Life Skills in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix Wesley Tyler Meredith Ward Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment Recidivism relates to a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior (Henslin, 2008). Progress being made in families and individuals due to lack of life skills that lead to causal factors to high recidivism rates in substance abuse and mental health treatment has been a growing issue posed by researchers. According to Miller & Hobler (1996), “In Deleware, 84% of Life Skills participants are male; 66 percent are African-American; 25% are white, non-Hispanic; and about 6 percent are Hispanic. The average age is 31. The lead offenses of 33% of the participants are violent offenses against persons; 38% are drug offenses, the more serious of which also are classified as violent in Delawareâ€. “Despite advances, differences in health status and access still remain. Minorities are still at increased risk, primarily because they live in adverse conditions linked to poverty†Hall (1998, p. 1). Problem Formulation Poor life skills are thought to increase recidivism among minorities (Reference) . The purpose of this study is to determine whether addicts who have completed life skill training have an improved recidivism rate over those who have not received life skills training. This study may provide education on effective life skills training and reinforce the importance of substance abusers with life skills. Study Design and Research Method A quantitative correlation study will be used to measure two different variables; life skills (independent) and recidivism (dependent) in order to determine whether and in what way recidivism and life skills characteristics might be interrelated. Quantitative studies quantifies observable behaviors and each occurrence of the behavior is counted to ascertain frequency (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010); non-experimental quantitative studies show correlations between variables and examines the extent to which differences in one variable is related to differences in one or more variables (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010); this methodology will look at the relationship between life skills and recidivism and the effect poor life skill training has on the increase of the recidivism rate. Research Question 1. Does life skill training reduce recidivism in drug addicts? Through historical and developmental research an effort to reconstruct or interpret historical events through the gathering and interpretation of relevant historical documents and/or oral histories. Primary research data will consist of surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups and experiments. Primary data will be gathered through informal interviews and observations. According to Lev, Brewer, & Stephenson (2004), “Interviews can be used to determine what services current customers would like to have access to, while observation can be used to determine which current providers are popular through other vendors. †There is an emerging literature on the relationship of coping strategies and substance use. Some evidence shows that individuals naturally adopt coping strategies to moderate behavioral and substance abuse problems (King & Tucker, 2000; Sugarman & Carey, 2007). Similarly, in a study with heroin users, participants who were abstinent at follow-up had greater increased use of coping responses compared with participants who had lapses or relapses (Gossop, Stewart, Browne, & Marden, 2002). Secondary research may consist of published research and data provided by the government in addition to data collected and analyzed by private companies. Secondary research will be gathered through peer reviewed journals and publications. Contribution to knowledge According to Samhsa (2011), “The use of illicit drugs among Americans increased between 2008 and 2010 according to a national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows that 22. 6 million Americans 12 or older (8. 9-percent of the population) were current illicit drug users. The rate of use in 2010 was similar to the rate in 2009 (8. 7-percent), but remained above the 2008 rate (8- percent). †(para. 1). The proposed study may contribute to the literature and to leaders in the substance abuse field by further research and understanding of patterns in healthcare services provided to substance abuse and mental health recipients. Factors that influence recidivism among minority recipients are very important to filling the gap and delivering accurate treatment. This study may contribute to probable causes of inadequate life skills such as income, education, healthcare literacy and services solicited to target market are variables or central phenomena of the study. Review of Relevant Scholarship “We stand at a crossroads in our nation’s efforts to prevent substance abuse and addiction,†said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “These statistics represent real lives that are at risk from the harmful and sometimes devastating effects of illicit drug use. This nation cannot afford to risk losing more individuals, families and communities to illicit drugs or from other types of substance abuse — instead, we must do everything we can to effectively promote prevention, treatment and recovery programs across our country. Research Question 1. Does life skill training reduce recidivism of drug addicts? References Henslin, James. “Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach. †(2008). Miller, M. L. , & Hobler, B. (1996). Delaware's Life Skills program reduces inmate recidivism. Corrections Today, 58(5), 114. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. SAMHSA. (2011). Retrieved from http://www. samhsa. gov/newsroom/advisories/1109075503. aspx
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12/27/2019 0 Comments Nuclear Weapon and Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 wordsNuclear Weapon and Cold War - Essay Example The debate on nuclear policy has addressed the deterrence of aggressive nations and the proliferation goals of nuclear weaponry. The Cold War, which took place following World War II, was a power struggle between the world powers, more specifically the United States and the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, nuclear proliferation became inevitable as the world powers and their allies struggled to obtain the resources necessary to build their own nuclear weapon. As other nations developed the capability to produce nuclear weapons, limiting nuclear proliferation to the greatest degree possible became one of the primary goals of American foreign policy. The events following World War II, inadvertently changed the international politics of the United States by requiring the American government to take a more active role in the affairs of the nation. In the long run, the proliferation of nuclear weapons increased the Cold War but diminished the desire for a hot war. For centuries, the United States' foreign policy was isolationism, however, the Americans' international politics changed dramatically by the end of World War II.2 The United States rarely developed international policies, military advancements, or technological advancements before other nations. "The United States through most of its history had hardly led the world in developing new war-fighting technologies. Americans had tended to imitate rather than to originate weaponry"3 As the war came to a close, the United Stated tested the first nuclear weapon, an atomic bomb. The Americans' development of the first nuclear weapon was unprecedented, but the United States was trying to find a fast and cost effective solution to bring World War II to an end. "Having acquired this awesome weapon, the United States used it against Japan for a simple and straightforward reason: to achieve victory as quickly, as decisively, and as economically as possible Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed"4 This devastating demonstration of the atomic bomb ended World War II only weeks after the creation of the United Nations. The United States government started to take an active role in the world and the security of the nation instead of maintaining its isolationist views. The United States government enacted organizations, policies, plans, and treaties to insure the safety and security of themselves and their allies, therefore taking on a very untraditional role. At the end of the Second World War, the major concern was the containment of communism and the security of the United States and its allies. In 1946, Winston Churchill warned the United States about the Iron Curtain. The Iron Curtain was a "symbolic separation of Europe" between countries that were controlled by the Soviet Union and those that were not controlled by the Russians.5 The fear was that a "domino effect"6 (one country falls to communism then they all
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