ADOLESCENT DRUG USE.   Term Paper ID:30300 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Discusses main issues. The pervasive use of drugs and alcohol. Reasons for abuse including developmental trends. Intervention in drug-related behaviors. Predictors of teen-age drug use. Connection to family structure. Problems of substance-abuse interventions with adolescents. Conteends authoritarian models do not work. Suggests holistic treatment or 12-step program. Paper Introduction: This research examines issue fronts related to use of drugs by adolescents. Three main features of adolescent drug use emerge from the literature. First there is acknowledgment that the problem of drug and alcohol abuse among adolescents is pervasive. Second, specific reasons for the phenomenon vary with the individual case but are connected to developmental trends that research has identified as common to adolescents in general. Third, intervention in drug-related behavior is both possible and desirable, although the manner of intervention appears to be related to its success or failure. Although adolescence has been identified as a period of time in which individuals seek autonomy and personal identity distinct from that of their family units, and although peer influences and relationships have been found to be extremely impor Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Addressing the community of social workers andpsychotherapists who may direct an intervention, Muisener believes thattreating adolescents is not as simple as grafting adult-interventionprograms onto adolescent interventions. Instead, he gives attention to theage of the adolescent, chiefly with reference to puberty onset, the contextof the client's social (peer) and family relationship patterns, andevaluation of the client's cognitive and psychological development. (1998, Winter). Age-specific psychological and social components, including personal familyhistory, must be included in any intervention that will affect theadolescent's physical organisms. One way to interrupt or prevent adolescentexperimentation in controlled substances would be to educate and/orintervene in single-parent and blended families in order to equippreadolescents with strong emotional support and assistance in developing"prosocial" coping skills. (1999, Spring). Users of tobacco and marijuana were found to bemore likely to come from stepfamilies. Users of beer and wine were morelikely to come from single-parent households headed by mothers, and usersof tobacco, and marijuana were more likely to come from such householdsheaded by fathers, than from intact families. Jenkins and Zunguze (1998) found that use of controlled substances wasconnected to the degree of intact-family disruption and the potential fortruncation of the development of an adolescent's emotional stability andcompensatory coping skills. Becausethe persistent problems of adolescent substance use demonstrate the lack ofefficacy of most such interventions, Muisener (1994) suggests looking atthe adolescent client holistically, i.e., with reference to the so-calledbiopsychosocial model. References Jenkins, J. Understanding and treating adolescent substanceabuse. E., & Zunguze, S. (1994). Although adolescence has been identified as a period of time in whichindividuals seek autonomy and personal identity distinct from that of theirfamily units, and although peer influences and relationships have beenfound to be extremely important in shaping personality, it is almostimpossible for any individual to escape childhood influences, particularlythe character and quality of one's home life and family situation. Jenkins and Zunguze suggest that young adolescentsare at most risk for substance abuse if they find themselves in single-parent or blended families. First there is acknowledgment that the problem of drug andalcohol abuse among adolescents is pervasive. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Third, intervention in drug-related behavior is both possibleand desirable, although the manner of intervention appears to be related toits success or failure. Surrender to win: Howadolescent drug and alcohol users change their lives. T. Three main features of adolescent drug use emerge from theliterature. Relationship offamily structure to adolescent drug use, peer affiliation, and perceptionof peer acceptance of drug use. Muisener, P.P. A major problem with substance-abuse intervention with adolescentsappears to be the use of authoritarian or punishment models that have hadvery unimpressive results (Vaughn & Long, 1999; Muisener, 1994). Second, specific reasons forthe phenomenon vary with the individual case but are connected todevelopmental trends that research has identified as common to adolescentsin general. The least likely users of tobacco,alcohol, or so-called "gateway" drugs such as marijuana were found to beeighth-graders adolescents from intact families, across the board.Reinforcement of this finding is available in a study of recoveringadolescent substance abusers, which found that a common pattern is afailure of parental nurturing, not least because of parental substanceabuse (Vaughn and Long, 1999). Adolescence, 33, 811-822. By 1 th grade, users of hardliquor were more likely to come from father-headed single-parent familiesthan other families, and it was in this family structure that researchersfound a hardening of substance-use habits as well. A more traditional approach to treatment of substance abuse ispresented by Vaughn and Long (1999), who describe several cases of recoveryaccomplished pursuant to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step Program. Adolescence, 34, 9-24. Taking the view that the AA structure is transferable fromadult to adolescent contexts, they also recommend that treatmentprofessionals form ties with AA and "companion groups, such as Narcoticsanonymous," which are organized and positioned in ways that can help bridgethe gap between initial intervention and long- and short-term recoveryprocesses. Vaughn, C., & Long, W. The adolescents understudy were likely to have peer relationships that mirrored their own use ofcontrolled substances. This research examines issue fronts related to use of drugs byadolescents. A commonthread of their description is that the adolescents involved had less toachieve from a physical standpoint than from the standpoint of arrestedemotional development, owing to family disruption and unfortunate peer-group choices. A studyof eighth-graders and tenth-graders by Jenkins and Zunguze (1998) suggeststhat the very structure of the family (nuclear or "intact" family, single-parent households, divorced parents, blended "stepparent" families, etc.)can be a predictor of teenage drug use. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.