Against the backdrop of debates and contestations in the literature on the efficacy of interventions of Faith-based organisations (FBOs) with regard to vulnerable people, this study subjects the social reintegration programmes of three selected FBOs working with recovering drug-addicts in South-western Nigeria to a sociological scrutiny so as to understand the social character, effectiveness and local appropriateness of their programmes. Specifically, the study examined the key attributes of the social reintegration programmes offered by the selected FBOs as well as the level and extent of compliance of such programmes with the prescriptions and idealisations as enunciated in relevant global and national policies and institutional frameworks. The theoretical underpinning of this study was derived from assumptions of structural-functionalism of Durkheim and Expectancy disconfirmation theory. Adopting an exploratory approach, the study utilised a blend of survey, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, observation and document review to gather data. Survey data were collected from a random sample of 156 inmates of the social reintegration facilities of three (3) FBOs in Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states in South-West Nigeria. Qualitative data were sourced through 15 in-depth interviews, 9 key informant interviews and scientific information generated from observation and document review. The quantitative data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were processed with the use of content analysis. Findings from the study indicate that the selected FBOs have only recorded little success in terms of addressing the social needs of the inmates. For one thing, FBOs’ detoxification programme for recovering drug-addicts tilted more towards human rights violation than serve as an exercise that aided recovery. One key finding was that there was a huge disconnect between global prescriptions on social reintegration services and what the selected FBOs offered to the inmates. The study concluded from its findings that any social reintegration programmes aimed at protecting recovering drug-addicts from further social exclusion and facilitate their social inclusion in South-West Nigeria must extend beyond mere spiritual provisioning to upholding their rights to human dignity and providing opportunities and tools that address their crucial social needs in terms of housing, education, vocation and employment.

Considerando o crescente problema de saúde pública relacionado à dependência química em crack e à proliferação de locais conhecidos no Brasil como cracolândias, esta tese visa estudar o impacto do uso das tecnologias da informação e comunicação no processo de ressocialização, especificamente através do desenvolvimento de um exclusivo objeto de aprendizagem, aplicado em uma comunidade terapêutica, com um grupo de toxicômanos em álcool e drogas em vulnerabilidade social. O presente trabalho objetiva identificar se, ao manipularem tal software, os drogadictos são capazes de apontar alguma diferença significativa entre as características do modelo proposto, levando em consideração que sua interface foi construída com a apropriação de valores apontados como relevantes durante entrevistas, tanto pelos adictos em recuperação, quanto pelos demais profissionais, em uma investigação-piloto realizada no Rio Grande do Sul. Em São Paulo, após a construção do objeto de aprendizagem, construído no modelo OASIS – Objeto de Aprendizagem Significativa de Informação para Sociedade, durante diferentes meses e com um novo grupo de voluntários, foram propostas e testadas hipóteses relacionadas à percepção dos sujeitos sobre os elementos que compõem este objeto de aprendizagem. Por fim, espera-se que a experiência possa despertar novas pesquisas nesta temática para que a aplicação das orientações contidas na construção desse software possa ser expandida. / Given the growing public health problem related to crack addiction, and the proliferation of places known in Brazil as “Cracolândias”, this thesis proposes to study the impact of the use of information and communication technologies, specifically through the development of an exclusive learning object during the process of rehabilitation in a therapeutic community - a group of addicts in drug and alcohol in social vulnerability through training to work – making use of professional education videos. Thus, this study aims to determine if, when manipulating such software, drug addicts are able to point, or not, any significant difference between the characteristics of the proposed model, considering that its interface was built upon values considered relevant during the interviews, both by recovering addicts as well as by other professionals in a research pilot in Rio Grande do Sul. After construction of the learning object, the research continued in São Paulo for several months with a new group of volunteers. This research proposes and tests hypotheses related to the perception of the subjects on the elements that make up this learning object model built in OASIS - Significant Learning Objects for Information Society. Finally, it is expected that this experience may trigger new research related to this issue, in which the application of the guidelines contained in the construction of such software can be expanded.

A exposição à de drogas de abuso na adolescência tem sido associada à maior vulnerabilidade à dependência. Sabe-se que alterações na fosforilação de CREB (proteína de ligação ao elemento de resposta ao AMPc) e na expressão de BDNF (fator neurotrófico derivado do cérebro) nas diversas regiões cerebrais, têm sido associadas à dependência ao etanol. O objetivo desse trabalho foi investigar os efeitos do etanol sobre a modulação de CREB e BDNF no córtex pré-frontal (CPF) e hipocampo (HPC) de camundongos adolescentes (ADL) e adultos (AD) submetidos à sensibilização comportamental. Animais AD desenvolveram sensibilização comportamental, enquanto os ADL não sensibilizaram. Agudamente, o etanol reduziu a imunorreatividade de pCREB no CPF de camundongos ADL, enquanto a administração repetida levou ao aumento em ambas as idades, porém de forma mais significativa nos ADL. Etanol agudo e repetido levou à redução na ativação de CREB no CPF de ADL e no HPC de camundongos AD comparado ao controle. Os níveis de BDNF aumentaram após administração aguda, em ambas as idades, com redução após administração repetida nos ADL. Os resultados sugerem que a exposição precoce ao etanol pode influenciar na vulnerabilidade à dependência. / Exposure to drugs of abuse during adolescence has been associated to greater vulnerability to addiction. It have been demonstrated that alterations of CREB phosphorylation (cAMP response element-binding) and in BDNF (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor) expression in several brain regions are involved in ethanol addiction. The aim of the present work was investigate ethanol effects on CREB and BDNF modulation in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of adolescent (ADL) and adult (AD) mice submitted to behavioral sensitization. AD animals developed behavioral sensitization while ADL did not. Acutely, ethanol reduced pCREB immunoreactivity in the CPF of ADL animals while repeated administration induced increase, for both ages, in a more significant way in ADL. Acute and repeated ethanol treatment reduced CREB activation in CPF of ADL and in HPC of AD, when compared to control. BDNF levels were increased after acute administration in both ages, with reduction in ADL after repeated administration. The results suggest that early exposure to ethanol could influence the vulnerability to addiction.

In South Africa today, the numbers of drug-dependent adolescents are increasing at alarming rates. These adolescents require rehabilitation. The numbers of institutions that offer drug rehabilitation services are also growing exponentially. However, the programs followed by the institutions are wide ranging in nature and are not controlled by government or a professional body. Although these institutions claim individual successes, their success rates – especially in regard of adolescents – is highly subjective and suspect. The discipline of educational psychology is uniquely capable of setting objective criteria to which all programs for drug-dependent adolescents should comply. Educational psychology emphasizes two important aspects of human development: The educational and the psychological. Moreover, it gives considerable weight to the adolescent’s participation in her own development. The uncontrolled use of dependence-forming substances by adolescents negatively influences every level of their physical, emotional, cognitive, psychological and social development. To facilitate their growth to responsible adulthood, specialized treatment is required to address specific adolescent developmental tasks and needs. It has become imperative that the programs offered to adolescents in South Africa be analysed and examined critically in order to determine whether they comply with the dictates of a responsible educational-psychological approach. It is against this background that a research study was undertaken to investigate the current position of drug rehabilitation programs for adolescents offered by centres and clinics in South Africa. The aim of this study was to determine and describe educational-psychological criteria to evaluate the suitability of current programs that are offered to drug dependent adolescents in this country. A theoretical framework was developed by an extensive literary research. This framework formed the foundation of an empirical study. The initial stage of the empirical study – the identification of drug rehabilitation centres and clinics that offer in-patient treatment for adolescents – was hampered by the lack of government involvement in the registration and monitoring of such centres and clinics and the programs they offer. No database containing information on drug use, drug misuse and drug dependence, as well as places and methods of rehabilitation, exists. Identified institutions were contacted and requested to participate in this research. Several refused. The centres and clinics that were willing to assist and offered unique programs, were visited. In several instances one centre was visited and described as representative of several centres or clinics that offer programs based on a similar approach. Documentation regarding drug rehabilitation programs were perused. Interviews with adolescents – whose parents had given permission for their participation – and with available parents and staff were recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were qualitatively analysed. Educational-psychological criteria that address the specific development needs of adolescents were identified. This research found that although some programs address some minor educationalpsychological aspects of the adolescent’s substance problem, not one of the in-patient programs addressed the problem holistically by emphasizing the development and needs of these adolescents. The effect of these programs on the educationalpsychological development of adolescents moving towards responsible adulthood, must be questioned. The educational-psychological criteria – as set out in this research study – should be applied to in-patient drug rehabilitation programs for adolescents in South Africa to increase the quality and success of the said programs. Through such an approach, adolescents are valued as individuals who have to complete general developmental tasks successfully to arrive at a responsible and meaningful adulthood. / Prof. J.C. Kok

This study attempts to describe, through the combination of an interactional framework, an ethnographic semantic approach and an analysis of the folklore, the oral culture of female prostitute drug addicts and the forms of verbal exchange through which they appear to exercise some control over their socio-economic environment. The verbal transactions examined take place on and off the street, but always involve "street" participants: people whose business is on the street, where they casually meet friends and foes, where they make the initial contacts and contracts which lead to further transactions, and where they report finding an excitement and a pace of life they enjoy. Many of these transactions are described as "bullshitting": the flexibility of meaning of this term enables us to use it to indicate a variety of verbal exchanges among street people on the one hand, and between street people and "square Johns" on the other. In the first instance, it covers amicable greetings, small talk, anecdotes, gossip, jokes, warnings: didactic narratives and manipulative exercises whose function is to a large extent one of socialization. They serve as a stern description of the rules of behaviour among members of the street group and as means of integrating newcomers to the subculture of the street by describing the contrasting characteristics of "straight" and "street" culture members. In the second instance, speech acts serve mostly as an instrument of manipulation and exploitation. The most developed type of transaction examined is the one taking place between prostitutes and their customers, and the strategies developed to cope with problematic cases. The informants are also considered as drug addicts involved in non-prostitutional though exploitative transactions. As incarcerated informants, they are further involved in "interview transactions" based on firmly defined cultural boundaries between straight and street participants. The informants' perception of the two groups' contrasting worldviews, their lifestyles and opposite characteristics and attributes, give rise to the creation of endo- and exo-stereotypes which reinforce principles of inclusion and exclusion and regulate the pattern of straight and street interaction. Verbal transactions reflect the informants' understanding of their socio-economic environment, where economic survival rests on a profitable interaction with outsiders, and social survival rests on a cohesive interaction among themselves. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Unknown

This study evaluated the Say It Straight™ (SIS) Training Program for its ability to improve straightforward communication, increase self-esteem, increase an individual's overall perception of group and family belonging or cohesiveness within a residential treatment setting and decrease an individual's perceived level of anomie. Effectiveness of SIS training was evaluated with paired sample t-tests (2-tailed) on six objective questionnaires given before and after training. Participation in the study was voluntary. Of the 39 patients in residence, 26 participated in SIS training, (23 attended over 80% of the sessions and 3 attended over 50%). Three were excluded from the study due to developmental or dementia-related diagnoses, 3 chose not to participate, 5 were discharged routinely prior to completion and were not post-tested; and 2 were discharged against medical advice during the training. It is interesting to notice that on the average there are about 5 discharges against medical advice per month at the facility, but during the five weeks of SIS there were only 2. Self-reports of empowering behaviors, quality of family and group life and self-esteem showed highly significant increases following SIS. Self-reports of disempowering behaviors (placating, passive-aggressive, blaming, irrelevant, intellectualizing) showed highly significant decreases following SIS and anomie showed a significant decrease. All p values are results from 2-tailed t-tests for paired observations. Subjective reports regarding training effectiveness were also very positive. Recommendations include: 1) follow-up and compare SIS trained Sante alumni and non-SIS trained Sante alumni for recidivism rate and participation in recovery oriented group activities; 2) develop a tool for measuring anomie specifically related to treatment settings as a construct versus a single variable, and 3) develop a tool for measuring group cohesiveness specifically related to treatment settings as a construct versus a single variable.

EEG biofeedback (neurotherapy) has been demonstrated as effective in the treatment of alcoholism, as evidenced by Peniston and Kulkosky's research efforts. These neurotherapy pioneers evaluated the efficacy of alpha-theta brain wave biofeedback as a treatment for chronic alcohol abuse, citing 80% abstinence rates as measured by improvements in psychopathology, serum beta endorphin levels, and long-term alcohol abstinence. Most research with alpha-theta EEG biofeedback has addressed alcohol addiction. Cocaine is now considered to be the most common drug problem of patients entering treatment for drug abuse. To date, only one controlled study has been published that researched alpha-theta neurofeedback in the treatment of "crack" cocaine addiction. The present study was an extension of a 4-year EEG-biofeedback treatment outcome project underway at a faith-based homeless mission in Houston, Texas, with male "crack" cocaine addicts. Changes in personality, attention, and impulsivity were measured following 30 sessions of a non-individualized EEG -biofeedback protocol. Experimental subjects received a variant of the Peniston-Kulkosky alpha-theta protocol for 30 sessions while controls received all elements of the experimental protocol except the EEG biofeedback. Assessment measures included the MMPI-2 and the IVA. Although experimental subjects showed greater mean improvement on most MMPI basic scales and all IVA Attention related measures, results indicated no significant differences between control and experimental groups. The present study did not result in significant differences between control and experimental groups on attentional or personality variables in crack cocaine addicts. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Methadone treatment continues to be the most widely used treatment modality for heroin addiction despite continued controversy. The efficacy of methadone treatment has been determined primarily by statistical research of program outcomes. This study explored heroin addicts' perceptions of methadone treatment.

No description available.

The proposed research aims to explore and describe the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of fathers, parenting children, abusing illegal substances. The use and abuse of illegal substances became national and global dilemmas. The impact and damage caused when drugs are widely used over time is irreversible, as it influences the lives of users and those of their families, their communities, and the country. This research provides an opportunity for fathers, parenting children, abusing illegal substances to share their experiences and challenges. Data are collected by conducting in-depth and face-toface interviews with the participants. The collected data are analysed by following the eight steps of Tesch in Creswell (2009:186). Data are analysed using Lincoln and Guba’s model of trustworthiness of qualitative research for validation. The study endeavours to obtain an understanding of the experiences and challenges encountered by fathers, parenting children, abusing illegal substances and how social workers could assist in addressing this dilemma. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)