Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-100). / ix, 100 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

"July 1994". / Thesis (PhD) -- Macquarie University, School of History, Philosophy and Politics, 1995. / Bibliography: leaves 400-462. / Women and substance use. An introduction -- Women and substance use from a different perspective. Feminist theory and methodology -- 'Fallen angels and moral heroines'. The historical construction of women and substance use -- 'When the normal is pathological and the pathological is normal'. Psychological explanations of women and substance use -- 'A foot in both camps'. Psychosocial explanations of women and substance use -- 'Violence as symptom and cause'. The role of substance use in the social control of women -- 'Breaking all the rules'. Legal responses to women and drugs-related crime -- 'When liberation is no liability'. Women as consumer targets -- 'A nice girl like you'. Women and substance use treatment -- Conclusion -- Bibliography. / In Australia today, as in many other comparable societies, women's use of alcohol and other legal drugs is not circumscribed as it has been in the past. On the face of it, this suggests that there has been a major shift in social attitudes towards use of certain substances by women in line with changes to women's social position that occurred in the last few decades. Despite these changes, however, or perhaps because of them, women's use of alcohol and other drugs still attracts different attitudes and social responses when compared to similar behaviour in men. -- The objective of this research is to investigate the reasons why women's substance use behaviour is viewed differently from that of men's, how this has come about, why it is so culturally pervasive, and what are the effects for women. It has involved exploring how the meanings attached to women's use of certain chemical substances have been socially and historically constructed through scientific discourse, and how these meanings continue to be reproduced, reinforced and legitimated within other interlocking discourses. They are reflected too in cultural images as well as in popular attitudes, held by both women and men. -- The research has been undertaken using a 'woman-centred' approach, within the framework of feminist analysis. Such approach provides an alternative way of understanding women's experience with substance use. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / [9], 462 leaves

Alcohol consumption is a leading cause of morbidity and premature mortality. In the United States, consumption remains highly prevalent, and certain subgroups have been increasing alcohol risks in recent decades. Among these are women in the mid-life, who have increased rates of both alcohol consumption (vs. abstention) and binge drinking (i.e., multiple drinks in a setting). Women’s alcohol use has increased concurrent with social and economic gains. These gains in women’s social and economic status are indicative of broader declines in structural sexism, a macro-level, systematic source of gender inequality. The objective of this dissertation is to examine the associations between state-level structural sexism (e.g.., social, political, and economic gender inequality) and patterns of women’s alcohol consumption. This dissertation is presented in five chapters: first, an introduction; second, a narrative historical review of the relationship between structural sexism in the United States and women’s health outcomes, with a lens towards understanding the theoretical and epidemiologic sources of conflicting study findings; third, an empirical study of the relationship between state-level structural sexism and both alcohol consumption and binge drinking among women in the mid-life in recent cohorts; fourth, an empirical study examining structural sexism as a source of heterogeneity for relationships between women’s social positions—namely, their occupational characteristics—and both alcohol consumption and binge drinking; fifth, a discussion of findings and implications for future research. Materials and methods The narrative literature review drew from empirical studies in public health, criminology, and sociology (N=43 studies). The two empirical aims used longitudinal data from Monitoring the Future (MTF), a national survey examining substance use throughout young adulthood, using data from cohorts who were high school seniors between 1988-2006. For both empirical aims, I measured structural sexism using a factor-analytically derived score based on state-level social and economic indicators of gender inequality, and assessed occasions of alcohol consumption and probability of binge drinking as study outcomes. Both studies used three-level multilevel models to estimate associations between structural sexism and each alcohol outcome. The first empirical aim included a sample of 23,862 women surveyed between 1988-2016, and beyond the marginal association also tested the role of three mediators: depressive symptoms, college completion, and restrictive alcohol norms. The second empirical aim included a sample of 16,571 women in the MTF follow-up surveys between 1989-2016, and examined whether associations among work status, high-status careers, occupational gender composition, and both alcohol outcomes varied across levels of structural sexism using interaction models between occupational characteristics and state structural sexism. Results The review identified the divergent theoretical frameworks and measurement invariance as the most pressing threats to reconciling competing findings. In the review I also observed a dearth of empirical studies relating structural sexism to any behavioral health outcomes, including alcohol use. In the first empirical study, I demonstrated that women living in states with lower levels of structural sexism evidenced increases in both occasions of alcohol consumption (RR: 0.974, 95% CI: 0.971, 0.976) and probability of binge drinking (OR: 0.917, 95% CI: 0.909, 0.926); I showed that this relationship was specific to women (i.e., it was less pronounced among men) and that mediators of this relationship included increases in college completion and decreases in restrictive alcohol norms. In the second empirical study, I found that working women evidenced higher frequencies of alcohol consumption and higher probabilities of binge drinking than non-working women, and that these differences were most pronounced among women in low-sexism environments. At the lowest level of structural sexism, employed women reported higher occasions of consumption (2.61, 95% CI 2.57, 2.64) then unemployed women (2.32, 95% CI 2.27, 2.37). I also found that women in high-status occupations reported more occasions of alcohol consumption than those in low-status occupations, but only in low-sexism environments. Conclusions Lower levels of structural sexism are related to increases in both alcohol consumption and binge drinking among women. In low-sexism environments, working and belonging to a high-status career increases women’s alcohol use. Increases in women’s equality are positive and important social forces, but have conferred new acceptability of alcohol use that has implications for women’s health.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to explore the dynamics between spiritual fitness and women in recovery from substance-problems. The phenomenological method of enquiry, and within this context, the qualitative approach, was followed. Interviews with five women, four of whom received treatment at Stepping Stones Addiction Centre, constituted the empirical data on which this research was based. These interviews revealed remarkable experiences in the lives of these women. The findings of the research indicate that women in recovery with substanceproblems benefit tremendously from interaction with the dimension of spirituality. Spirituality was understood in terms of the experience of intervention or support by a power greater than themselves – an experience which gave meaning to the lives of these women, which is manifested in their way of being and way of acting. This includes a new sense of responsibility and self-respect which empower them to become co-creators of their lives, and to contribute compassionately to the well-being of others. The continuous and disciplined application of “spiritual tools”, practices and guidelines constitute a growing dynamics of spiritual fitness which forms part of a holistic approach to treatment and recovery. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om die dinamiek tussen spirituele fiksheid en vroue met substansie-probleme in die herstelproses, te verken. Die fenomenologiese metode van ondersoek, en binne hierdie konteks die kwalitatiewe benadering, is gebruik. Onderhoude met vyf vroue, van wie vier behandeling ontvang het by Stepping Stones Addiction Centre, het die empiriese data waarop hierdie navorsing gebaseer is, gekonstitueer. Hierdie onderhoude het merkwaardige ondervindings in die lewens van die vroue blootgelê. Die bevindings van die navorsing toon dat vroue met substansie- probleme in die herstelproses geweldig by die interaksie met die spirituele dimensie gebaat het. Spiritualiteit is verstaan in terme van die belewenis van intervensie of ondersteuning deur ‘n mag groter as hulself – ‘n ervaring wat betekenis gegee het aan die lewens van hierdie vroue, wat gemanifesteer het in hul wyse van bestaan en wyse van handel. Dit sluit ‘n nuwe begrip van verantwoordelikheid en selfrespek in, wat hul bemagtig om mede-skeppers van hul lewens te word, en op ‘n deernisvolle en empatiese wyse tot die welsyn van ander by te dra. Die voortgaande en gedissiplineerde toepassing van spirituele toerusting, gebruike en riglyne lei tot ‘n toenemende dinamiek van spirituele fiksheid wat deel vorm van ‘n holistiese benadering tot behandeling en die herstelproses.

No description available.

The use of alcohol and drugs by women has become a major health issue; though men use and abuse alcohol and drugs at a higher rate than women, this gap is closing and at an alarming rate. / In this study, the hypothesis is that women who have positive social support relationships have a higher probability to sustain and maintain their sobriety over time. Information was obtained through qualitative exploration N = (10) as these women recounted their experiences. The objective is to explore the similar factors that assisted these women throughout their recovery process. / The findings show that women come to recognize their need for recovery, as their sense of self develops and evolves over time: through positive attachments with others, rediscovery of self and identifying positive feelings. / The issue of women and recovery is a relevant factor for social work practitioners as clients and social workers need to function together as partners throughout the problem solving process.

This study explored the treatment of women's substance abuse from a critical theory perspective. The literature indicates that, within substance abuse treatment programs and in the research world, few treatment programs are sensitive to women's specific needs.

A study of women who are childhood sexual abuse survivors and have been affected by chemical dependency.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent environmental problems such as family history of substance abuse, loneliness and lack of support contribute to high levels of depression for substance abusing women seeking recovery in residential treatment facilities.