Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay

Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay

Substanceabuse is the habit of overindulging on an addictive substance to thelevel of being dependent on its use. The most common substances thatare abused are drugs and alcohol. All drugs of abuse are addictiveand lead to several health and social consequences. According toLowinson(2006), all types of addictive beverages and alcohol are termed to besubstances of abuse because users are forced to use them to operatenormally. Substance abuse has diverse ramifications to the user andto the society in terms of consequences and the cost of correctingthe damages. The discussion in this paper focuses on the social andcultural ramifications of substance abuse in the society. In thisregard, the discussion will include the theories related to thetreatment and the cultural considerations.

Oneof the social ramifications of substance abuse is the loss of youngpeople with the scourge. Young people who indulge in the use of drugend up being unproductive in the society and lose their potency todrug abuse.Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay. The abuse of drugs and the use of other addictivesubstances lead to the failure of young people to discover theirability to engage in productive activities in the society (Shaw,2005). In addition the young people waste their time in drug takingactivities instead of attending to work or productive societalactivities. In this regard, the society loses the contribution of asection of the population that should be improving their lives andthose of the others.

Anothersocial ramification touches on education. Substances of abuse have anegative impact on the education system and education levels in thesociety. When people engage in drug abuse and other substances ofabuse, they lose their perspective towards education. According toIsralowitz(2004), most of the people whoengage in drugs start the habit at a young school age. Instead ofattending school, young people engage in drugs and lose their valuetowards education. They feel that the only important thing in theirlives is the addictive substance, and not anything beneficial. As aresult, the levels of education in the society have reduced and thepopulation is suffering the lack of energetic manpower.

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Thedeath of people from the abuse of drugs leads to loss of importantfamily members. This leads to social gaps in families and societies,such as families and communities without fathers, brothers, sistersand mums. Therefore, they leave a challenge of taking care of thefamilies they leave or children they leave behind. In addition, theuse of substances of abuse leads to economic effects for the societydue to the loss of potential people in the society to drug abuse.Addiction to drug abuse leads to death in the cases of extreme abusewith treatment or intervention. According to Shaw (2002), thiseliminates such people from the society, thereby losing the economicvalue they could have made to the society. The abuse of drugs leadsto addiction to the substances and dependence on their effects. Thiseliminates the addicted people from the workforce, thereby losingtheir economic value in the society.

Becauseof drug abuse, victims lose their respect to the cultural andreligious beliefs and ethics. When people engage in drug abuse, theirthinking is controlled by the addictive substances, leading to a lackof ethics and general conduct (Shaw, 2002). As a result, the respectfor the social norms and morals of the society is lost. The lossleads to the raising of the people who are not aligned with theculture or social norms of the society and the community. As acultural ramification of drug abuse, the lack of respect to norms andmorals leads to disrespect of the law. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.

Inaddition, crime rates in the society increase due to substance abuse.People who engage in substance abuse are controlled by the addictionand make their decisions based on the dictations by the addictivesubstances. According toIsralowitz (2004), drugs of abusetend to control the actions of the users by taking them to a state ofeuphoria. Lowinson(2005) argues that people who abuse drugs enter into a state of mindthat has no respect for the law as they view every action they do asjustified and right in their own way. Therefore, abuse of theaddictive substances leads to increased crime as the addicts seek tosatisfy their euphoria of quick riches. According to Segal (2014),addicts also engage in crime so as to get money to buy drugsespecially when they are not earning. In this case, most young peoplewho are not employed to engage in crime to get quick income to fundtheir drug abuse habits.

Theoriesassociated with Treatment

Treatmentof the people with addiction to substances of abuse attractsapplication of four main theories that focus on the behavior andimpact of different social groups. These theories are theSocioculturaltheories, the Subcultural theories and the Supracultural theories(Lowinson, 2005).

Socioculturaltheories are based on the observation and comparison of the reasonswhy different social groups engage in substance abuse. According toLowinson(2005),sociocultural theories help understand the social context thatdetermines the effects of the drugs, related behavior and drugdefinitions and descriptions. Moreover, sociocultural theories helpto understand the environmental factors that influence the drug abusebehavior. Therefore, to successfully treat people addicted to drugs,it is important to understand the reasons why they engage in drugsand differentiate them from other drug users.

Subculturaltheories focus on the differences among the people in the samecultural and social context of the same population. The understandingof this context helps the treatment of the drug addicts because itreveals the physical, biological and personal factors behind theabuse of drugs (Lowinson,2005).For instance, the understanding helps to understand the differencesbetween gender in a population in terms of abusing drugs and engagingin alcoholism. The supracultural theories, on the other hand focus onthe relationship between the social organization, culture and thedrug abuse behavior (Segal,2014).Through the application of supracultural theories, it is effective tounderstand the reasons for the behavior as it relates to the specificculture or social grouping. In this regard, a person is able to knowhow to treat the people involved in drug abuse from that cultural setup.

Conclusion

Substanceabuse is caused by several factors including social and culturaldynamics of the society. The abuse of addictive substances leads tosocial loss of life and economic consequences of losing theproductive members of the society. In addition, substance abuse leadsto uncultured people who have no respect for the social norms andengage in crime due to the direction by the addictive substances. Totreat victims of substance abuse, it is important to understand andapply the appropriate social theories. Through the social theories,it is easier to understand the reasons for the abuse and factorsbehind the addictive behavior. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.

References

Isralowitz,R. (2004).&nbspDruguse: a reference handbook.Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO Publishers

Lowinson,J.H. (2005).&nbspSubstanceAbuse: A Comprehensive Textbook.Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams &amp Wilkins

Segal,B. (2014). Perspectiveson Drug Use in the United States.London: Routledge

Shaw,V. (2002). SubstanceUse and Abuse: Sociological Perspectives.Santa Barbara, Ca: Greenwood Publishing Group

amily structures in America have become more complex—growing from the traditional nuclear family to single‐parent families, stepfamilies, foster families, and multigenerational families. Therefore, when a family member abuses substances, the effect on the family may differ according to family structure. This chapter discusses treatment issues likely to arise in different family structures that include a person abusing substances. For example, the non–substance‐abusing parent may act as a “superhero” or may become very bonded with the children and too focused on ensuring their comfort. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay. Treatment issues such as the economic consequences of substance abuse will be examined as will distinct psychological consequences that spouses, parents, and children experience. This chapter concludes with a description of social issues that coexist with substance abuse in families and recommends ways to address these issues in therapy.

A growing body of literature suggests that substance abuse has distinct effects on different family structures. For example, the parent of small children may attempt to compensate for deficiencies that his or her substance‐abusing spouse has developed as a consequence of that substance abuse (Brown and Lewis 1999). Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against the reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency (for more information, see Substance Abuse Treatment: Addressing the Specific Needs of Women [Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) in development e] and TIP 32, Treatment of Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders [CSAT 1999e]). Alternately, the aging parents of adults with substance use disorders may maintain inappropriately dependent relationships with their grown offspring, missing the necessary “launching phase” in their relationship, so vital to the maturational processes of all family members involved.

The effects of substance abuse frequently extend beyond the nuclear family. Extended family members may experience feelings of abandonment, anxiety, fear, anger, concern, embarrassment, or guilt; they may wish to ignore or cut ties with the person abusing substances.Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay. Some family members even may feel the need for legal protection from the person abusing substances. Moreover, the effects on families may continue for generations. Intergenerational effects of substance abuse can have a negative impact on role modeling, trust, and concepts of normative behavior, which can damage the relationships between generations. For example, a child with a parent who abuses substances may grow up to be an overprotective and controlling parent who does not allow his or her children sufficient autonomy.

Neighbors, friends, and coworkers also experience the effects of substance abuse because a person who abuses substances often is unreliable. Friends may be asked to help financially or in other ways. Coworkers may be forced to compensate for decreased productivity or carry a disproportionate share of the workload. As a consequence, they may resent the person abusing substances.

People who abuse substances are likely to find themselves increasingly isolated from their families. Often they prefer associating with others who abuse substances or participate in some other form of antisocial activity. These associates support and reinforce each other’s behavior.

Different treatment issues emerge based on the age and role of the person who uses substances in the family and on whether small children or adolescents are present. In some cases, a family might present a healthy face to the community while substance abuse issues lie just below the surface.

Reilly (1992) describes several characteristic patterns of interaction, one or more of which are likely to be present in a family that includes parents or children abusing alcohol or illicit drugs:

Negativism. Any communication that occurs among family members is negative, taking the form of complaints, criticism, and other expressions of displeasure. The overall mood of the household is decidedly downbeat, and positive behavior is ignored. In such families, the only way to get attention or enliven the situation is to create a crisis. This negativity may serve to reinforce the substance abuse. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.
Parental inconsistency. Rule setting is erratic, enforcement is inconsistent, and family structure is inadequate. Children are confused because they cannot figure out the boundaries of right and wrong. As a result, they may behave badly in the hope of getting their parents to set clearly defined boundaries. Without known limits, children cannot predict parental responses and adjust their behavior accordingly. These inconsistencies tend to be present regardless of whether the person abusing substances is a parent or child and they create a sense of confusion—a key factor—in the children.
Parental denial. Despite obvious warning signs, the parental stance is: (1) “What drug/alcohol problem? We don’t see any drug problem!” or (2) after authorities intervene: “You are wrong! My child does not have a drug problem!”
Miscarried expression of anger. Children or parents who resent their emotionally deprived home and are afraid to express their outrage use drug abuse as one way to manage their repressed anger.
Self‐medication. Either a parent or child will use drugs or alcohol to cope with intolerable thoughts or feelings, such as severe anxiety or depression.
Unrealistic parental expectations. If parental expectations are unrealistic, children can excuse themselves from all future expectations by saying, in essence, “You can’t expect anything of me—I’m just a pothead/speed freak/junkie.” Alternatively, they may work obsessively to overachieve, all the while feeling that no matter what they do it is never good enough, or they may joke and clown to deflect the pain or may withdraw to side‐step the pain. If expectations are too low, and children are told throughout youth that they will certainly fail, they tend to conform their behavior to their parents’ predictions, unless meaningful adults intervene with healthy, positive, and supportive messages.

In all of these cases, what is needed is a restructuring of the entire family system, including the relationship between the parents and the relationships between the parents and the children. The next section discusses treatment issues in different family structures that include a person who is abusing substances. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.

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Families With a Member Who Abuses Substances

Client Lives Alone or With Partner

The consequences of an adult who abuses substances and lives alone or with a partner are likely to be economic and psychological. Money may be spent for drug use; the partner who is not using substances often assumes the provider role. Psychological consequences may include denial or protection of the person with the substance abuse problem, chronic anger, stress, anxiety, hopelessness, inappropriate sexual behavior, neglected health, shame, stigma, and isolation.

In this situation, it is important to realize that both partners need help. The treatment for either partner will affect both, and substance abuse treatment programs should make both partners feel welcome. If a person has no immediate family, family therapy should not automatically be ruled out. Issues regarding a person’s lost family, estranged family, or family of origin may still be relevant in treatment. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay. A single person who abuses substances may continue to have an impact on distant family members who may be willing to take part in family therapy. If family members come from a distance, intensive sessions (more than 2 hours) may be needed and helpful. What is important is not how many family members are present, but how they interact with each other.

In situations where one person is substance dependent and the other is not, questions of codependency arise. Codependency has become a popular topic in the substance abuse field. Separate 12‐Step groups such as Al‐Anon and Alateen, Co‐Dependents Anonymous (CoDA), Adult Children of Alcoholics, Adult Children Anonymous, Families Anonymous, and Co‐Anon have formed for family members (see appendix D for a listing of these and other resources).

CoDA describes codependency as being overly concerned with the problems of another to the detriment of attending to one’s own wants and needs (CoDA 1998). Codependent people are thought to have several patterns of behavior:

They are controlling because they believe that others are incapable of taking care of themselves.
They typically have low self‐esteem and a tendency to deny their own feelings.
They are excessively compliant, compromising their own values and integrity to avoid rejection or anger.
They often react in an oversensitive manner, as they are often hypervigilant to disruption, troubles, or disappointments.
They remain loyal to people who do nothing to deserve their loyalty (CoDA 1998).

Although the term “codependent” originally described spouses of those with alcohol abuse disorders, it has come to refer to any relative of a person with any type of behavior or psychological problem. The idea has been criticized for pathologizing caring functions, particularly those that have traditionally been part of a woman’s role, such as empathy and self‐sacrifice. Despite the term’s common use, little scientific inquiry has focused on codependence. Systematic research is needed to establish the nature of codependency and why it might be important (Cermak 1991; Hurcom et al. 2000; Sher 1997). Nonetheless, specifically targeted behavior that somehow reinforces the current or past using behavior must be identified and be made part of the treatment planning process. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.

Client Lives With Spouse (or Partner) and Minor Children

Similar to maltreatment victims, who believe the abuse is their fault, children of those with alcohol abuse disorders feel guilty and responsible for the parent’s drinking problem. Children whose parents abuse illicit drugs live with the knowledge that their parents’ actions are illegal and that they may have been forced to engage in illegal activity on their parents’ behalf. Trust is a key child development issue and can be a constant struggle for those from family systems with a member who has a substance use disorder (Brooks and Rice 1997).

Most available data on the enduring effects of parental substance abuse on children suggest that a parent’s drinking problem often has a detrimental effect on children. These data show that a parent’s alcohol problem can have cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, and emotional consequences for children. Among the lifelong problems documented are impaired learning capacity; a propensity to develop a substance use disorder; adjustment problems, including increased rates of divorce, violence, and the need for control in relationships; and other mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and low self‐esteem (Giglio and Kaufman 1990; Johnson and Leff 1999; Sher 1997).

The children of women who abuse substances during pregnancy are at risk for the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome, low birth weight (associated with maternal addiction), and sexually transmitted diseases. (For information about the effects on children who are born addicted to substances, see TIP 5, Improving Treatment for Drug‐Exposed Infants [CSAT 1993a].) Latency age children (age 5 to the onset of puberty) frequently have school‐related problems, such as truancy. Older children may be forced prematurely to accept adult responsibilities, especially the care of younger siblings. In adolescence, drug experimentation may begin. Adult children of those with alcohol abuse disorders may exhibit problems such as unsatisfactory relationships, inability to manage finances, and an increased risk of substance use disorders.Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.

Although, in general, children with parents who abuse substances are at increased risk for negative consequences, positive outcomes have also been described. Resiliency is one example of a positive outcome (Werner 1986). Some children seem better able to cope than others; the same is true of spouses (Hurcom et al. 2000). Because of their early exposure to the adversity of a family member who abuses substances, children develop tools to respond to extreme stress, disruption, and change, including mature judgment, capacity to tolerate ambiguity, autonomy, willingness to shoulder responsibility, and moral certitude (Wolin and Wolin 1993). Nonetheless, substance abuse can lead to inappropriate family subsystems and role taking. For instance, in a family in which a mother uses substances, a young daughter may be expected to take on the role of mother. When a child assumes adult roles and the adult abusing substances plays the role of a child, the boundaries essential to family functioning are blurred. The developmentally inappropriate role taken on by the child robs her of a childhood, unless there is the intervention by healthy, supportive adults.

The spouse of a person abusing substances is likely to protect the children and assume parenting duties that are not fulfilled by the parent abusing substances. If both parents abuse alcohol or illicit drugs, the effect on children worsens. Extended family members may have to provide care as well as financial and psychological support. Grandparents frequently assume a primary caregiving role. Friends and neighbors may also be involved in caring for the young children. In cultures with a community approach to family care, neighbors may step in to provide whatever care is needed. Sometimes it is a neighbor who brings a child abuse or neglect situation to the attention of child welfare officials. Most of the time, however, these situations go unreported and neglected.

Client Is Part of a Blended Family

Anderson (1992) notes that many people who abuse substances belong to stepfamilies. Even under ordinary circumstances, stepfamilies present special challenges. Children often live in two households in which different boundaries and ambiguous roles can be confusing.Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay. Effective coparenting requires good communication and careful attention to possible areas of conflict, not only between biological parents, but also with their new partners. Popenoe (1995) believes that the difficulty of coordinating boundaries, roles, expectations, and the need for cooperation, places children raised in blended households at far greater risk of social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Children from stepfamilies may develop substance abuse problems to cope with their confusion about family rules and boundaries.

Substance abuse can intensify problems and become an impediment to a stepfamily’s integration and stability. When substance abuse is part of the family, unique issues can arise. Such issues might include parental authority disputes, sexual or physical abuse, and self‐esteem problems for children.

Substance abuse by stepparents may further undermine their authority, lead to difficulty in forming bonds, and impair a family’s ability to address problems and sensitive issues. If the noncustodial parent abuses drugs or alcohol, visitation may have to be supervised. (Even so, visitation is important. If contact stops, children often blame themselves or the drug problem for a parent’s absence.)

If a child or adolescent abuses substances, any household can experience conflict and continual crisis. Hoffmann (1995) found that increased adolescent marijuana use occurs more frequently when an adolescent living with a divorced parent and stepparent becomes less attached to the family. With fewer ties to the family, the likelihood increases that the adolescent will form attachments to peers who abuse substances. Weaker ties to the family and stronger ones to peers using drugs increase the chances of the adolescent starting to use marijuana or increasing marijuana use.

Stepparents living in a household in which an adolescent abuses substances may feel they have gotten more than they bargained for and resent the time and attention the adolescent requires from the biological parent. Stepparents may demand that the adolescent leave the household and live with the other parent. In fact, a child who is acting out and abusing substances is not likely to be welcomed in either household (Anderson 1992). Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.

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Clinicians treating substance abuse should know that the family dynamics of blended families differ somewhat from those of nuclear families and require some additional considerations. Anderson (1992) identifies strategies for addressing substance abuse in a stepfamily:

The use of a genogram, which graphically depicts significant people in the client’s life, helps to establish relationships and pinpoint where substance abuse is and has been present (seechapter 3).
Extensive historical work helps family members exchange memories that they have not previously shared.
Education can provide a realistic expectation of what family life can be like.
The development of correct and mutually acceptable language for referring to family relationships helps to strengthen family ties. The goal of family therapy is to restructure maladaptive family interactions that are associated with the substance abuse problem. To do this, the counselor first has to earn the family’s trust, which means approaching family members on their own terms. Social and Cultural Ramifications of Substance Abuse Essay.