published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

These studies led the experimenter to investigate the use of chemical aversion therapy using anectine as the aversive stimulus with a morphine addict. The success of Thomason and Rathod with heroin addicts suggested that their experimental method would be useful as a reference while designing this study. The treatment hypothesis was that the patient's use of intravenous narcotic drugs would be eliminated through the application of chemical aversion therapy. Chemical aversion therapy was operantly defined as the injection intravenously of anectine into the patient concurrent with his self-injection of his narcotic of choice.

The role of attachment style in overall family functioning and in individual substance abuse patterns has been researched extensively. Lifestyle constructs have been seen as predictors of substance abuse related behaviors, including future drug related difficulties. Dysfunctional family environments have been seen as predictors of poor mental health outcomes in family members. Despite the high rates of co-morbidity in alcohol and drug dependent individuals, parental lifestyle, attachment style, and the overall influence of family environment on the psychological traits of substance dependent individuals had not been previously examined. This study examined a group of parents and their adult children (actively in substance abuse treatment, with diagnoses of substance dependence) who participated in a weeklong family education program at an inpatient treatment center. Direct effects were found between attachment style, lifestyle and patient traits, as well as several significant total effects (combined direct effect and the effect of overall family environment). Specific indirect effects were also found from individual family environment mediators, including moral religious emphasis and control, on the relationship between independent and dependent variables. An analysis of the results is given, along with a discussion of clinical implications and directions for future research. / by John W. McIlveen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

individuals who self-identify as sex addicts, unique health and social consequences are not well understood because of factors, such as stigma. It is important that the nursing community understand this phenomenon to address, understand, and provide sensitive and meaningful care. However, there is limited research on this topic. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of individuals who self-identify as sex addicts. Through snowball sampling, five men and five women between 27 to 45 years old, and older. participated in the phenomenological study. Meaning units and themes were revealed through the participants' experiences as follows: A Connecting with Others: 1. Reaching Out 2. Seeking Shared Understanding 3. Connecting with Your Higher Power B Managing Stigma: 1. Revealing Concealing C Integrating the Past for Recovery: 1. Reflecting Triggers 2. Overcoming Powerlessness. D Being Vigilant: 1. Intentional Refocusing 2. Living an Honest Life E Giving of Oneself: 1. Informing Others 2. Doing Service. The overall structure synthesized from the meaning units and themes was: "The lived experience of seeking health in recovery from sex addiction is dancing on the outer circle, connected to a community that understands fear, shame and the struggle to remain vigilant for pitfalls while intentionally refocusing on living an honest life of giving and receiving." Seeking health incorporates a holistic, community involved, multifaceted approach to recovery. Understanding how individuals seek health in recovery provides a framework to impart meaningful, sensitive nursing care. / by Lawren Mundy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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 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.

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.

This dissertation advances our understanding of the variability and contingency of addiction treatment, a consequential social institution that simultaneously helps and regulates populations within criminal justice and healthcare systems. To do so, this dissertation draws on administrative and survey data, as well as archival and ethnographic research. I show that addiction treatment is structured by social, institutional, and historical contexts within which Americans are embedded. Together, the three chapters demonstrate the utility of venturing across time and place as a method of interrogating the distinction between care and control. Using macro-sociological theory and research, aspects of the project also help broaden our understanding of addiction treatment as vital to the enactment of contemporary state governance. I refer to this as therapeutic statecraft. Chapter 1 looks at how legal coercion is used to force people into rehab and how this practice is influenced by the interplay between state welfare and punishment systems. I find that coerced treatment is less common in states with broad and benevolent welfare systems that offer alternative pathways for residents to receive care and avoid minor encounters with the criminal justice system. Moreover, the extent to which poverty affects a state’s reliance on the criminal justice system as a referral source is contingent upon the degree of interpersonal surveillance facilitated by the broad administrative reach of state welfare systems. Furthermore, coerced treatment typically has a more disruptive, institutional character under punitive state contexts (i.e., strong-arm rehab). Chapter 2 reveals how racial disparities in state-mandated, community-based drug treatment referrals are exacerbated in places with racially punitive criminal justice systems and surveillance-oriented welfare systems. These systems work together to discreetly extend penal power in the name of recovery for a population segment. Chapter 3 examines changes in the care of sexual minorities at a specialized drug treatment facility over the past 30 years. The study finds that while staff members previously saw sexual stigma and discrimination as the source of addiction, current staff members use sexual stigma to regulate patients' "addictive tendencies," and may risk exacerbating stigma and inequality by losing sight of the broader underlying causes of addiction. Taken as a whole, the project’s findings contribute to our understanding of the significance of addiction treatment in contemporary times, particularly within the context of social policy and population management in the United States.