Challenges Faced by Parents of Adult Children with Drug Problems
Parents of adult children struggling with drug problems face shame, guilt, and difficulty accessing support services. Research highlights the impact on health, work, and social life, along with coping strategies and challenges with authorities. The Swedish context shows limited professional support for affected families, relying heavily on parent associations for help.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Parents to adult children with drug problems seeking support from the social services stories about shame, struggle and despair AFINet International Conference at The Discovery Museum, in Newcastle, UK, November 2018 Torkel Richert, associate professor, Malm University torkel.richert@mau.se
Being a parent to an adult child with drug problems A research project at Malm University The first Swedish study on parents of adult children with drug problems Research grants from The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE) and The Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority (Brottsoffermyndigheten) A self-reporting Questionnaire (N= 687) Qualitative interviews with 32 parents
Research themes Exposure to crime (e.g., theft, vandalism, threats and violence) The impact on health, social life, work ability and economy Experience of guilt and shame Parents explanations for the child s problems and behaviors Coping strategies Views on codependency Experiences of contacts with authorities and support efforts
The Swedish context The social services in the municipalities are responsible for treatment and support for drug users and their relatives Limited professional support for affected family members Parent associations have played an important role in Sweden
Parents to adult children with drug problems - a particularly vulnerable group? Strong emotional bonds between parents and children Social beliefs about parenting and parental responsibility Failure in the parenting role is strongly associated with guilt and shame The stigma connected to drug abuse also affects parents The secrecy act hinder influence and transparency in relation to authorities
Central themes in the parents stories Seeking support for the child - a long and difficult process Having to fight against those who should be helping Confidentiality, bureaucracy and powerlessness Too much responsibility is placed on the child To cover up when the support-system fails Being labeled a bad or difficult parent When the cooperation with social services works
Barriers to adequate support Psychological barriers Guilt and shame The risk of stigmatization and categorization Fear of Social Services and the loss of control Structural / organisational barriers Limited access to support Secrecy laws Lack of collaboration and poor quality of support
Implications The importance of reducing barriers to help-seeking The importance of listening to the parents stories and meeting their needs The parents relationships with authorities can have a big impact on feelings of guilt and shame The importance of seeing parents as a resource in the children s treatment process A great need for better support efforts for parents
Possible points for discussion Similarities and differences in support efforts for affected family members between different countries Co-dependency as a concept / label / diagnosis, Pros and Cons?
