Parental Addiction
“No one is immune from addiction; it afflicts people of all ages, races, classes, and professions”(Kennedy). People are all being affected by drug and alcohol abuse every day. Parents who take drugs are not only harming themselves horribly, but harming their children even more. This maltreatment of children can lead to behavioral problems, mental disorders, poor performance in school, and even delinquency. Parents who have addictions can not only handicap themselves but also their children, mentally, emotionally, and in some cases physically.
Mothers and fathers who have a dependance on drugs and other substances have an increased ability to harm their children without meaning to. In Eau Claire county in Wisconsin more children than ever are being taken away from parents by child protection agencies because of the parent’s reliance on meth. In mid december 2016 two brothers were taken into child protection because their dad fell asleep at the wheel after consuming meth in the parent pick up line waiting for his sons to get out of school. One other time two boys were relocated after their mother was found taking meth and the boys tested positive for meth too. In Eau claire county sixty-seven percent of child protection incidents involved alcohol or other substances in 2010. Whereas in Eau Claire in 2016 there were eighty-two percent of cases involving alcohol or other drugs, but ninety-four percent of those were meth related (“Meth’s empty desks”). Far too many cases involving addictions in the United States as a whole that we need to fix.
Just as just being around a parent who has an addiction can cause physical harm to a child, it can cause emotional and mental harm too. From the article “Children of Alcoholics” they say when children are exposed to drugs they may suffer from many problems such as behavioral problems, lack of social skills, and mental disorders. They may also suffer from emotional problems because the adolescents are not able to get enough affection from their guardians. Addiction to drugs or alcohol can alter perception of the parents so children found usually have been put in harm's way, neglected, or abused. In fact studies have been shown that many people
Growing up with substance abuse parents can potentially put the children at risk for developmental deficiencies. Parents who are substance dependent are oftentimes focus on themselves over their children, and this leads to neglecting the children. Without the attachment with the parents, children are lack of security and trust to explore the outside world. According to Erik Erikson, children develop at different stage. Infants are totally dependent on their parents. If parents provide the good care and support to the children, they will develop the basic trust to their parents and the world, otherwise, they will feel insecure and develop mistrust instead. This mistrust may cause problems later in life. As children begin to grow and navigate the challenges of adolescence, parental substance abuse has a direct impact on their well-being, as well as their behavior. Teenagers are eager to seek their identities. Yet, growing up with mistrust, inferiority, and shame
Imagine if the two people you admire the most, the two people who set the example of how life should be, just stopped taking care of you and neglected your individual needs. What could be the reason your parents have chosen to withdraw from your life? If you could examine this picture more closely, you would see that these "types" of parents are the ones who are addicted to drugs and stray away from the needs of their own children. These parents do not realize the neglect they are showing for their children; they are not in the right state of mind to even consider what the child needs. Neglect is not the only risk involved by parents using drugs; this behavior could also result in their own
Since “parents are a crucial part of their child’s environment” (Sharma, 2016), it is no surprise that their behavior can affect how their children grow up to be. While yes, people who end up addicted to drugs can come from all sorts of lives there are some circumstances that may help to influence a person’s choice to turn to drugs. The likelihood that a person turns to drugs increases if they experience a traumatic event such as sexual, emotional, or physical abuse (Mirlashari, Demirkol, Salsali, Rafiey, & Jahanbani, 2012). Depending on the level of trauma can influence the level of drug addiction a person may have. If a person witnesses’ violence in their family or they are sexually victimized they are more likely to not only use drugs but to turn to hard drugs like
Social service agencies have revealed how out-of-home placements of children have become increased due to meth addiction in care-givers. Thousands of children are abused and neglected. The National Conference of State Legislatures found the distressing fact that about 10 percent of meth users were introduced to the drug by their parents or close relatives. The Drug Enforcement Administration reports that in 20 percent of drug busts made last year, children were present. Domestic violence statistics have begun to consider the implications of meth abuse in their compilations.
Employment, family and friend are seriously at jeopardy when addiction overshadows and become more important. Family suffer tremendously from the neglected due to a family member plagued with this disease. The constant worry for the person’s welfare causes emotional stress that can break down the family structure. Children are the most venerable when a parent suffers with addiction. Child Protected services state approximately 50% to 80% of all child abuse and neglect cases involve some degree of substance abuse by the child’s parents (NIDA, 2000). Babies born with birth defects due to a mother cocaine use during pregnancy is another unfortunate reality (NIDA, 2000). There are over 45,000 cases of cocaine-exposed babies per
For our community and for children's well being it is important for all of us to be aware of how we can help prevent drug abuse. Many organizations encourage encourage early intervention but for many parents and their children the conversation is a sensitive topic. The article “Family Checkup: Positive Parenting Prevents Drug Abuse” helps parents (health care providers, and our community even) with 5 questions that help parents develop or fine tune their skills of : calm and clear communication, ability to encourage positive behavior, negotiate emotional conflicts and work towards solutions, able to “calmly” set limits when teens are defiant, disrespectful, and if or when drug abuse occurs, and - lastly - monitor teens to limit unsupervised
In research conducted by Kyzer, Conners-Burrow, & McKelvey (2013), it is estimated that more than 8 million children under the age of 18 live with at least one parent who abuses substances. This leads to a host of other issues for the children in their care, including abuse, neglect, placement in foster care, poverty, and homelessness or poor-quality neighborhoods. The children from these environments are exposed to several different risk factors, thus are facing a long road in front of them. One of the most troubling aspects of parental substance abuse is just how pervasive the detriment to the family can be. If parents spend needed resources to obtain their drugs of choice, they cannot pay for needed essentials, such as safe transportation or good housing. Exposure to poor neighborhoods, where the child is exposed to violence and disadvantaged areas, can put him or her at risk in the future (Kyzer et al.,
Attachment, nurturing, and socialization is the foundation that holds together any family. However, substance use disorders (SUDs) impact individuals and their family members which requires a great deal of responsiveness at the very start of the disorder. Whether it’s directly or indirectly, everyone in the family is affected by the individual that abuses the substance. The family member(s) can be affected by the individual through developmental, emotional, attachment, and violence. Approximately, 3 million reports of child abuse are reported every year and of that 899,000 are reported victims due to substance abuse. Children are a product of their environment and in many cases they are at risk of becoming the abuser themselves.
I chose to summarize effects of substance abuse on children and their parents written by Crofton-Tower (2017). The name of the chapter is called the impact of violence and addiction on children. The author describes several effects that substance/addiction has on children and their parents. Crofton-Towers mentions how the usage of drugs and alcohol can weaken how parents take advise and parent their children (Crofton-Towers, 2017). She also indicates it can lead to parents sexually, physically plus mentally abusing their children.
In addition to physical neglect, children of substance abusing parents often experience emotional problems. They show high rates of emotional problems compared to their peers (” Understanding the Diverse Needs of Children whose Parents Abuse Substances” 5). The emotional problems that those children experience include: depression, fear, anxiety, mistrust, confusion, eating disorders, mood disorders, and lower self-esteem (“Effects of Parental Substance Abuse on Children and Families” 2). Those emotional problems may be the result of parental neglect or prenatal substance exposure. As studies found out, prenatal substance exposure is associated with emotional and psychological problems of the children (Smith and Wilson 2). Children who grow
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) reported that more than eight million children younger than age 18 live with at least one adult who is struggling with substance abuse, a rate of more than one in 10 children. The majority of these children are younger than age 5. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2010). Children that have one or more of their parents that are addicted to drugs are at a higher risk for negative experiences in their lives compared to children that do not, including poorer health, risk for harmful behaviors, physical and mental delays, and a higher susceptibility to using substances themselves. The development of attachment theory by psychologist John Bowlby and family systems
The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke makes the argument that parental abuse will ruin the innocence of childhood by causing psychological trauma. Roethke uses a personal experience he had with his father in order to convey how he loved his father, but also feared him in their complicated relationship. The speaker is a “small boy” who loves his father immensely and pictures his father as the parent he always wanted, but is frightened by his father’s behavior under the influence of alcoholism. He says, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle” (Lines 9-12). The juxtaposition between the waltz, an elegant and formal type of dancing, and the jarring effect of the
Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and
The parent-child bond is one of the most important relationships in a child’s life. When a child is exposed to a caring and loving parentage, a child has the opportunity to thrive and becomes successful throughout their childhood into adulthood. The child that is exposed to a parent who participates in drugs and alcohol is exposed to an environment that can be toxic and differs from the normal relationship with a parent. The child may also experience neglect and be unable to develop a normal sense of what a healthy household entails.
Children can be subjected to the negative effects of parental substance use in a variety of different ways. For example, substance use during pregancy can cause detrimental outcomes for newborn infants by placing them at a higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), being born with birth defects, developing behavioral and developmental delays, being born premature, etc. Children with addicted parents, are placed at a higher risk of: lacking appropriate supervision; lacking basic needs such as: food, clothing, housing, and medical care; exposure to violence; developing substance abuse issues themselves.