Despite empirical associations with many health-related outcomes and its fundamental place in Alcoholics Anonymous, the scientific study of forgiveness in addiction and recovery has only recently begun. Evidence derives from naturalistic studies and, when used, a short follow-up interval. It is time to expand the empirical study of the salutary forgiveness-alcohol association to include intervention-based research with sufficient follow-up intervals. Understanding the basic and nuanced effect of forgiveness among people with alcohol and other drug problems, though not a panacea, will inform the development of more refined and efficient treatment strategies for individuals struggling with alcoholism and addiction.

This dissertation presents an evaluation of a funded consultancy that was intended to bring about change in the education and training of police in Australia in response to illicit drugs. Sponsored by what was at the time known as the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, the ultimate goal of the consultancy was a national framework for police education and training to enhance frontline police response to illicit drug problems. The research used a case study design. Guba and Stufflebeam’s (1970) Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) model was used to organise the presentation of a rich description of the design, development and implementation of the consultancy. Application of this framework enabled illumination of a number of issues related to social policy, change and innovation, and quality improvement processes. The study explores the role of education and training in organisational change and concludes that the potential of external consultancy activity to effect meaningful change in police education, training and practice is limited by a number of factors. Key findings of the study are that while a number of consultancy processes could have been enhanced, the primary determinants of the extent to which a change in police education and training will enhance frontline practice are contextual and conceptual factors. The study reveals that the response of frontline police to illicit drug use is influenced by multivariate factors. The findings of this study suggest that while frontline police are keen to provide solutions to a range of practice issues in response to illicit drug problems, they desire concrete strategies that are well defined and supported by management, consistent with policy and within the law. However, the complexity of police activity in response to illicit drugs; the dissonance between the conceptual frameworks of police and health agencies; and, resistance to what is perceived as externally initiated change in police practice, education and training; were found to be powerful inhibitors of an utopian attempt to enhance frontline police response to illicit drug problems. Using the metaphor of board games, the study concludes that the development of an education and training framework will be of little value in achieving enhanced frontline practice in response to illicit drug problems unless the criteria for enhanced response are made more explicit and seen to be congruent with both the conceptualisation and operationalisation of police roles and functions. Moreover, the study questions the mechanisms through which changes in policy are conceived, implemented and evaluated and highlights a need for greater congruence between evaluation frameworks and the nature of change.

The topic of my thesis is the legal and social regulation of drug addiction. The drugs phenomenon stays a global and constant societal problem. I started to be interested in drug issue shortly after revolution, after I attended my very first talk about drugs within the school education. The aim of my thesis was to map development and current situation of drug problems, especially drug scene state, national and European drug policy, analysis of legislation, and last but not least, prevention, treatment and subsequent rehabilitation of drug addicts in the Czech Republic and European Union countries. Czech Republic came closer to European countries with the introduction of new criminal legislation. However, despite all efforts of harmonization of the European Union differences between countries exist in the legal framework and specific procedures in the field of drug. Individual states have their own characteristics in the drugs field, and therefore we cannot generalize uniform procedures for all states. Nevertheless, sub-national practices could stand for inspiration for the Czech Republic in similar cases. This thesis consists of four main chapters, which are further divided into individual subsections. The first chapter contains a definition of drug addiction and the basic classification of drugs,...

The aim of this study is to increase understanding about addiction recovery. More specifically, we want to know what people who have had problems with alcohol and/or other drugs perceive as helpful and important for their recovery process and how we can understand this process. The study was conducted by means of qualitative semi-structured interviews with four people who have had alcohol and/or other drug problems. The analysis is based on a transtheoretical model of change from addictive behaviours, coping, interactionist theories and also a recovery perspective, inspired by research on recovery from mental illness . Main findings are that recovery from addiction can be understood as an individual process that takes place in a social context and can follow expected phases, although there are large individual differences in the process. Through the recovery process it has been of importance to the participants in the study to redefine themselves and their problems, get support from others, find ways to cope with their problems, get involved in meaningful activities and to expand their social roles. Internal and external processes that are not directly related to drug use also appear to be important for the recovery from addiction.

abstract: The present study utilized longitudinal data from a high-risk community sample (n= 377; 166 trauma-exposed; 54% males; 52% children of alcoholics; 73% non-Hispanic/Latino Caucasian; 22% Hispanic/Latino; 5% other ethnicity) to test a series of hypotheses that may help explain the risk pathways that link traumatic stress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, and problematic alcohol and drug use. Specifically, this study examined whether pre-trauma substance use problems increase risk for trauma exposure (the high-risk hypothesis) or PTSD symptoms (the susceptibility hypothesis), whether PTSD symptoms increase risk for later alcohol/drug problems (the self-medication hypothesis), and whether the association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol/drug problems is due to shared risk factors (the shared vulnerability hypothesis). This study also examined the roles of gender and ethnicity in these pathways. A series of logistic and negative binomial regressions were performed in a path analysis framework. A composite pre-trauma family adversity variable was formed from measures of family conflict, family life stress, parental alcoholism, and other parent psychopathology. Results provided the strongest support for the self-medication hypothesis, such that PTSD symptoms predicted higher levels of later alcohol and drug problems among non-Hispanic/Latino Caucasian participants, over and above the influences of pre-trauma family adversity, pre-trauma substance use problems, trauma exposure, and demographic variables. Results partially supported the high-risk hypothesis, such that adolescent substance use problems had a marginally significant unique effect on risk for assaultive violence exposure but not on overall risk for trauma exposure. There was no support for the susceptibility hypothesis, as pre-trauma adolescent substance use problems did not significantly influence risk for PTSD diagnosis/symptoms over and above the influence of pre-trauma family adversity. Finally, there was little support for the shared vulnerability hypothesis. Neither trauma exposure nor preexisting family adversity accounted for the link between PTSD symptoms and later substance use problems. These results add to a growing body of literature in support of the self-medication hypothesis. Findings extend previous research by showing that PTSD symptoms may influence the development of alcohol and drug problems over and above the influence of trauma exposure itself, preexisting family risk factors, and baseline levels of substance use. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2014

Studiens syfte var att analysera skolan som skyddsfaktor för elever med problematiska substansbruk. Vidare ville vi identifiera professionellas och ungdomars upplevelser angående vilka aspekter som anses vara betydelsefulla för dessa ungdomars lärande, identitetsutveckling och förändring inom skolkontexten. Det omfattar även identifiering av hindrande dimensioner som professionella och ungdomar upplever i relation till skolans roll vilket omfattar resurser, aktörssamarbete och tillämpning av olika strategier för dessa ungdomar. För att djupgående kunna åstadkomma studiens syfte och frågeställningar har en kvalitativ metodansats valts. Fyra personer från tre olika professioner inom skolkontexten har intervjuats, en elevkoordinator, två skolkuratorer och en specialpedagog. Dessutom har två ungdomar som brukar alkohol och/eller narkotika medverkat i studien. Den metodologiska utgångspunkten i studien är den fenomenologiska vetenskapsteorin. Den teori som analyserar studien är den symboliska interaktionismen. Informanterna som har medverkat i studien har kunnat bidra med ett resultat där identifiering av vilka komponenter som anses vara mest betydelsefulla för denna målgrupp har kunnat fastställas. Studiens resultat har kunnat påvisa att meningsfulla relationer med signifikanta vuxna inom skolkontexten anses vara den största framgångsfaktorn för elever som har ett problematiskt substansbruk. Genom att vara en signifikant vuxen skapar de professionella en trygg, meningsfull och lärorik miljö där dessa ungdomar upplever ett givande skolklimat och ökad motivation till förändringsprocesser.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur socialtjänsten och skolan upplever att samverkansprocessen fungerar mellan verksamheterna när det kommer till ungdomar i högstadiet med drogrelaterad problematik. Studien är kvalitativ i sin form och grundar sig på ett abduktivt synsätt och en hermeneutisk tolkningslära. Studiens empiri har insamlats genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna har genomförts med fyra stycken socialsekreterare på Barn- och Ungdomsenheten på socialtjänsten, två stycken lärare samt två skolkuratorer. Ett målstyrt bekvämlighetsurval har använts i studien och en tematisk analysmetod har använts för att analysera empirin. Empirin har även analyserat med hjälp av två teoretiska ansatser: systemteori och Bourdieus teori om maktens fält samt kunskapsöversikten. Resultatet visar att det finns ett flertal faktorer som påverkar samverkansprocessen mellan socialtjänsten och skolan, faktorer som handlingsutrymme, makt, sekretess, okunskap och resurser. Det finns en önskan hos båda parterna om mer samverkan mellan verksamheterna för att ungdomar med drogproblematik skall kunna upptäckas i ett tidigt skede och få de insatser som de behöver. Konsekvenserna av en icke fungerande samverkan kan leda till att ungdomar med drogproblematik missas och faller mellan stolarna vilket leder till att de inte får den hjälp och stöd som de behöver. / The aim of this study is investigate how social services and school experience how the collaboration process works between them when it comes to youth in high school with drug- related problems. The study is qualitative in its form and is based on an abductive approach and a hermeneutic interpretive theory. The empirical material includes semi-structured interviews collected through a goal oriented convenience sample. The interviews include four social workers in the child and youth unit on social services, two teachers and two school counsellors. A thematic analysis method has been used to synthesize data. Two theoretical approaches were used in the analysis of the results; systems theory and Bourdieus field theory of power, as well as previous research. The results show that there are many factors that affect the collaboration process between the social service and the school, factors like scope of actions, authority, secrecy, lack of knowledge and resources. There is a desire among both parts to create more collaboration between them so that the young people with drug-related issues could be detected at an early stage and get the interventions they need. The consequences of a non-functioning collaboration can lead to young people with drug-related problems being missed and falling between the cracks, which leads to them not receiving the help and support they need.

The thesis is focused on the distribution of medicinal products containing the active ingredient pseudoephedrine. These medicines are misused because of its active substance to produce an addictive methamphetamine (meth). The aim is to monitor the development restrictions associated with those drugs in the past, concern and characterize the current status of this issue. In the thesis, the theoretical knowledge of economics and drug problems. The practical part deals with the historical development of restrictions and evaluation of the status quo.

The thesis provide an analysis of environment that might influence processes of socialization of youth people. Next to this description of socially and/or pedagogically working organizations and institutions that focus on youth and their parents in the area of risk behaviour with an aim to prevent dependence on mind-altering substances is provided. Theoretical part of the thesis discusses socio-cultural factors. Therefore roles especially of family as primary institution responsible for socialization as well as of socio-pedagogically working organizations in drug prevention targeting youth and their parents is described. Empirical part of the thesis addresses ways that parents of young users of drugs used to prevent risky behaviour of their children, what sources and types of informations about drugs they used, and to what extend they have been prepared to solve potential problems that might result in drug dependence. Also with the use of a narrative analysis it is discussed where parents sought professional help and what was their opinion about quality of socio- pedagogical intervention delivered by individual organizations.