Reintegration of Women with Histories of SubstanceAbuse into Society

U.S. policy toward individuals with substance abuseproblems has relied on stigma, discrimination, andpunishment; withholding access to education, cashassistance, housing, social supports, and normalsocial roles. This study investigates therelationship between social supports andparticipatory practices and the propensity of womenwith recent histories of substance abuse to affiliatewith pro-social versus deviant lifestyles. Resultsreveal that higher levels of instrumental support,affective support, and participation in normal rolesare statistically significant predictors of lowerlevels of criminal and drug using behaviors and thatwomen perceive social supports and participation innormal roles of parent, employee, student, andcitizen to be critical in facilitating their returnto pro-social lifestyles. The author concludes thatcurrent policies that withhold support and access tofulfill normal societal roles do not increase thepropensity for women to shed deviant identities andin fact may promote affiliation with deviance.

Autorentext

Nancy R. VanDeMark has worked as an administrator, clinician, and researcher in the substance abuse field since 1982. She holds a PhD in Public Affairs from the University of Colorado at Denver and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Denver. She is currently a consultant assisting state and local non-profit agencies in the area of program development, implementation, and evaluation.

Klappentext
U.S. policy toward individuals with substance abuse problems has relied on stigma, discrimination, and punishment; withholding access to education, cash assistance, housing, social supports, and normal social roles. This study investigates the relationship between social supports and participatory practices and the propensity of women with recent histories of substance abuse to affiliate with pro-social versus deviant lifestyles. Results reveal that higher levels of instrumental support, affective support, and participation in normal roles are statistically significant predictors of lower levels of criminal and drug using behaviors and that women perceive social supports and participation in normal roles of parent, employee, student, and citizen to be critical in facilitating their return to pro-social lifestyles. The author concludes that current policies that withhold support and access to fulfill normal societal roles do not increase the propensity for women to shed deviant identities and in fact may promote affiliation with deviance.