Adolescent Drug Abuse Essay, Research Paper

Adolescent Drug Abuse

I.) Introduction:

“Crack, booze, pot, crystal- from the inner city to the suburbs to small

towns, the world of the adolescent is permeated by drugs. When ‘a little

harmless experimentation’ becomes addiction, parents, teachers, and clinicians

are often at a loss. For this age group (roughly ages 13 to 23), traditional

substance abuse programs simply are not enough” (Nowinski, inside cover).

Today’s society provides many challenges for adolescents that our

parents never had to face. Pre-marital sex and pregnancy, alcohol abuse, and

drug addiction have always been around but they have never been more available

to adolescents than they are now. Adolescents are more on their own to take

care of themselves with more and more single parent households. The problem of

drug and alcohol is a major one. Teenagers feel a need to drink and do drugs to

fit in to peer groups. The problem is widespread. The common thoughts that

drugs are only in the city where the poor live but that is wrong. Any single

person can get drugs from the inner city to the small rural towns of Texas and

Nebraska. It doesn’t matter where you are. There is a major need for adults to

intervene and stop the problem at its beginnings, the adolescents. If we sit

here and deny the fact that the problem is there then we are just setting

ourselves up for disaster.

II.) Review of Literature:

A Source 1:

The first piece of literature that I used was a book written by Dr.

Joseph Nowinski entitled Substance Abuse in Adolescents & Young Adults. It was

written at the Elmcrest Psychiatric Institute in 1990. The book described Dr.

Nowinski’s study of adolescent addicts of drugs and alcohol. It goes on to

explain the need for the development of treatment plans for adolescents because

conventional plans do not work on this age group.

B) Source 2:

The second source that I used was a journal article entitled ?Prevalence

of substance abuse in a rural teenage population.? It was written by Wade

Silverman. This article was published in The Journal of Adolescent Chemical

Dependency in 1991. This article presented the results of a survey done in a

rural school system to assess the prevalence rates of substance use and related

lifestyle variables for teens and their parents.

C) Source 3:

The third source that I used was a newspaper article taken from the

February 1, 1994 edition of the Los Angeles Times. The piece was written by

Marlene Cimons. The article, entitled ?Illicit drug use by youths shows marked

increases,? announced that the results of an annual survey showed that drug use

had increased significantly among teenagers between 1992 and 1993.

D) Source 4:

My fourth source was a journal article written by S. Brown and others.

It was taken from The Journal of Studies on Alcohol. The article was entitled ?

Conduct disorder among adolescent alcohol and drug abusers? and was published in

1996. The article summarized a study that examined the extent to which conduct

disorder type behavior predated substance use involvement among 166 adolescents

in treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse.

E) Source 5:

My final source was another journal article that was taken from The

Journal of Marital and family Therapy. The article was written by H. Joanning

and others in 1992. The article, entitled ?Treating adolescent drug abuse: A

comparison of family systems therapy, group therapy, and family drug education,?

describes the differential effectiveness of three models of adolescent drug

abuse treatment. It compares the Family Systems Therapy, the Adolescent Group

Therapy, and the Family Drug Education models.

III.) Methodology:

I started out my research by going to the computers in the library and

researching journal and newspaper articles in the WinSpirs databases. I found

articles from psychology, sociology, and science databases. I then looked for

the articles in the journal section of the library. I found some of the

articles in the school library as well as using my local library. I also used

the OPAC computer to find my book source.

IV.) Result of Information Gathered:

A) Source 1:

Dr. Nowinski’s book describes specific cases of adolescent drug abuse

that he has worked with. He describes the different patterns of drug abuse and

the causes of such abuse. He describes causes like alienation, low self- esteem

and confidence, stress, and peer pressure. He goes into how development of new

treatment techniques are necessary because adolescent addictions are different

than those of adults. He describes the process of counseling, denial and

compliance, and surrender and recovery. Nowinski stresses the need for family

intervention in cases that involve adolescents.

B) Source 2:

Silverman gives the results of the survey and attempts to interpret the

results. It was found that 83% of the students in the study were either

abstainers or experimental users. It was recommended that primary prevention

strategies should be used with this group. The remaining 17% had been deemed ?

drug users? and it was found that they all shared a similar lifestyle. All had

multiple substance abuse problems, were engaged in frequent sexual activity, and

received poor grades. it was also found that the amount of parental attention

and supervision was significantly different for both groups.

C) Source 3:

This article said that the rise in drug use among teens was driven by a

dramatic rise in the use of marijuana and more use of stimulants, LSD and

inhalants. It also describes how this trend was a reversal from the recent

downward patterns of drug use among teens.

D) Source 4:

It was found that most cases of alcohol and drug abuse in adolescents

was attributed to conduct disorder behavior. It was also found that cases

involving this disorder and drug abuse led to a more frequent relapse into the

problem and an increase in anti-social behavior.

E) Source 5:

This study found that the Family Therapy Systems model of treatment

appeared to be more effective in treating and stopping adolescent drug abuse.

It registered twice as many drug-free clients as the Family Drug Education

program and three times as many as the Adolescent Group Therapy model.

V.) Summary and Conclusion:

Through the literature and the class it is obvious that drug and alcohol

abuse among adolescents is a prevalent and dangerous problem. The use of these

substances is dangerous and stupid. I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say

that I have never tried any drugs or alcohol. I’d be lying if I said that I

haven’t but now I realize that it is a problem that has to be addressed through

action and not ignorance.

Table of Contents

I.) Introduction …………………………………………. 1

II.) Review of Literature …………………………………. 2

A) Source 1 ………………………………………. 2

B) Source 2 ………………………………………. 2

C) Source 3 ………………………………………. 3

D) Source 4 ………………………………………. 3

E) Source 5 ………………………………………. 3

III.) Methodology ………………………………………… 4

IV.) Results of Information Gathered ……………………….. 4

A) Source 1 ………………………………………. 4

B) Source 2 ………………………………………. 5

C) Source 3 ………………………………………. 5

D) Source 4 ………………………………………. 6

E) Source 5 ………………………………………. 6

V.) Summary and Conclusion ………………………………… 6

References

Brown, S. “Conduct disorders among adolescent alcohol and drug abusers.”

Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Psychological Service,

Veterans Affairs Medical Center. San Diego. 1996. Cimons, M. “Illicit

drug use by youths shows marked increase.”

Los Angeles Times. February 1, 1994. Sec:A, p:1, col:6. Joanning, H. et

al. “Treating adolescent drug abuse: A comparison

of family systems therapy, group therapy, and family drug education.”

The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. October, 1992. Nowinski,

Joseph. Substance Abuse in Adolescents and Young Adults.

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. New York. 1990. Silverman, Wade.

“Prevalence of substance abuse in a rural teenage

population.” The Journal of Adolescent Chemical Dependency.

Volume 2. 1991.