Personal Narrative: Substance Abuse And Domestic Violence

At twenty-two years old my younger-self had previously pictured me in an entirely different place. I never imagined living in Texas, I’m originally from Chicago, and that’s where I thought I would reside. I thought I’d be graduated from college already, but fate had a different plan. And never in a million years did I think I would become a drug addict; but I am, and you know what? It’s been the best thing that has ever happened to me, it’s something I’m truly thankful for now. See, all the things listed above may seem like negative things if you look at them from an outside perspective; however to me, they’ve changed me in ways I never thought possible just six months ago. Multiple circumstances have led me to this point, but a few stick

It was my senior year in high school when my mom told me that my cousin, Mayra, had given birth to a baby girl. However, child protective services decided that Mayra wasn’t adequate to take care of the child; due to her drug abuse. Child protective services from Mexico were trying to place the baby with close relatives. Sadly, there was only three choices, her grandma, my aunt Gloria, and myself. The choices were few and the family small.

As a determined student looking forward to obtaining a doctorate in psychology with a focus in domestic violence. My passion will influence me to travel where all diversity constructs itself which is in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C, to indulge in my career. Within my experiences as a scholar in a Washington conference and a former volunteer at a crisis center the ticket will take me to graduate school in preparation for Washington. It is my goal to provide my assistance to those in need of upmost prestige’s psychologist and feminist advocate.

My relationship with drugs first began during my senior year of high school. While most of my peers attended their first parties years earlier, my first was not until I was already 17 years old. I still remember feeling so cool for attending my first party and having my first sip of alcohol. The feeling of being drunk was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I felt liberated, like I could break out of my quiet shell and be that fun, goofy person that everyone wanted to hang out with. Prior to this night I had never used any type of substance, legal or illegal. Since then I have continued using alcohol while also trying various different types of drugs including caffeine, marijuana, tobacco, and adderall.

As a single mother, and a survivor of domestic violence, there is no real way to deal with the after trauma of domestic violence. Life after abuse can be positive, but truth be told, sometimes you feel like it’s harder than the abuse. For my family and I, it is one day at a time. During my violent relationship, I never wanted my children to experience this violence, nor did I ever want them to be at risk. Therefore, my single most important priority was to make sure my 3 daughters were in a safe place at all times. 2014 was the beginning of a new extended family for my children and I through the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven. My children became members of the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven and they welcomed me and my family with open arms. At the Club, I know my children are safe, and exposed to other positive, caring adults.

The first few years on a relationship, everything seems gold plated and perfect. Respecting, honoring significant others is a given, but unfortunately some feel the urge and need to claim their dominance over the relationship. Unexpected things would eventually start occurring, like physical assaults, diminished self-worth, and sometimes even child abuses are consequences of trying to dominate the members in a household. After growing up in a household where the abusive environment is dominating, people are known to develop trust issues, disturbed and unreal perceptions of reality; the solution may not always be clear, but immediate action is to be taken from the abused party or victims.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), twenty-four people per minute are affected be intimate partner violence. (2013) It is estimated that twelve million people in the United States alone are affected each year. Intimate partner violence includes anything from physical or sexual abuse to psychological abuse to stalking or threats by a current or former partner. This form of violence can occur among couples that identify with any sexual orientation. The CDC reports that individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual are at an equal or higher risk for intimate partner violence. (2013) Sexual intimacy within the relationship is not a requirement for violence to be considered intimate partner violence. (CDC, 2013)

Although, I am now reaching the age of where most people are starting to think of retirement and looking back at what they had accomplish compared to what they did not. I am looking forward to having two master’s degrees this year, and starting my own substance abuse clinic in my community. At this time, I am a social worker for Child Protective Service of West Virginia, and a youth service worker also. At this time West Virginia is rated the ninth highest rate of prescription drug abuse in the nation among 18 to 25 year olds (Raby & Mattise, 2015). As of now the West Virginia legislation has passed a bill that will allow for Narcan to be purchased over the counter in pharmacies (Raby & Mattise, 2015). The rates of overdose deaths continue

Growing up education was always very important to my father. At a very young age he instilled the importance of being literate into me and my siblings. To my father education was power and knowledge was king. I was able to read and write by age two and a half. I thrived in school and a love for reading and writing grew. My love for learning began to match my fathers as I grew.

I discussed with Christine, the impact of trauma on substance use and using a Feminist lens explored how alcohol abuse relates to women. I supported Christine in understanding the reason women use, issues related to shame and stigma for women that are parenting and substance involved and how alcohol use affected parenting. Anti-oppressive social work influenced my decision to arrange a case conference to ensure Christine was involved in her treatment and was able to voice her needs. Christine was able to voice her desire to use alcohol socially and felt understood as her CAS worker advocated for a change in the requirements of her court order. We spent time in our sessions challenging cognitive distortions that maintained her present

In this paper I will be addressing the correlation that is between substance abuse and domestic violence. There are many factors that play a role in why domestic violence occurs in a home; this paper will be focusing on the factor of drug abuse in particularly. Early on in the course we learned that domestic violence does not only pertain to intimate partner violence but also to child abuse, elder abuse, and any other abuse of a person that occurs with inside the home. I will be providing research from scholarly journals that support the findings that substance abuse is related to domestic violence on all levels (intimate partner violence, child abuse, and elderly abuse).

I decided to pick this topic because I was a victim of domestic violence, likely due to substance abuse at one point in time. Every single day was miserable and I had nowhere to go. I didn’t even know that he was using drugs. He was a few years older than me and I was naïve about what was happening. After several months, I was finally able to have my mom help me move back to Arizona. I have moved on from that chapter in my life, but I have always been curious about the relationship between domestic violence and substance abuse. Therefore, I want to find out if different drugs produce different outcomes, statistically speaking. I know that different drugs have different effects on the individual’s mental health, so I wanted to expand on that and find out the influence of different drugs on domestic violence.

Ellie and I lay in our beds, neither one of us knew what to say. In the other room, our host parents were arguing. We didn’t know what about, but we knew it was serious. Then we heard a “THWACK” followed by silence. Ellie and I sat up in our beds and looked at each other, I could tell she was as scared as I was. “Was that? Did he just?” she asked me. Then the arguing started back up again. We calmed back down until we heard it again. “THWACK” We knew then, the noise we heard, was him beating her. We got up, our hearts racing; neither of us knew what to do. We got our nerves together to go get help. When we opened the door to our room we saw the children sitting on the couch crying out for their mother. I could see the fear in their face and I knew something needed to change.

I grew up in a home where family violence was present. Both my parents hit each other and hit my sister and I. My parents who should have never married or been together, felt they had no other choice but to be together after my mother had an unplanned pregnancy with me. Growing up and witnessing my parents horrible relationship and going through what I had to go through I decided I was never going to be in a violent relationship, or put my children through family violence.

I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. I come from a place where over 70% of black men are raised in a fatherless home, where domestic violence is something that is a way of showing love. Drugs and alcohol are encouraged or pushed on you to do. Most of the uses are raised in the street, because they are the only men in our life that will pay us some attention.