Family and Substance Abuse Paper

The impact of various kinds of substances to cultural groups has historically been precipitated by the significance of particular substances on different cultural groups (Moore, 2010).This is mainly because the long term usage of these substances leads to the integration of the consumption of the substance into the cultural patterns of the given group. One such group that has been affected by the extensive usage of a particular substance is the Native American community. According to the Associated Press (2014, August 28), as noted on the MSNBC website, out of ten deaths among the Native American population, one is Alcohol related. Additionally, the prevalence of Alcohol consumption among the Native American population relates to

The Hispanic, men seem to drink more than women. It is know that Hispanic will start to drink at a young age. The use of Alcohol use contributes to the leading causes of death among Hispanic. The most common used drug is Alcohol. .The Hispanic family will always discuss about the situation on drug and alcohol .The danger that will cause on their body. The Hispanic community believes in the 12 step program to help them with their substance addiction

More importantly, newer research has investigated the importance of family-based therapy for adolescents who practice drug abuse. Research by Liddle et al. suggests that multidimensional family therapy reduces substance abuse, delinquency, risks for future problems, and encourages the protective processes more than group treatments over the course of one year (21-22). Although previous research on family-based

Substance abuse is difficult to treat no matter the background someone comes from, but adding sociocultural influences from diverse cultures can add an even more difficult element when it comes to effective prevention and intervention strategies. The United States is a melting pot of diverse cultures, with the Hispanic population accounting for “one-half of the nation’s growth” (Steven & Smith, 2013, p. 328). When it comes to treating Hispanic individuals for substance abuse issues, one needs to be aware of the cultural differences and acculturation issues that are characteristic of this culture. Clinicians who work with the Hispanic population need to understand their cultural values and respect their diversity so that barriers to treatment can be overcome.

Drinking alcohol is a behavior that diverse ethnicities and cultures have adapted as a form of leisure, celebration, socialization, or cultural practice. Mexican American males have engaged in drinking alcohol for all of these reasons. It is important to analyze the process of acculturation Mexican American experience and how it affects their ability to persuade and control their alcohol consumption. The stress of adjusting to a new place than the one they have been accustomed to and have already been accepted in, can lead males to drink alcohol to help them in coping with their issues. The gravity of extreme alcohol drinking is also

Drinking pattern does differ by race and ethnicity in the United States. Our book discusses the difference between Irish, Italians, French, Asia & Native Americans, Hispanics, and African American. Studies show that African Americans have higher rates of alcoholism than whites do. This conclusion is due to the lack of research on drinking pattern amongst blacks (Lex, 1985; Sterne, 1967). Evidence also show that white women has a lower rate of alcoholism than black women, yet African American women have a higher abstain rate (Harper and Saifnoorian, 1991). Most African American males don’t encounter with alcohol related problems until about their 30’s. Seen in a study by Herd’s (1990) it revealed that is was some similar patterns between white and blacks as well as differences. White were found to do more

As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser.

Substance abuse, the abuse of drugs or alcohol, is known to have a lasting impact on members of the abuser’s family (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Ultimately there are two ways in which a family can experience the detrimental effects of substance abuse within the family system itself, and those ways are through either substance abuse on the parent’s behalf or substance abuse by the adolescents or children in the family unit (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Substance abuse can have many negative impacts on a family unit; the negative impacts are known to be emotionally, physically, and mentally damaging (Gruber & Taylor, 2006).

In 2009, El Paso County’s population was reported to be 604, 542 people with 1.2% of the population reporting as Native Americans (“US Census,” 2010). Salimbene (2005) notes that from 1997-1999, alcoholism among Native Americans in the US accounted for 47 per 100,000 deaths and in 2002 the death rate from alcoholism was 7 times higher than the rest of the population. Spector (2009) adds that the son of an alcoholic father is three times more likely to abuse alcohol and out of the top ten leading causes of death among Native Americans, alcohol can be linked to three (unintentional death, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, and suicide).

According to (AA.org) the drinking habits and patters of consumptions among Latinos changes due to many circumstances. “One reason that some Hispanics drink more than others here in the USA depends on factors such as accessibility and affordability”. Secondly, because of isolation from their loved ones as they become more susceptible to engage in risky drinking habits than in their countries.

Ward et. al. explores alcohol and other drug abuses specifically in Native American college students. Using referenced data, the author clarifies that while Native Americans are one of the lowest percentage of groups that use alchol, they have the largest percentage of being a binge drinker. Relavent information clearly compares alcohol abuse in the Native American college population to that of the average US college student. The paper gives a transparent view of the data and thorough discriptions of what they deemed as alcohol “use” and “binge drinking”. Ward’s findings showed that there was no statistical evidence that Native American college students were more likely to binge drink than non-Native American students.

In reading chapters four and five of the textbook “Substance Abuse and the Family” I found a couple of things that caught my interest. In chapter four, the middle phrase of an alcoholic family is discussed on page 58, regulatory behaviors of the family enabling whatever use of alcohol is occurring hiding and maintaining for others not to see the alcoholism. The children are usually pressured not to talk about the situation at school, work, etc. I have seen parents threaten their children if they were to tell, saying things like “ if you tell they will take us away from you forever and it will be your fault” or “ if you tell punishment will be sure to follow”. Therefore, the family must endure the negative impacts of an alcoholic parent falling

Another important approach to helping adolescent with substance abuse is family and community support. Family therapies can help strengthen the family relationship and help improve communication. According to Horigian, Anderson, and Szapocznik (2016) they concluded from their research that family therapy has been the most effective approach to help adolescent with substance use disorder. This may allow the adolescent to have a place to reach out to for help and provide a network of support. The community, including school, friends, peers, and mentors are also a great source of support and encouragement that can help the adolescent abstained from drugs.

Parental substance abuse is something that both directly and indirectly affects a child. Intervention programs have been designed to help eliminate certain risk factors that some adolescents are prone to if they live with at least one parent who has some type of substance abuse problem. Intervention programs vary in many different types and styles. Some intervention programs focus on individuals and others focus on communities or the entire family as as unit. A study done by Lewis, A. J., Holmes, N., Watkins, B., & Mathers, D. (2015) focused on trying to answer whether or not intervention programs aided in reducing the outcomes of parental substance abuse. For this study, the intervention program of focus was named Supporting Kids and

This study was created to observe and gather knowledge of the alcohol use among Hispanic college students along the US/Mexico border. It was successful with the help of two hundred and ninety-six participants. The hypotheses include, males tend to consume alcohol more often and in more quantity when compared to females. The methods the author used included the two hundred and ninety-six Hispanic college students who took place in this study. The college students would document their drinking behaviors over the time period of 30 days and also complete a measure of acculturation. The results of this study showed that fifty-nine percent of the college students consumed