The drugging patterns and attitudes towards substance abuse in a group of Johannesburg street children.

[摘要] A substance abuse problem among street children has been acknowledged and treatment has notproved beneficial. The general aim of this study was to investigate their drugging habits andattitudes to drugging and treatment, in order to elucidate reasons for this failure and providedirection for an effective treatment approach.An exploratory study utilizing a non-probability sample (N=16) of male street children, aged 12to 16, from a Johannesburg shelter, was carried out. An unconventional approach to gatheringinformation was developed, within the framework of one-hour group discussions heId over sevenweeks. Questions devised by the researcher were presented as stimuli for group discussion, storytelling, and drawings. Data were also collected through a voting procedure.Results confirm regular substance abuse and dependency which merits attention. Maintainingfactors were the suppression of emotional ...., low self esteem, and socialmotivators, i.e., to gainconfidence and maintain networks. Risks and actual negative effects of substance abuse werevaguely perceived.These findings must be regarded as tentative, due to the small sample. More research, utilizingsubjects not living in shelters and those in other shelters, should be done to find out if these findingsare replicated ..A suggested treatment modality is group therapy and the changing of group norms, Groups wouldbe conscientising. Specific aims could be formulated hy the group members, but could includegeneral life skills and the development of alternative reinforcing activities. Peer mentoring couldbe considered.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand