Drugs and alcohol have been used for medical and recreational purposes throughout history. With advancement of technology it has become easier and easier to access these substances. It is not only illegal drugs but prescription drugs that are being misused and wreaking havoc across the world. Even with billions of dollars being paid out to stop the war on drugs, the problem persists. People from all walks of life have been affected by drugs or are becoming drug addicts themselves. One particular group afflicted by the misuse of these substances is the children of drug addicted parents. According to Cattapan and Grimwade, “Drug use seen in one generation affects the lives of the next”. Children with one or both parents on drugs face huge …show more content…
The grandparents are faced with financial challenges and limited resources causing them to feel resentment towards their new role as “parent”. Children often go undisciplined not because of a lack of caring but from the huge age differences and energy level of the grandparent(s). The grandparent(s) seclusion from friends and social events can make many of them sink into depression causing further feelings of isolation by the child. Animosity among the grandparents other kids and grandchildren can cause further rife within the family unit. Addicted parents spend a significant amount of time searching for drugs or alcohol and must spend time to obtain money to pay for their “fixes” whether by illegal or legal means. They have to have time to recover from hangovers or withdrawal symptoms. This constant cycle of obtaining, using and coming down from drugs leaves little time left over for their children. Social systems are overwhelmed by the number of children which need care from someone other than their addicted parents. Approximately, eighty percent of the children who enter foster care come from homes of addicted parents (Taylor 2011). Their stay in foster care is lengthened by the need for their parents to meet judicial rehabilitation requirements before being returned to their homes. In addition, these children having come from non-supportive and abusive environments require foster parents who are able to cope with issues of behavioral
Parents who use drugs or alcohol are likely to overlook their children leaving them to their own diplomacy. Since such parents are often lost in their addictions, they are unable to provide the proper leadership that children need particularly throughout their growing days (Sindelar & Fiellin 2001). Teenagers bred in homes where a dear blood relation uses alcohol or drugs, have a superior propensity for developing the dependence afterward, generally because the family is more relaxed in terms of drugs use. The result of alcohol or drug abuse on relations involved and results may differ between families based on a numerous factors. Families affected by substance abuse have one thing in comparison; they reside in homes where traits
“The child welfare and substance abuse systems are integrally linked through the children and families they serve (Blome, W., Shields, J., & Verdieck, M., 2009). There is a dearth of knowledge, however, on how children who have experienced foster care fare when they are treated for substance abuse issues as adults” (Blome, W., Shields, J., & Verdieck,
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
Visible symptoms of borderline sociopath include; physical aggression, the inability to sustain relationships and shows a lack of regret in his or her actions. Sometimes I truly hate myself for what I have done to my children and family and it is a constant struggle to stay focused on my recovery.
According to current statistics released by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, “In the United States in 2011, there were an estimated 25.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17. In the past year, more than one quarter of adolescents drank alcohol, approximately one fifth used an illicit drug, and almost one eighth smoked cigarettes” ("A Day in the Life of American Adolescents," 2013, para. 1). Substance abuse is major problem amongst adolescents. Some are experimenting, but some adolescents may become dependent on a particular substance. If one becomes dependent on a substance as an adolescent it could be detrimental to their future health and success as an adult. Spear (2003) stated in an article titled Alcohol’s
Does only the juvenile drinking or drugging up suffer, or do others get involved? The answer is, not only do the users suffer, but so do their family, friends, and the community. However, due to the rise of juvenile's becoming involved in substance abuse, the juvenile justice system has resulted in an increased burden. Over the past fifteen years, the fad of drug use among kids has steadily been increasing.
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
Drug addiction puts a lot of stress on other family members because the addict cannot be trusted and will do anything they can to get drugs (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2017). Drug use around children is a risk for child abuse and neglect (Taylor, Coall, Marquis & Batten, 2016). Many times, parents that have drug addictions cannot adequately care for their young, and this burden is usually left to the grandparents to raise their own grandchildren (Taylor, Coall, Marquis & Batten, 2016). In regards to the financial cost of this epidemic, results found including rates of emergency room visits and substance abuse treatment admissions cost the American people $72.5 billion dollars in 2007 (Volkow, 2014). In 2016, the cost has risen to 78.5 billion dollars (HealthDay, 2017).
Along with illegal behavior often a substance abuser will find themselves as homeless, spending their paychecks on their habits of using substances (Tracy, 2005). Children of abusers are affected by both possessing negative role models that set the example that drug use is not wrong and sometimes the children are placed into the care of the community because of neglect and abuse by the substance user (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health [CDC], 2009). Other medical, social, and economic issues also are being experienced from substance abuse and use.
children are confirmed each year as victims of child abuse and neglect by state child
As soon as birth, children are exposed to new things; new life experiences that will develop the path of which direction their life will take. Adolescence is the most important time in a child’s life because it is where they learn appropriate behavior from their family and the outside world. Some children are able to use these experiences to differentiate at an early age what is right and what is wrong and hopefully carry this into adulthood. What happens when children are exposed to the wrong experiences at an early age? What happens if children assume that what they are seeing is okay because one of their parents are
The cost of alcohol and substance abuse in the United States reaches heights of four hundred eighty four billion dollars per year (“Magnitude”). That’s about seven hundred eighty times the amount it cost to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases in the year 2000 (Chesson). The sole purpose of this is not to persuade you one way or the other on this topic. Nor is the purpose to apologize for this social issue. The purpose of this writing is to employ data showing the societal effects parental addictions have on children, to show how this data has remained relevant in society, and to show how it is affecting our future members of society.
Throughout history, grandparents have played a part in the raising of their grandchildren. Most usually this involved grandparents helping parents economically, physically, or emotionally but in some cases such as death or abandonment by a parent; grandparents have been left the total care of their grandchildren. In recent years, however, the trend of grandparents raising their grandchildren has grown by exponential numbers. There is some evidence that this trend might be due to the rising number of parents with substance abuse issues, child abuse and neglect, divorce, abandonment, etc.
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 use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.