Risks to children in families of substance abusers

Abstract

Drug abuse is quite a widespread problem, and there have been quite a number of studies and research that have focused on the drug abusers. However, very little research was dedicated to the children· of drug abusers. Drug abuse is a problem that compromises a parent's ability to take care of children, particularly as drug abuse affects greatly the mental state of an individual. Believing that the children can be negatively affected by a parent's drug abuse, this dissertation looks into these children's lives in an attempt to understand better such a situation. This dissertation tries to study the relationships that exist in such families, particularly through the interactions that go in between the children and their parents. The information in this study is obtained through a qualitative approach, based on case studies, with six children of ages between seven and twelve being the participants for this study. Through the children's accounts of their family life, this dissertation places particular importance on discovering the possible risk of child abuse and/or neglect that such children might be in when living with drug abusing parents. This dissertation concludes by offering suggestions that may help improve the situations that children of drug abusers live in.