Substance Abuse Counseling- Family Roles and Dynamics Assignment

Substance Abuse Counseling- Family Roles and Dynamics - Assignment Example For instance, in cases where parents are users of such substances like alcohol, the dependents always tend to follow suite, and especially for those whose parents were very prone to alcohol. A research conducted in the US found that almost half of all children (35.6 million) live in a household where a parent or other adult uses tobacco, drinks heavily or uses illicit drugs. Family wrangles and divorce have been a significant source of substance addiction and abuse. In a research conducted, it was found that children who were subjected to parental divorce can lead to a child’s risk to substance use. It was found that over 50% of teens whose parents had divorced were likely to drink alcohol than those who had both their parents (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2005). Members of family of substance abusers regularly live in constant fear that their flimsy surroundings could collapse. Those families affected by substance abuse are usually characterized by marital problems, increased exposure to diseases, child neglect or abuse, inconsistent childcare, exposure to crime, social isolation, children’s academic problems, domestic violence, shifting family roles, and financial difficulties. In financial problems, substance abusers are exposed to long-term unemployment, injuries/accidents at work, and job instability; this puts their families under intense financial pressure (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2005). For instance, time spent assisting a substance abusing family member can minimize the time available for work and this ultimately minimizes family earnings. In another instance, substance abuse in a family increases the probability of divorce and unhappy marriages. It is suggested that substance abuse in a family can influence its quality. Poorer relations in a marriage are more likely in alcoholic men