There is little known about mothers who are recovering from addictions who lose custody of their children. This hermeneutic thesis, using Canadian phenomenologist Max van Manen’s method and a combination of both scholarly elements and rich storytelling, explores the lived experience of four women recovering from addictions who have lost custody of their children. Using a dual approach of manual and computer-assisted coding, three themes (each with three sub-themes) emerged from semi-structured interviews. The first theme, betrayal, examines three sources of betrayal for the women. The second theme, soul-ache, describes the spaces that a mother finds herself in upon losing custody of her children. The third and final theme, reclamation, follows the mothers as they learn to live again. The findings of this thesis, situated within disciplinary knowledge, extend current knowledge regarding these mothers. The implications arising from this thesis are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided. / 2011-03

Repeated administration of psychostimulant drugs induces a long-term state of sensitization in the mesolimbic dopamine system. This hyperdopaminergic state is associated with enhanced reward-seeking behaviors. Such aberration of incentive motivational processing is suggested to facilitate the initiation and maintenance of compulsive drug-taking behaviors. A defining characteristic of addiction is the persistence to pursue drug reinforcement despite negative consequences associated with administration. Thus, it is likely that addicts frequently experience states of motivational conflict to both seek and avoid the drug. The present study investigated the effects of repeated cocaine exposure on goal-seeking behaviors in rats, utilizing conflict paradigms wherein positive and negative incentive motivations were simultaneously evoked. Here it was shown that cocaine-experienced rats displayed both enhanced approach and avoidance behaviors, depending upon the conditions put forth in each paradigm. The results contribute to elucidating the consequences of drug administration upon basic motivational processes that may influence compulsive drug-taking behaviors.

Repeated administration of psychostimulant drugs induces a long-term state of sensitization in the mesolimbic dopamine system. This hyperdopaminergic state is associated with enhanced reward-seeking behaviors. Such aberration of incentive motivational processing is suggested to facilitate the initiation and maintenance of compulsive drug-taking behaviors. A defining characteristic of addiction is the persistence to pursue drug reinforcement despite negative consequences associated with administration. Thus, it is likely that addicts frequently experience states of motivational conflict to both seek and avoid the drug. The present study investigated the effects of repeated cocaine exposure on goal-seeking behaviors in rats, utilizing conflict paradigms wherein positive and negative incentive motivations were simultaneously evoked. Here it was shown that cocaine-experienced rats displayed both enhanced approach and avoidance behaviors, depending upon the conditions put forth in each paradigm. The results contribute to elucidating the consequences of drug administration upon basic motivational processes that may influence compulsive drug-taking behaviors.

With approximately 7% of the adult population reporting to have taken illicit substances over the course of a year and the chronically relapsing nature of substance use disorders there is a great need for effective forms of treatment and therapies to reduce relapse. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a process of neuromodulation where electrodes are implanted in a target region to modulate the electrophysiological activity of the target region. DBS has been postulated as a potential therapy for treatment-refractory addiction, with a great deal of focus on the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Forty male Long Evans rats were implanted with unilateral stimulating electrodes within the right NAc prior to exposure to chronic cocaine self-administration (0.5 mg/kg/infusion). Following self administration, the animals were withdrawn from cocaine and treated with 14 consecutive days of sham, low frequency (LF, 20 Hz) or high frequency (HF, 160 Hz) stimulation sessions (30 min/day). The animals underwent drug seeking tests on days 1, 15 and 30 of the withdrawal phase with context-induced relapse paired with a drug challenge (5 mg/kg i.p). Relapse rates were highest on day 15 after withdrawal, with both LF and HF attenuating cocaine during this drug-seeking test, however this was not the case for tests on days 1 and 30. Motivation to respond for saccharin solution (0.1 %) remained intact following both LF and HF stimulation intake sessions. These results demonstrate that unilateral DBS of the NAc effectively attenuated cocaine-seeking following chronic exposure to stimulation although these beneficial effects appeared to diminish following cessation of daily treatment with stimulation. The results obtained in this experiment provide support for DBS as a potential therapy for patients with treatment-resistant cases of substance use disorders.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed March 3, 2009). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-156).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [73]-85).

Thesis (M.M.A.S. in General Studies)--U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2009. / "AD-A512 383." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010. / Prepared for: Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 98-107.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-47).

Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-15T11:42:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Osvaldo Fernandezseg.pdf: 2311732 bytes, checksum: 8f398a0462aeebd82c339c0d8588a3b7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-11T15:37:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Osvaldo Fernandezseg.pdf: 2311732 bytes, checksum: 8f398a0462aeebd82c339c0d8588a3b7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-11T15:37:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Osvaldo Fernandezseg.pdf: 2311732 bytes, checksum: 8f398a0462aeebd82c339c0d8588a3b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / O objetivo desta pesquisa é conhecer os modos e padrões de uso de cocaína inalada na Cidade de São Paulo, levando em conta a “carreira de usuário” e sua “estrutura de vida”. O objetivo específico é conhecer as regras e os rituais de consumo, principalmente para um tipo de uso “moderado e/ou controlado”. Foram empregados métodos qualitativos como observação participante, entrevistas abertas e semidirigidas e uma reentrevista, após 12 anos, com relatos autobiográficos. Os entrevistados (11) foram contatados em diferentes territórios e circuitos “do pó”, abrangendo diferentes sociabilidades, estilos de vida e redes sociais. O material foi analisado segundo a perspectiva de gênero, orientação sexual, curso de vida, geração e classe social. O uso recreativo de cocaína foi a principal forma de uso e de significado desta prática, sendo que há uma minoria faz uso como estimulante, para fins de trabalho. Nestas duas diferentes formas de uso, verificou-se a existência de uma série de regras para auto-regulação do consumo. Após doze anos, a maioria dos entrevistados abandonou (6) o uso e/ou reduziu (2), contudo uma minoria (2) aumentou o uso, sendo que um entrevistado não foi localizado (1) na segunda etapa de entrevista. Pelo fato de ser uma pesquisa qualitativa, os resultados circunscreve-se ao universo pesquisado. A pesquisa revelou o ethos dos consumidores e uma relação entre cocaína, comportamento sexual e a performance de gênero. / Salvador