Running head: ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE 1 Alcoholism and substance abuse Richard L Williams Instructor: Nancy Silva Course:HCA 430 Special Populations Date: August 11, 2017 ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE 2 The selected group is “People affected by alcohol and substance abuse” Alcoholism affects the normal way in which people operate and makes them addicts such that they cannot work normally without the influence of alcohol. Alcoholism occurs when a person engages in drinking for so long such that eventually, the body develops an alcohol use disorder. This is similar to all other addictions that are caused by any substance abuse and the victims are not in a position to stop the substance abuse even after experiencing negative consequences (Gilvarry, 2000). It is still not known why people engage in substance abuse although there are different theories that tend to explain any possibility that an individual may decide to abuse any substance. The most common reason is the pleasurable feeling that addicts associate with substance abuse and consequently to prevent withdrawal syndromes which are very dangerous to any addict. The factors affecting the vulnerability of the chosen group Age. Many addicts claim that they started substance abuse at the age between 12-15 years of age. At this age according to the scientist, teenagers start developing a know-it-all syndrome accompanied by an interplay of hormones which makes the defiant. This defiant behavior makes the teenager’s gang up and as a result they engage in substance abuse. Many of the addicts in rehabilitation institutions claim that they did not realize the dangers of substance abuse since they started at a tender age. Age plays a vital role in substance abuse since at young age teenagers are curious to experiment on any substance available at their disposal (Crowley, 1994). Gender. ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE 3 Many of the addicts in rehabilitation centers are of the male gender with only 27% of the female gender. The society focuses more on the girl child providing to them all their necessities and giving them the attention they require and end up ignoring the boy child (Bandura, 1999). Neglecting the boy child results to bad decisions since there is no one to guide them and this explains why the male child is more prone to substance abuse as compared to their female counterpart. Male teenage groups also play a role in influencing innocents to start substance abuse with those defying such practices being kicked out of these groups. Income The second large group of alcohol and substance abuse are those between 18-30 years of age. It is at this age that many young people start earning their first salary. At this age, many young people have little or no responsibilities at all and therefore their salaries are not budgeted. Analyst state that many are tempted to engage in substance abuse because of the extra cash that is available to them from their salaries (Kuntsche, 2005). Another theory states that many addicts engage in alcohol and substance abuse due to disappointments in life and more especially due to financial difficulties. Those who fail to get jobs start drinking in order to forget their disappointments, similarly, young people who have responsibilities and do not have any source of income also drink as a way of running from their responsibilities. The intersection of social, political, and economic factors affecting vulnerability Social factors. ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE 4 Research shows that many of the people who engage in alcohol and substance abuse come from families that experienced domestic feuds (Fingerhood, 2002). Their rights were either violated or they witnessed such acts of abuse in their lives. Political factors. Political factors such as poor leadership cause jobless which leads to idleness among many people in the society (Berger, 1993). With the lack of jobs and no income, many people engage in alcohol and substance abuse in order to forget life disappointments. Economic factors. Heavy drinkers and substance abusers suffer huge economic problems such as loss of jobs with others being awarded very low wages due to their poor quality of work (Kuntsche, 2005). Addicts also spend a lot of money in rehabilitation centers as they try to get help when they realize the dangers of their practices. A designed new model program Alcohol and substance abuse users put their lives at risk and even lower their life expectancy to less than 45 years (Crowley, 1994). Abusers also risk the lives of their kids with health statistics showing that parents who abuse substances deliver babies with health complications. Substance abusers also risk becoming addicts in the long run. This has both medical and financial implications not only to the user but also to those around them. One of the biggest risks that alcohol and substance users face is the issue of health deterioration which at times lead to loss of life. Addicts should be taken to rehabilitation centers so that an individual can be helped to stop the usage without withdrawal syndromes which are ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE 5 equally deadly (Berger, 1993). It is also important to ensure that addicts have alternatives so as not to engage in the same behaviors, however, this will provide a long run solution. My program will provide technical training to alcohol and substance abusers so as to help them have a source of income (Swartz, 1998). It is also important to ensure that many other people do not engage in the same practices as a control measure and this can be through sensitization to the community on the effects of alcohol and substance abuse. References Kuntsche, E., Knibbe, R., Gmel, G., & Engels, R. (2005). Why do young people drink? A review of drinking motives. Clinical psychology review, 25(7), 841-861. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735805000759 Berger, G. (1993). Alcoholism and the family. New York: F. Watts. ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE Fingerhood, M. (2000). Substance abuse in older people. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 48(8), 985-995. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.15325415.2000.tb06900.x/full Gilvarry, E. (2000). Substance abuse in young people. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 41(1), 55-80. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-child-psychology-and-psychiatryand-allied-disciplines/article/substance-abuse-in-youngpeople/1F3D4AF7D1BDDBE987A508E3C70F3615 Crowley, J. W. (1994). The white logic: Alcoholism and gender in American modernist fiction. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Bandura, A. (1999). A sociocognitive analysis of substance abuse: An agentic perspective. Psychological science, 10(3), 214-217. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.00138 Swartz, M. S., Swanson, J. W., Hiday, V. A., Borum, R., Wagner, H. R., & Burns, B. J. (1998). Violence and severe mental illness: the effects of substance abuse and nonadherence to medication. American journal of psychiatry, 155(2), 226-231. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.155.2.226 6 
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