This research examined challenges social workers face when delivering mental health services to juveniles who have been incarcerated due to drug use. Through the use of a web-based survey program a total of ten research questions were examined statistically. The research questions discussed what challenges social workers face when trying to administer services to juveniles who have been incarcerated for drug use and also what services are available to juveniles with or without a mental health problem who have been incarcerated for drug use. Questionnaires were sent out electronically, with a response rate of twenty-seven participants. SurveyMonkey® was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that the participants felt very strongly about the recidivism rate being high in juveniles returning to jail due to drug use and that social workers have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these juveniles. As for social work practice we must make every opportunity to help our juveniles out of the juvenile justice system and into society to be productive citizen.

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is associated with high mortality rates and remains a public health concern in the United States. Although, numerous interventions are offered for adolescents struggling with substance misuse, minimal research is available on the effectiveness of treatments to reduce recidivism. Researching the most effective treatment offered to adolescents is crucial to treatment adherence and recovery. The purpose of this study is to determine the most effective SUD treatment for adolescent patients by exploring the perceptions and experiences of treatment therapists providing treatment. The trans-theoretical model was used with elements of the social cognitive theory as a guide to, adolescent placement in treatment programs and behavior changes. Twenty-three treatment therapists at Community Mental Health Centers from 23 counties in the State of Indiana were interviewed using the Colaizzi phenomenological methodological approach to obtain verification, validation, and validity for this study. Results suggested that assertive post-discharge plans after SUD treatment, motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, higher power faith for strength, and family involvement was evidence of effectiveness. Seven themes emerged from 225 significant statements. Among the dominant themes were understanding of SUD as a disease and the importance of family involvement in the treatment process. The study findings have the potential for positive social change to address the stigma of stereotyping of SUD through educational campaigns.

Thesis (M.Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Among the health disparities affecting the U.S. Hispanic population today are those relating to risky behaviors such as substance abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV/AIDS. However, few studies have examined how these conditions may impact this population. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences that Hispanic women in South Florida have with regard to substance abuse, IPV and risks for HIV/AIDS, to describe how these conditions may be related, and to develop a model that can be used to guide research and interventions targeting this population. This dissertation uses data collected in Project DYVA (Drogas y Violencia en las Americas- Drugs and Violence in the Americas), a pilot research study that utilized both qualitative (Phase I) and quantitative (Phase II) research methods to describe the experiences of Hispanic women in South Florida between the ages of 18 and 60 with regard to substance abuse, violence and risky sexual behaviors. Three studies were conducted as part of this dissertation. The first study utilizes data collected during the qualitative phase of Project DYVA. During this phase eight focus groups were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis (N = 81). The second and third studies utilize data collected during the second phase of Project DYVA. In this phase cross-sectional questionnaires collecting information regarding demographics, acculturation, self-esteem, depression, substance abuse, IPV and risks for HIV, were administered to 82 Hispanic women. Univariate and multivariate statistics were used to explore the relationships between substance abuse, IPV and risk for HIV (study 2) and between resource availability, IPV and depression (study 3). The findings from this dissertation suggest that substance abuse, IPV and risk for HIV are closely related intersecting health issues. IPV, the condition that emerged as the most salient of the three, also appears to be closely associated with resource availability (i.e., self-esteem and income) and depression. Additional individual, cultural, relationship and socio-environmental factors that may play a significant role in shaping the experiences that Hispanic women have with regards to these intersecting conditions were also identified and organized into a model.

Four interrelated studies on drug users in prison are presented within the framework of a proposed model for approaching the enhancement of health for persons that builds on an existential view of prisoners’ needs, as well as the risk management and “good lives” perspectives. Risk management is the major focus in current offender rehabilitation based on research on “what works,” which has shown that focusing treatment on risk factors termed “criminogenic needs,” such as impulsivity, poor family relations and drug abuse, reduces recidivism by 10-15 percentage points. The “good lives” perspective proposes that offender rehabilitation should go beyond risk management and also address non-criminogenic needs such as autonomy, relatedness and competence as foundations for building personally meaningful lives. Study I explores the assessment of drug use problems, and describes the psychometric evaluation of the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT), a newly developed 11-item test for quick screening of drug-related problems. Studies II-IV explore treatment for offenders in prison identified as drug users. Study II is a randomized controlled trial of two auricular acupuncture treatments for men and women in prison, inconclusive with regard to point specificity but showing that participants in both groups reported reduced symptoms of discomfort and improved night-time sleep. Study III evaluates the Reasoning & Rehabilitation program, an internationally widespread cognitive-behavioral program for groups of offenders. Results showed significant pro-social short-term changes in sense of coherence, impulsivity and attitudes towards the criminal justice system, as well as a 25% lower risk of reconviction among program completers compared to matched controls. However, the quasi-experimental nature of the study precludes any certainty regarding program effects; a selection bias whereby more motivated program participants are recruited could explain the findings. Study IV is a pilot project exploring the special needs of a subgroup of drug-using inmates with psychiatric and/or violent co-morbidity. Inmates housed in psychiatric prison units were offered long-term auricular acupuncture treatment. Half of the 22 inmates in the study received treatment twice a week for over eight weeks, and those treated over 25 times had lower psychopharmacological medication levels than untreated controls. Studies I-IV address individual facets of a proposed model for enhancing health among drug users in prison. The health enhancement model approaches offender rehabilitation from perspectives of existential psychology, good lives and risk management. Specific definitions of physical, social, psychological/personal and spiritual needs indicate a framework according to which prison treatment can help drug-using offenders find ways to secure healthy need satisfaction.

Artwork / Streetlives is a community-based, arts-informed, research project which addresses harm reduction amongst street youth in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nine street-involved participant researchers (supported by a team of researchers and community organizations) used art making and storytelling as ways of understanding the risks specific to street-involved youth in Thunder Bay. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the participant researcher group and a majority of Aboriginal research participants, a novel approach was used to create principles of research collaboration, in pursuit of the principles of ownership, control, access and possession for ethical research with Aboriginal peoples. The participant researchers found that their most common experience was their vulnerability to governmental social services and law enforcement personnel and policies. They further agreed that the risk of losing their children to child protection services is a source of increased vulnerability and a barrier to accessing treatment. They all agreed that the process of art making was fruitful and were surprised by the clarity and evocative nature of their artwork, finding that meeting weekly to do art is gratifying and therapeutic. They were interested to discover that the art they created, just by telling their stories, contained strong prevention messages they would have been influenced by as younger people. As such the participants want to continue making art, and showing their work, particularly to young people, social service providers, and law enforcement officers, who they think are in the best position to learn from it. This project is building capacity in the community (by teaching artmaking, group work, organizing, critical thinking, and presentation skills), is contributing to scholarship, and significantly and positively impacting the lives of the participant researchers. This work is represented in traditional academic prose and as collaborative fiction.

Since the onset of the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) crisis in 1982, Aboriginal women have been contracting HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and Hepatitis C in increasing numbers. A new Aboriginal HIV/AIDS research agenda is imperative. This research was conducted in an attempt to understand why Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan remain marginalized in their continuing struggle against HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. Through the use of in-depth ethnographic profiles and personal histories, twenty-two Aboriginal women from Saskatchewan candidly shared their life histories. The women were asked a range of questions, including their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, and their attitudes and behaviours concerning sexual activities, alcohol and drug use, education, health, and lifestyle. The key issues for Aboriginal women with HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C focus on the fact that they sustain triple jeopardy, in that they are discriminated against for having HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C, for being a minority population by virtue of their Aboriginal ancestry, and for being women. Any analyses of what makes Aboriginal women vulnerable to HIV and Hepatitis C infection must take into account the role of poverty, independent of any risk factors, in leading to infection, illness, and in some instances, death. The majority of the respondents were found to be prostitutes who continued to be involved in street prostitution, even after they had been diagnosed with HIV and/or Hepatitis C. Twenty percent of the respondents were infected through unprotected sexual activity, 20% through intravenous drug use, and 60% were infected through both unsafe sex and intravenous drug use. The results of this research the incidence of both HIV and Hepatitis C is high in Aboriginal communities in Saskatchewan, due largely to low condom use, high rates of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), low self-esteem, a lack of self-identity, increasing intravenous drug use, violence, sexual abuse, and high representation in street prostitution. Research to date is inadequate to the task of preventing the further spread of HIV and/or Hepatitis C, and providing effective and culturally appropriate treatment to Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan. This thesis serves to fill some of the research gap in knowledge about the relationship between race, gender, social class, sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C infection.

Over the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of drug addicted teens in this country. Accompanying this increase in drug usage of adolescents has been an rise in the number of treatment and evaluation centers to serve the adolescent drug abusing population. Comprehensive and individualized assessment of drug addicted teens is needed as the basis for adolescent treatment programs. Many adolescent drug treatment programs have relied primarily on in-house, informal questionnaires to assess personality traits. There is a need for more objective measures to assess personality traits in adolescent drug addicted populations. This study used information from intake interviews of 842 inpatient adolescents and examined the amount of drug use in relationship to; personality, negative life events (number of times arrested for drugs, number of times runaway from home, number of suicide attempts, and substance abuse) and gender. Personality was assessed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). This study family history of decreased the complexity of interpreting MMPI results by reducing the scores to categories reflective of two common personality traits found in drug addicted populations - introversion and extroversion. Codetypes, which reflect the subjects two most heightened clinical MMPI scales, were also utilized in this study. In this investigation personality traits of introversion and extroversion were not found to be related to amount of drug use, or gender. A heightened scale 4 (Psychopathic Deviate) was consistently found in this sample of adolescent drug abusers. Gender differences were found in membership in codetype group and in terms of total amount of drug use. Females who reported a maternal family history of substance abuse were more likely to use greater amounts of drugs than males with either a maternal or paternal family history of substance abuse. Negative life events were found to differ by gender with females having higher rates of suicide attempts than males, and males having greater number of drug arrests than females. A thorough assessment of maternal drug history for drug addicted females, and treatment modalities focused on personality types who score high on MMPI scale 4, may be important issues to be considered in residential treatment of drug addicted adolescents. / Graduation date: 1993

Since the onset of the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) crisis in 1982, Aboriginal women have been contracting HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and Hepatitis C in increasing numbers. A new Aboriginal HIV/AIDS research agenda is imperative. This research was conducted in an attempt to understand why Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan remain marginalized in their continuing struggle against HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. Through the use of in-depth ethnographic profiles and personal histories, twenty-two Aboriginal women from Saskatchewan candidly shared their life histories. The women were asked a range of questions, including their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, and their attitudes and behaviours concerning sexual activities, alcohol and drug use, education, health, and lifestyle. The key issues for Aboriginal women with HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C focus on the fact that they sustain triple jeopardy, in that they are discriminated against for having HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C, for being a minority population by virtue of their Aboriginal ancestry, and for being women. Any analyses of what makes Aboriginal women vulnerable to HIV and Hepatitis C infection must take into account the role of poverty, independent of any risk factors, in leading to infection, illness, and in some instances, death. The majority of the respondents were found to be prostitutes who continued to be involved in street prostitution, even after they had been diagnosed with HIV and/or Hepatitis C. Twenty percent of the respondents were infected through unprotected sexual activity, 20% through intravenous drug use, and 60% were infected through both unsafe sex and intravenous drug use. The results of this research the incidence of both HIV and Hepatitis C is high in Aboriginal communities in Saskatchewan, due largely to low condom use, high rates of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), low self-esteem, a lack of self-identity, increasing intravenous drug use, violence, sexual abuse, and high representation in street prostitution. Research to date is inadequate to the task of preventing the further spread of HIV and/or Hepatitis C, and providing effective and culturally appropriate treatment to Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan. This thesis serves to fill some of the research gap in knowledge about the relationship between race, gender, social class, sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C infection.

Artwork / Streetlives is a community-based, arts-informed, research project which addresses harm reduction amongst street youth in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nine street-involved participant researchers (supported by a team of researchers and community organizations) used art making and storytelling as ways of understanding the risks specific to street-involved youth in Thunder Bay. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the participant researcher group and a majority of Aboriginal research participants, a novel approach was used to create principles of research collaboration, in pursuit of the principles of ownership, control, access and possession for ethical research with Aboriginal peoples. The participant researchers found that their most common experience was their vulnerability to governmental social services and law enforcement personnel and policies. They further agreed that the risk of losing their children to child protection services is a source of increased vulnerability and a barrier to accessing treatment. They all agreed that the process of art making was fruitful and were surprised by the clarity and evocative nature of their artwork, finding that meeting weekly to do art is gratifying and therapeutic. They were interested to discover that the art they created, just by telling their stories, contained strong prevention messages they would have been influenced by as younger people. As such the participants want to continue making art, and showing their work, particularly to young people, social service providers, and law enforcement officers, who they think are in the best position to learn from it. This project is building capacity in the community (by teaching artmaking, group work, organizing, critical thinking, and presentation skills), is contributing to scholarship, and significantly and positively impacting the lives of the participant researchers. This work is represented in traditional academic prose and as collaborative fiction.