Thesis on "Parenting Program for Women in Drug Treatment"

Thesis 150 pages (41621 words) Sources: 64

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Parenting Program for Women and Children in Residential Treatment

Addiction is something that has been around for many years, and there have been increasingly new ways of treating it that have been created over the course of much research and study. There are many different forms that addiction takes, and there are many different drugs and substances that someone can become addicted to, even if they are not of the age that most people would think of when they picture people that would start down that particular road. Most individuals think of addicts as primarily young, minority men in their 20s and 30s that rob, steal, and cause other problems in order to get their drugs or alcohol. However, there are also many women that are addicted to various substances, and although race is a factor when looking at addiction numbers, there are plenty of people of all races and ethnic backgrounds that struggle with addiction and many of the problems that it can cause.

Addiction is unfortunate and painful in many ways for all that are involved in it, but nowhere is this more true than in the case of adolescents that become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Often this takes place because the parents also have problems with addiction, but sometimes it can come from other issues such as mental problems, family problems, a desire to be accepted, or simple curiosity that goes too far and causes an addiction to the substance that was experimented with. Whatever its cause, addiction is a problem that is not often corrected without some kind of treatment or intervention. Not all people that become addicted to something require help to correct their path in life, but many do and they are the ones that desperately need some kind of help before their addiction steals their whole life from them.

It is not only upsetting to those that struggle with addiction but it causes turmoil and problems with other family members and relationships as well. Those that care for these people see the problems that they are encountering and sometimes they are not sure how to help these people and make them better. Often, drastic intervention in the form of arrest and sentencing is the only thing that will make these people turn their lives around, and sometimes not even those things are enough.

Where parents are concerned, there is a better chance of curing them. They often do not want to lose their children or want to get them back if they have already lost them, and this gives them more of a reason to try to stay clean. Most of these parents are young, and because of this they have not been a slave to their addictions for as long of a time period as most of those people that are older and they often really want help, even if they say that they do not. Some will go into treatment on a voluntary basis and others will have to be forced into treatment through the court system. Whether these individuals complete their treatment and whether they remain clean once they leave treatment are significant issues in both the voluntary and the forced admissions, and they are part of the discussion in Chapter Two, where the literature is reviewed.

Even when court appointed admissions are what bring parents into treatment some of them do not complete it. These individuals sometimes leave their treatment plans and do not return. The dropout rate for these individuals must be compared to the drop out rate for those that admit themselves voluntarily to treatment programs for drug and alcohol addiction so that it can be determined whether there are significant differences in the interest in completing a program when it is entered voluntarily vs. being forced to enter it through the court system. This is not the only important issue here, but it is one of the important issues if a parenting program that deals with recovery from addiction is going to work for the majority of people that enter it.

Statement of the Problem

The issue of parenting when it comes to drug dependency and other issues is one that has been misunderstood for many years. There are individuals that study it and discuss how significant it is, and there are others that see it as some kind of made-up problem that is really not important enough to focus on. Both of these are valid points-of-view but, in recent years, it has generally been accepted that children that have parents with drug or alcohol problems needing treatment is a significant issue, and that the study of it is important. Unlike standard medical problems, such as diseases that affect the body, this kind of behavior is not something that can be medically 'cured,' as it is understood in the traditional sense.

However, there are treatments available for parents and children and there are many different thoughts and theories as to what causes these problems in some people and not others, and how it should be handled when it does occur so that the patient can get the maximum amount of benefit from the treatment or treatments that are offered to him or her. For a study such as this one, it is important to discuss these treatments, but it is also important to look at how the problems that parents and children face with this issue affect the country's families and what kind of prevalence is noted with symptoms of this disorder.

While this particular study deals with the parenting experience of substance abuse and treatment, it is important to remember that parents are not the only ones that are affected by it. There are others that have been through very traumatic situations where dependency is concerned and are also strongly affected by these situations in the days, weeks, and months that follow. Without a proper understanding of the issue, and without knowing that help is available to them, they will continue to suffer and remain silent about their problems, or not understand what is happening to them. Some people do not like to see any doctor that is associated with mental health or drug/alcohol treatment because of the stigma that comes with it, but this is not as significant as it used to be, and many substance abuse issues are being seen and respected as legitimate difficulties that need treatment.

This problem can be difficult for those that are parents, however, because many of them have a slightly different mentality than the average person in that they seem to feel as though they should be able to deal with whatever comes their way without outside help, especially from the mental health or substance abuse field. In short, they often feel that having these kinds of problems equals weakness, and only those that are weak and not in control of themselves need the services of someone in this field. The stigma is still there for many of these individuals, and it can prevent them from seeking treatment, even if they know that they have some difficulties that are not being resolved on their own.

Children whose mothers are addicted to drugs and alcohol are at developmental risk. This risk can be both biologically based, as when the child was exposed to substances prenatally, and environmentally based, as when the home environment provided by a substance-abusing parent is disorganized, even chaotic. Furthermore, the risk is compounded by the fact that most mothers who are addicted are unavailable to their children, both physically and emotionally. When they enter the recovery process, the goals focus on recovery in terms of abstention from using, and overlook the repair of the child's home environment and relationship with the child. The purpose of this project is to develop a basic childcare curriculum for mothers who are in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, with the goal of repairing the relationship with the child. This repair will not only help the child, but also help prevent future relapse by buffering the mother from seeing the child as a source of stress.

Purpose of the Project

The purpose of this project is to create a curriculum that is most effective with the population of women, who are recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, and their children, who are all living in a residential treatment facility. Another purpose of this project and the study that comes before it is to not only show the seriousness of the problem in question, but to come up with ideas that will help to show how this problem can be reduced in size. Because children and adolescents are such an important part of the country and because the population is growing so rapidly, this is one issue that demands immediate attention and action. The best way to do this is to… READ MORE

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