Family dysfunction as a risk factor for drug addiction

Risk Factors to the Onset of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is one of the subjects whose importance can never be underestimated. Even though this issue is discussed at every forum, the problem persists in the society and needs to be sorted out. It should be noted here that there are always some factors that are common among the people who resort to drug addiction. Some of these factors will be sought in this paper. Apart from that, some ethical issues pertaining to the risk factors associated with drug addiction will also be discussed in this study.

Drug addiction is not only the problem of the individual who is the drug addict, but is the problem of the whole society. The friends and family of the addict get affected because of the addiction directly since they have to deal with the devastated personality of the person. Moreover, they also have to bear the cost of rehab services or counseling sessions that are needed by these people. Furthermore, since most of the addicts have a tendency to become offenders, the entire society suffers damages. The aforementioned are some of the main reasons why it is important to probe into the reasons and risk factors that predispose people towards drug addiction.

Many analysts conclude that there is not just a single reason that makes a person start taking drugs, but there is a combination of reasons. However, some risk factors are more powerful than the other ones. One of the risk factors that particularly predispose the person to become a drug addict is the kind of family that he or she is born into.

Therefore, the question on which this paper will be is: Does a twisted family life increase the chances of a person becoming a drug addict?

Literature Review

There are more than one ways in which the family has the potential to make a normal person a drug addict. Many researches have been conducted in the past regarding this issue. Most teenagers that start using drugs do so in the influence of their parents. There are some families in which the father and the mother do not consider the fact that their teenage children will get the wrong message if they come home drunk or if they smoke weed in the backyard. Moreover, there are some couples that do not have a good understanding with each and in order to evade the arguments and the depression that follows, they start taking drugs. All of the above has adverse effects on the mentality of the teenage children. They start off with just 'trying it out' and then go on to become drug addicts. The reason why these teenagers do not think that it is wrong to indulge in such activities is that they believe that since their parents have been taking the drugs, it is acceptable for them to take them too.

Many studies have concluded that people who belong to a broken family have a tendency to develop drug addiction. This implies that children of divorced parents are at a higher risk of becoming drug addicts as compared to their counterparts who live with both their parents. Since these teenagers go through emotional and mental trauma when they see their parents fight over petty things, these teenagers find peace in drugs. Even when the problems of their lives get resolved, these teenagers keep on taking the drugs because they develop addiction. The cure then only lies in the rehab center.

There are some parents that are workaholics. They want to make money to make their lives more luxurious and also improve the standard of living of their children. When the children of these people grow up to be teenagers, they often feel neglected. Most of the teenagers start hanging out with their friends more or start going out more. Some of them take up a job to make them busy. However, there are some teenagers who resort to drugs. Therefore, it will not be wrong to say that parents, who do not give much attention to their children, put them at a higher risk of becoming a drug addict (Renner & Gastfriend, 2008)

There are some reports and medical papers that have concluded that the gene for drug addiction can be passed on from one generation to another (Weaver et. al, 2011). This implies drug addiction is more common in some families as compared to the others. Scientists believe that there is an involvement of some genes in the process of development of drug addiction. If someone has a blood relation, like a parent or a sibling who is a drug addict then that person is at a greater risk of becoming a drug addict too.

Apart from family issues, there are some other factors that also make a person more to develop drug addiction. The most common risk factor that puts a person at a higher risk of developing addiction to a drug is peer pressure. Particularly for male and young people, peer pressure is in fact a very strong risk factor for the development of drug addiction (Commonly abused drugs, 2011).Some people also start taking drugs because of anxiety and depression. Joblessness, problems with spouse and excessive workload can also make a person start using drugs.

Methodology

Design

This study is qualitative in nature and the study will be carried out while keeping the people divided into two cohort groups. It should be noted that there is one experimental group and one control group. Even though there are two groups in this study, it is a non-experimental study. It would be up to the researcher as to what hypothesis he makes and which data he chooses to look at. The researcher will not go on to manipulate the condition of the participant. However, he will look into his condition and relate to certain dilemmas such as drug addiction. In simple terms, the researcher is attempted to make an association of one variable with another.

For instance, in this study we are looking at participants from one addict group and one controlled group. It should be noted that the nature of this study is investigative therefore the researcher has the ability to muddle, blend and mix the questions. This sort of approach is required so that decent assumptions can be made by the facts and the data that is attained. It is important for the researcher to be able to find out the new and volatile data and make himself comfortable with it soon as well (Saunders et. al, 2012)

Participants

A decent sample size in this study would be one hundred to one hundred fifty. This group consists of substance abusers who were undergoing treatment in a clinical and psychiatric hospital in the region. It should be noted that the controlled group should be made up of the same number of persons. The inclusion criteria in this study was that other factors like age, sex, place of birth, place of residence and educational background should match those individuals who were non-addict. Therefore, the only difference in this two groups would be that one group is abusing some substance whereas the other is not. The duration of substance abuse of both these groups should also be the same.

Data Analysis

Cohen et.al (2007) stated that qualitative data analyzing techniques are quite time consuming and, therefore, they become a barrier if the researcher is already short of time. A reason why this method is time consuming is because the researchers have to study their data in detail. The simplest way to analyze qualitative data is through observer impression. The researcher can go onto examine the data and make an interpretation out of it. These can further be discussed with other researchers and a report can be created regarding the question at hand.

To make the procedure more organized, the researcher can carry out the process of coding. Coding is basically an interpretive technique that cuts data into segments and organizes it in a certain way. Codes are important because this way researchers can go onto discuss similarities and differences in the same codes. This makes the data easier to compare and interpret. Drug addiction is a very big problem and it cannot be understood by certain statistics or figures. Due to this reason, it is very important for the research to understand what the participants really mean.

Ethical Issues

There are some ethical concerns that need to be addressed as a part of this research project. Since the research involves the participation of people who were undergoing therapy for substance abuse, confidentiality and informed consent are two things that need to be taken care of particularly. Before starting the research proposal, the participants should be informed about the purpose of the study and what is going to be done with the data that will be collected. Once the participants agree that the information given by them can be used, only then should the research mention it. There should be deception involved and nothing should be hidden from the patients. It should be ensured that the real name of the participants is not mentioned anywhere in the research proposal.

Conclusion

Drug abuse is the issue that needs a great deal of attention so that it can be resolved since it is a curse on the entire society. Analyst and researchers believe that it is important to identify the risk factors that make a person more prone to developing addiction to a drug. Once these risk factors are identified and a relationship is formed between the risk factor and the increased incident of substance abuse, attempts should be made to remove those risk factors. One of the main risk factors that are known to place a person at a higher risk for developing drug addiction is family issues. People who do not have much family involvement or belong from a broken family are more likely to start substance abuse as compared to their counterparts who come from 'happy' families (Ivandic & Jukic, 2012).