abuse is concerned, they pay particular attention to the connection between neuropsychological impairment and an increased addiction risk in posterity (Newton, O’Leary-Barrett & Conrod, 2013). The evidence examined suggests a underlying conduit which some studies show that teenagers may be more prone to neurotoxic impacts of various chemical substances. Consequently, this seeks to answer the question why for example if two teen consume the same amount of alcohol or cannabis at regular intervals, why does one become an addict and the other does not? One of the proffered explanations is that exposure to drugs at an early age makes someone more vulnerable to addition (Dononvan, 2004). For instance, when a teen has been exposed to substances such as alcohol before they will be more likely to have addition issues than someone who first used drugs or alcohol at around 20 to 21. For majority of youths, initiation into drug abuse is commenced during adolescents because of peer pressure and the propensity for experimentation (Chassin Pitts & Prost, 2002). As children develop into teens they face a plethora of emotional and educational challenges, which have in many cases been found to coincide with a propensity for, enhance risk for the use of addictive substances. Studies have suggested that the most effective way of reducing abuse during this period is to focus on eliminating the risk factors since this would create and sustain resistance (Donovan, 2004). The risk factors that have been implicated in development of substance use can be divided into three major categories namely; genetic, individual and environmental factors (McBride, 2003). Genetic factor have been found to be critical determinants in addition studies since some people appear to have a predisposition for addition based on their inherent genetic makeup. Individual and interpersonal factors that influence drug abuse tend to be associated with personal temperament or outlook and early childhood characteristics; some individual traits that are often attributed to substance misuse include sensation seeking, depression and anxiety (Woicik, Stewart, Pihl & Conrod, 2009). On the other hand, environmental factors may include the social influence, which has been previously described under peer pressure, and it is one of the most powerful driving factors for additions. It is for instance very unlikely that a teen will abuse or even use drugs if they are living in an environment where no one consumes drugs. Largely, one of the leading motivators of addition is when an individual is living in an environment where drug use is considered normal behaviour. This has therefore been the most popular angle when it comes to creating interventions since most researchers have recognized the ability of peer pressure to cut across all segments of life and even personal and interpersonal tendencies. Research by various scholars and scientist has in most cases been unanimous in the claim that the onset of drugs and alcohol in adolescents is likely more dangerous than at any other time of their lives. When teens commence using drugs at age 14 or less, they have a higher tendency of developing alcohol and dependency related disorders in their adult lives. In addition, the younger one is when the start using alcohol and drugs, the higher their risk of increased mental health problems. Newton, O’Leary-Barrett & Conrod (2013, hold that prevention and intervention programs should be introduced in early adolescent years so that it can happen before the initial exposure and during a period before teens have developed the emotional influences and hormonal imbalances that make them likely to rebel and be deviant. By commencing these programs early, the target youth will receive the requisite knowledge and skills before they are put in situations where they have to make decision about drug use. The school environment is an ideal environment for promoting and providing information about drug abuse and prevention methods. In most countries, school attendance is mandatory therefore, the school provides a near perfect forum from where educators can reach numerous youths (Cuijpers, 2002). In addition, school is the key ground for peer-based interaction and by peer pressure. School going age children being among the most affected by the vice and given that they spend over a quarter of their waking lives in school the extent to which information can reach them cannot be overstated. In addition, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that drug education and intervention techniques are best taught in a progressive since the stratified sequence, through which formal education is provided create a forum in which the health curriculum can be integrated. Moreover, studies have shown that school based anti-drug initiative are generally more successful than those done outside the school setup are. This is mostly because in the school environment, learners can tend to share information with their peers and the same systems that could have otherwise been used to promote the vice end up reducing it. While billboards and TV adverts advising them to avoid drugs and telling them where to look for help if they have a problem tend to be effective, they are very different from the “in-house” solutions. Selective and universal approaches have been proposed as two of the most common and effective school based approach to the drug problem. By doing so selectively, the institution and those involved in implementing integration can target specific democratic groups within an institution based on shared factors they feel may contributing to the problem, Within this setup, there can also be individual consideration which allows the expending of limited resources to those that need them the most. However in many cases the selective approached has been discouraged because it involves numerous variables and it is not always practical since finding out specific challenges and tailor making solutions can be quite a challenges (Offord, 2000). On the other hand, the universal approach does not separate targets on any basis and focus on the entire population in an institution or community irrespective of the risk factor. This is the most common since it is cost sensitive and it does not invoke so many variables in selection and discrimination to result in complications. The next part of this paper will propose a proposal for a drug prevention and awareness campaign INS an institution whose members are aged between 14 and 17 elements of both the universal and selective approaches. Anti-Drug School Campaign Proposal (Part 3) Target of Campaign Given that most teens aged between 14 and 17 are in high school, school will be the best option to launch the campaign so that it can have maximum impact on the learners. This is because: They spend most of their times in the school Group and team learning projects can initiated among the peer groups Peer energy can be positively generated Peer counsellors will have a greater impact on their classmates and schoolmates than strangers The campaign can be integrated into the structured setting of learning in the school can Structure of the Campaign The campaign will be divided into 3 segments 1. Peer counselling 2. Teachers Lead Interactive sessions 3. Sporting activities The students will be divided into various groups under the patronage of a teacher of alumni volunteer. In these groups, various activities will be carried out including watching films on the harms of drug abuse and listening to testimonies of former addicts. For this stage, all students will be assigned a group where there will be a maximum of 20 students and a teacher will facilitate each. The resources needed will be diagrams and charts, a screen or projector and a former addict who will be the key human resource. Given that there may not be enough resources for the groups to use simultaneously, they will carry out various activities at different times to facilitate sharing resources. The hiring of counsellors and presentation material is estimated to cost 50,000 Pounds. This will also include the cost of feeding and catering for the transport of volunteers, however, given that the structure of the school will be used most of the time, the cost will be greatly reduced. In as much as much of the campaign will apply the universal approach, various cultural and demographic concerns will be addressed but only in the context of the groups. Members of minority groups and from different cultures will be encouraged to share their viewpoint on the subject especially if they feel that their cultural difference has an impact on their perception and experience. Then there will be a peer counselling sessions during which the teacher and counsellors will take a passive role. One of the students will facilitate the groups and the core business of the second’s stage will be reflection on each students understanding of the previous session as well as sharing their personal and witnessed experiences. Using peer interaction the drug abuse prevention will be affected since they will all get an opportunity to “experience” albeit second hand the challenges and dangers of drug addiction. There will then be a question answer sessions where the counsellors will take questions from the students and clarify anything the former may not have understood during the initial stage. After the sessions, the campaign will shift gear and engage the students in a variety of sporting activities carried out in the school’s sports centre. This is because sports are universally appreciated by society and especially in young and energetic groups; it is easy to pass on positive and intense messages through them. However, there is also an aspect of individualism because even as one trains to work within a team, they need to maximize on their individual performance. The teams that were used to discuss and reflect on drugs issues will be invited to organize themselves into competitive ones and provided with materials to prepare themselves for the same. Each will be expected to creatively design team shirts and train for three sports. This will have taken place before the session since the games will only take two days. They will serve to objectives, for one, they will provide the teens with way to build the spirit of camaraderie and trust. Organizing for sporting activities and supporting each other in the planning stages will encourage bonding and friendship. In many cases, lack of this is one of the reasons youths resort to drugs in search of meaning and identity. In addition, creating sports teams will encourage the youths to view the relationships with peers as positive and constructive ones and hence reducing the propensity for negative peer influencer. Finally, sports are healthy and fun, associating such activities with a drug abuse campaign creates a positive link, which from a behaviourist perspective can be described as positive reinforcement. References Chassin, L., Pitts, S. C., & Prost, J. (2002). Binge drinking trajectories from adolescence to emerging adulthood in a high-risk sample: predictors and substance abuse outcomes. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 70(1), 67. Cuijpers, P. (2003). Three decades of drug prevention research. Drugs Educ Prev :Policy 10(1):6–20 Donovan, J. E. (2004). Adolescent alcohol initiation: A review of psychosocial risk factors. Journal of adolescent health, 35(6), 529-e7. McBride, N. (2003). A systematic review of school drug education. Health Education Research 18(6):729–742 Newton, N. C., O’Leary-Barrett, M., & Conrod, P. J. (2013). Adolescent substance misuse: neurobiology and evidence-based interventions. In Behavioral Neurobiology of Alcohol Addiction (pp. 685-708). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Offord, D.R. (2000) Selection of levels of prevention. Addict Behav 25(6):833–842 Woicik, P.A., Stewart, S.H., Pihl, R.O., Conrod, P.J. (2009). The Substance use risk profile scale: a scale measuring traits linked to reinforcement-specific substance use profiles. Addict Behav 34(12):1042–1055 Read More