This multiple-case study investigated the characteristics of successful high school substance abuse intervention programs.
The unit of analysis for this multiple-case study is the public high school substance abuse intervention program of twelve selected Washington State high schools. Sub-units of analysis within the multiple-case study include the various components and attributes of a substance abuse intervention program. Examples of these sub-units include: formal drug education policies; staff training on substance abuse issues and intervention skills; formal curriculum and student instruction; central office administration and building administration support for the program; community support for the program, staff time to administer the overall program, a formalized identification strategy, a formalized referral process, a formal reentry (recovery) program and the availability of formal assessment services for students.
The case study design developed by this researcher included two major activities: (1) A written survey of all Washington State public high school intervention programs that identified eight public high schools that were particularly successful and four that were relatively unsuccessful in their ability to identify those students who were harmfully involved with alcohol and/or other drugs and refer these students to appropriate services. (2) A comprehensive examination of the substance abuse intervention programs for twelve selected public high schools through site visitations that included staff interviews, student interviews and the collection of various documents.
A cross analysis of the results from this multiple-case study indicate that successful substance abuse intervention programs share the following characteristics: (1) Formal, established identification programs; (2) The involvement of various staff members in identifying students harmfully involved with alcohol and/or other drugs. (3) The availability of training in identification strategies for various staff members. (4) The availability of specific training in referral strategies for various staff members. (5) The availability of formal drug assessments to all students at no cost. (6) Administrative support from building principals and central office staff regarding leadership and the allocation of resources.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-2144 |
| Date | 01 January 1989 |
| Creators | Herberg, Todd C. |
| Publisher | PDXScholar |
| Source Sets | Portland State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Dissertations and Theses |
Page generated in 0.0023 seconds