Adolescent parolee revocations.

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No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to develop a better understanding of the barriers faced by Latinas when confronted with domestic violence.

This constructivist research project qualitatively assessed the needs of both drug court clients and the treatment team in a rural California community utilizing the "hermeneutic dialectic process."

With the epidemiological transition, causes of death shifted from communicable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and life expectancy increased, as these NCD deaths occurred later in life. However, in the United States, over the past years, life expectancy has been stagnating or decreasing despite decreasing NCD mortality rates. Analyses of the most important underlying causes of death with increasing premature mortality reveal that psychoactive substance use played a crucial role for these increases. Furthermore, it can be shown, that a high proportion of the increased premature mortality and decreased life expectancies happened in lower socio-economic strata. Substance use policies should thus focus on lowering the gap between substance-attributable mortality in higher versus lower socioeconomic strata.

MPH / Dpartment of Public Health

MPH / Department of Public Health / The abuse of substances among the youth is a global health problem which has a negative impact on their health and wellbeing, families, educational and professional life, as well as communities and limits their hopes and dreams. An estimated 246 million persons globally (about one out of twenty people) between 15 and 64 years have abused substances in the past three years. The global drug problem has increased to such an extent that more than 1 out of 10 drug abusers is affected by either disorder or drug dependence. The aim of the study was to explore the factors contributing to substance abuse among the youth in Atteridgeville, Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The study was conducted in Atteridgeville community. Atteridgeville is a portion of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, west of Pretoria in South Africa. The design was qualitative in nature, using exploratory design. The researcher purposively chose the participants from the target population. The population and sampling method was on participants aged between 15 and 35 years, with substance abuse problem, who were referred to Atteridgeville Medical Health Centre for counselling. The researcher used a semi-structured interview guide for gathering data. In-depth interview was used to collect data. A proposed total of number of 20 participants was suggested, and it was guided by data saturation. Data was analysed by using thematic content analysis. A measure of trustworthiness was ensured. Ethical consideration was observed in this study. The findings states that substance abuse problem was identified and certainly noticed by everyone in the community. New drugs remain unchallenged, drug dealers are known, yet, not a single law enforcement institution attempt to raid their houses to search and arrest them. Community involvement is not enough to end the scourge of substance abuse problems in the community. Some police officers were identified and known to be part of drug dealings or have family relatives who are drug dealers. The researcher therefore recommends that parents should be involved in the community forums to deal with substance abuse problems. The community policing and law enforcement should be equipped by developing a tactical team specifically looking at the drug problems in the local communities. In conclusion, the research revealed that, South African citizens are people who see a problem happening but lacks to implement strategies to deal it immediately. / NRF

Aim: To examine prospectively over a period of 4 years the profile of cannabis dependence and the risk of specific dependence criteria in a community sample of adolescents. Methods: A representative community sample of 2446 young adults aged 14–24 years at baseline was followed up over a period of 4 years. Frequency of use measures and of criteria for DSM-IV dependence were assessed by standardized diagnostic interview measures (CIDI). To explore the nature of this association, frequency of use and concomitant use of other psychoactive substances was considered. Results: 30% of the sample were cannabis users. Among all users 35% met at least one dependence criterion. Most frequently reported dependence criteria among all users were withdrawal (17%), tolerance (15%), loss of control (14%) and continued use despite a health problem (13%). Even without concomitant use of other illicit drugs, 22% of low frequency users and 81% of high frequency users met at least one dependence criterion. Symptom patterns were similar in high and low frequency users. The occurrence of a dependence syndrome or of specific dependence criteria could not be attributed to the use of other illicit drugs or to comorbid nicotine and alcohol dependence. Conclusions: Regular cannabis use in adolescence is associated with the development of a dependence syndrome. This association cannot be explained by the concomitant use of other illicit substances or by comorbid nicotine and alcohol dependence.