UNIT 3 IMPACT OF SUBSTANCE

ABUSE ON FAMILY AND ON

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Contents
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Substance Abuse, Family and the Nation
3.3 Behavioural Response of Addictive Family
3.4 Co-dependency
3.5 Substance Abuse and National Development
3.6 Substance Abuse and Crime
3.7 Efforts Towards a Drug Free Nation
3.8 LetUsSurnUP
3.9 Key Words
3.1 0 Suggested Readings
3.1 1 Answers to Check Your Progress

3.0 OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this unit is to explain how drug abuse harms families and the
nation. It will show you that drug abuse is a serious obstacle to national
development. After studying this unit, you should be able to:
a discuss the connection between drug abuse, family and the nation;
a describe the negative impact of drug abuse on the family members;
a understand how drug abuse is detrimental to national development;
a understand the importance of making our schools, workplaces and the nation
drug free; and
a relate various aspects of drug abuse to your own life experience.

3.1 INTRODUCTION
You might have seen traffic accidents caused by drunken driving. Like some
epidemics, substance abuse is a mass killer. Addict is a safety hazard to the addict
himself, to the family and to society. Addiction leaves the scars of its ravages to
the next generation as well.
Substance Abuse and The addict's children do not grow up normally because their family does not have
Its Implications
the suitable emotional atmosphere for their normal growth. Many children born to
alcoholics also become alcoholics when they grow up.
Addiction is a severe threat to national development. The addict is often an
unproductive element in the society. Addicts add to the burden of social health
care. Addiction also brings about a number of accidents.
This unit demonstratesthe implications of drug abuse at the various strata of the
society. It describes in detail the wider implications of drug abuse as it affects
children in the families and economic development for the society and nation.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE, FAMILY AND THE

NATION
Every thing is interrelated in the world. In a nation the family is the basic cell of the
society. The health of the nation is measured in terms of the health of the family.
Addiction affects mostly families.Addiction leads to deformation of the character
of the children. When one member of the family abuses drugs-be it a parent,
child, or relativeit causes disruption and disharmony within the family and every
family member suffers. Drug abusers often become so obsessed with the habit
that every thing going on around them, including the needs and situations of other
family members is ignored, leading to a breakdown of the family as an entity.
The nation pays a heavy price for drug abuse in economic terms as well as in
human terms. Most of the drug users are 18 to 35 years of age. Some of them are
employed and others are not. The employed ones create serious problems in their
work place. Absenteeism, sloppy work habits, accidents at workplace and poor
relationship with co-workers, are some of the serious consequences of drug abuse.
Many drug abusers who are in their teens, are unemployed. They do not become
productive members of the nation. They become a burden on the nation's resources.
They form part of the crime syndicate; their health care becomes an additional
burden on the nation's resources. They may become unwitting agents of epidemics
and incurable diseases.
Drug abuse has another price to pay: the ecological cost. Deforestation, soil erosion,
pollution of water sources, the extensive spraying of herbicides, degradation of
ecosystems, changes in the hydrographic system, demographic pressure and
population mi-on are indirect consequences of drug production. The environment
is being subjected to the general expansion of illicit drug producing crops; the
inevitable bacltlash to the pitiless rigors imposed on millions of small farmers in
Latin America, Africa,and Asia are affecting the world economy, which takes little
account of their precarious c i r c u m s ~ c e sIn
. order to make a living, these men
and women are reduced to planting coca, opium poppy or cannabis. The cost the
nation or the world pays for drug production may be indirect, but very enormous.
Mmy drugs like cannabis, cocaine, opium, and tobacco arz produced from plants.
Since the cultivation of these crops is often illegal, the operators move to forests
and destroy them to grow these crops.
Substance Abuse iiqd Family
The damaging c i ~ e ~ aofh drug a h s e on the family are perhaps those, which pose
the geatest threat to the nation. When own member of the family abuses drugs-
be a parent, child or a relative-it causes disruption and disharmony within the Impact of Substance Abuse
on Family and! on
family and every member suffers. Drug abusers are often obsessed with the notion National Developmlent
that every thing is going on smoothly around them, including the needs and situa~on
of family members. Their ignorance lead to a breakdown of the family functioning.
The abuser often demonstrates certain criminal behaviour by disturbing the family
atmosphere, and as a result suffers physically and psychologically. The effect on
the family members due to the loss of a beloved one-very often an earning member
is very painful. A very serious aspect of drug abuse often left unsaid is that when
the younger ones see the older ones using drugs, they wrongly assume that drug
abuse is normal and is an accepted behaviour.
Parents cannot face the fact that their children take drugs, or attribute their deviant
behaviour to something the parents did not do while in bringing up the child. Shame
and embarrassment far too often prevent them fiom acknowIedging their child's
drug pmblem. In failing to confront the problem, they cannot help the child find
the courage and the appropriate means to stop taking drug.
Parents of young drug abusers have often suffered profound emotions within their
own family of origin. They have a strong sense of having lost their own parents
through death, divorce, rejection or neglect. They are inversely occupied with the
issues of attachment and separation, loss and restoration.
Alcoholism is often called a family disease. The term mninds us that all the members
of the addict's family have a share in the disease of the addict. There is no way
the family members can escape the influence of addict's behaviour. Every day the
members are forced to confiont the addict's destructive and threatening devious.
The family members respond to this with anger, fear, shame and confusion. Their
response also becomes similar to that of the addict.
Many of the addicts are married, and among the alcoholics, majority of them are
householders. But their ability to play social roles become impaired to the point
where he or she is unable to play such roles as spouses, as a parent and wage
earner in a satisfactory manner. The alcoholic can also be very difficult to live with
at times loving, and out going, but on other occasions moody, depressed, and
even abusive. Families of addicts are likely to be broken through divorce or
separation.
In case of alcoholics, as the addiction to alcohol worsens, his or her family attempts
to cope with the problem in a series of stages: First in the direction of family
disorganisation. For example, as her husband's drinking problem begins to emerge;
the wife reacts by denying that a problem exists. When the denial does not work,
she will attempt to cope with the problerris by herself alone. Initial attempts to
deal with the problem may involve discussions with him, trying to control the
availability of liquor, and setting up norms. She may agree to drink with him under
condition that both of them stop at a certain point. This attempt will fail and the
crisis will worsen, leading to Mer deterioration of the relationship between them.
As the drinking habit worsens, the husband ceases to earn anythmg for the family's
maintenance and the wife is forced to assume this role. She may also take up the
role of the disciplinarian in the family, which should be performed by the husband,
as the father of the children. The saddest thing at this juncture is that the husband
who is an alcoholic has his life revolving around the bottle. Similarly, the other
members of the family also have their life revolving around the bottle, of course in
Substance Abuse and a different manner. The wife for example may resent the fact that her husband's
I t s Implications
behaviour sometimes forces herself to be his nurse rather than his wife, or she
may behave as a guilty person because unconsciously she feels responsible for her
husband's problem.
No two alcoholic families are alike and not two families respond to the addiction
of its family members in the same way. The impact of addiction on the poor class
of families and the rich class will be different. In any case, addiction in the family
puts heavy strain on the family with.disastrous consequences.
Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence
Daily expertise and research has shown that domestic violence is a common
ommmce in the drug abuser's f d y . ChilChildrenand women are particularly vulnerable
to violence caused by addiction. "Child abuse, wife battering, dowry deaths, marital
violence and desertion are common manifestationsof domestic violence" (UNDCP
1999). Drug abuse, particularly alcohol abuse and violence go together.
Aggression or violence is a basic human instinct, which humans share with the rest
of the animal kingdom. The purpose of this nature given instinct is for self-
preservation. For humans it is only his rationality that keeps his aggressive hature
under control. For other animals, any perceived threat could trigger aggressive
responses.
As we discussed earlier, a l l psychotropic substances act on the cortex-that area of
our brain that control reasoning-and make it dysfunctional. Because of the social-
religious and political conditioning and compulsions, the human bemgs are forced to
keep his aggressive instincts under control. But when the drugs like alcohol act on
the cortex, it removes these compulsions and controls and the individual releases all
thepent up emotions. Violence is the release or the expressionsof bottled up emotions
of the addict And we can easily understand that an addict has a lot of emotions like
guilt, angerand -tion which is released this way.
Drug addicts manifest many aspects of socially unacceptable behaviour. Violence,
aggression, grandiosity, irresponsibility, selfishness and gambling can all become
part of the chemical dependant life-style. uolent drug related crimes constitute a
large proportion of the crimes committed in South Asian Countries--raging fiom
between as high as 70% in Nepal and 20% in India. (UNDCP Report 1999)
The same report reveals that a study on violence conducted in Sri Lanka found
that 60% of women were subjected to domestic violence; 29% of women were
battered reported that their children were also subjected to violence by their
husbands. 82% of them believed that alcohol was one of the reasons for the
violence. The fatalistic attitude of women that they must endure hardships caused
by sons, husbands and brothemwho use alcohol also contribute to the continuance
of this habit. (WHO Report 1993)
The National Council ofAlcoholism (USA) estimated that as many as 63 % of the
alcoholic families now in treatment have experienced domestic violence. About
the same percentage of the children fiom alcoholic families have been physically
abused or have witnessed such abuse occuning in a regular basis within the families.
Addictive Families and Children
Addiction affects children more than all other categories. Adults can choose to
live in the same family or leave it. Children can neither choose to leave the addictive
 family, nor do they have the means to do it. A wife or a partner may feel helpless Impact of Substance Abuse
on Family and on
about another family member's addiction, but the truth is that the child is truly National Development
helpless. The characteristic of childho6d is its spontaneity, to be itself, to be careke.
A child in an addictive family cannot be carefree. It is always withdrawn, anxious,
II and fearful. In an alcoholic family the children do not receive the attention and
nurture, which they should normally receive.
I
I Due to the addictive behaviour of one member of the family the whole attention of
I the family will be focused on that family. That effect of such environment is
permanently disastrous for the child. They loose their identity; they become victims
of depression, anxiety, and stress and will have severe adjustment problems in the
society. Since they cannot get positive attention they would seek negative attention
by playing truant. Some of the children may be hyperactive, restless, and unable
to concentrate on any serious matter.
Researches show that domestic violence is total harmful to the emotional and
mental development of a child. Even if they are not physical by abused, witnessing
violence lead them copy on parents and siblings also tend to be abusers in adulthood.
Many children of the alcoholics become alcoholics.
k

Studies in India and other nations show that domestic violence is common in drug
abuser's family. Women and children are the usual victims of this violence. Child
abuse is the most serious form of this violence. It is estimated of every four female
II victims of sexual abuse, three are minors.
A study in the USA quotes that 66 per cent of the children from families with
I alcoholic problem were abused or they are confronted with the abuse of others
I and roughly a quarter of the children of these families become victims of incest.
Another study published in 1976examined the whole range of problems that children
of alcoholics had to face. The highlights of the fmdings are:
I
I Three times as many children of alcoholics had to be placed in foster homes
in comparison to other children.
a Children married under the age of sixteen were twice the number of other
children.
Juvenile delinquency was much higher, going up to 50 per cent.
a Children found to be mentally ill going up to 21 per cent.
a More children of alcoholics attempted suicides in comparison to those of the
children of other disadvantageous groups.
I a Personality damages on the children of the addicts was higher.
From what we saw above, the children growing up in an addict's family have a
number of personality and identity problems. We would discuss a few of them
here below.
Lack of role model: Children learn the sense of right and wrong from the families,
especially from their parents. A child growing up in an alcoholic family does not
have the opportunity to learn this. They witness only denial, guilt, aggression and
other behaviour from their parents. The child is often punished for what he has not
done, and reward for no achievement. r'
Substance Abuse and The behaviour of the alcoholic is confusing for the child. When not drunk the
Its Implications
father is all loving, when drunk it is all chaos. The child at the age is not able to
- understand what love is and what violence is. The father is just a bundle of
contradictionsand the child learns to imitate him.
Lack of self-esteem: Self-esteem or self-worth is the core of one's personality.
It is that which gives a person identity. Self-worth is learned h m the behaviour of-
the person who is important to the child. If a child is accepted, and loved by the
parents, the child gradually begins to reorganise that he is good, wanted, and
worthwhile. From childhood, if a child is abused, and not valued, it will begin to
feel that helshe is a useless person, whom nobody wants, and nobody loves. The
negative feedback a child receives in turn of quarrels, fight, punishment and rejection
are all internalized.
Lack of honesty: An addict is a chronic liar, even when he can tell the truth.
Children in alcoholic families learn to lie. The father lies about his addiction. The
mother lies about the father's addiction to protect the image of the family. The
father makes many promises and never keeps them. All that though child sees and
hears in an addictive family is often untruth. The child thus learns that it is all right
to tell lies. In some cases the children may be punished for being honest and
expressing their feelings.
Denial is a form of dishonesty. An addict lies to protect his self-esteem, or his
dignity. Accepting the truth is too painful for him. Similarly the child too cannot
accept that his father is an addict. So he denies it, gradually he gets used to
denying all unpleasant things of life.
Depression: A member or an addict's family has many m e t needs. An individual
to grow up as emotionally healthy needs to have his basic physical, emotional and
psychological needs met at the proper time. When this does not happen the child
suffers from depression, as a result of deprivation of the basic human needs. In
this connection it is important to note that many children grow up in well to do
families which may not be 'addictive' but where the parents do not have enough
time for the child, because they are too busy. Such children grow up in depression.
 The conclusion to this section is that a family with an alcoholic member is likely to Impact of Substance Abuse
on Family and on
encourage growth of emotionally unhealthy citizens. Some of these children turn National Development
out to be very ambitious, or very rebellious. Some will be ready to please everybody
while some others may behave like clowns. All these behavioural skills of life at
the right form the parents, because the parents were too busy with the problem of
addiction within the f d y .
Family Response to Addiction
As mentioned earlier, family remains the first and most important socializing
institution, where safety and security for the individual is found M e facing di6culty
in life. Drug abuse is a sign that a family has failed to help the child in its maturing
process. It is sign of helplessness from the family like a person attempting suicide,
because he cannot cope with the tasks of life. A family copes with addiction in
different ways. Almost in all cases the methods are unsatisfactory, indirectly
encouraging addiction of the children. If the family has adopted a healthy method,
it would have been able to solve the problem successfully. We shall describe
I
I
below the various responses of family in the face of addiction. You can identi@
that they are all negative methods.
When an organism is faced with a life-threatening situation it will try to preserve
itself at the cost other not essential aspects of life. In case of an earthquake, a
person may jump from the top of a high-rise building, risking hcture or even
serious injury. In case of the dress catching fire, the person will panic and run,
causing the fire to spread. If some one hits you on the head, you will raise your
hand to protect the head at the risk of damaging your hands. Similarly, the family
of the addict responds to addiction in certain ways, which are often damaging to
the individual. The six-stage process is given below.
1) Denial: Denying and justifling the drinking problem of the member. When
the family becomes aware of the problem, it would refuse to accept it as a
problem or deny the problem. The family m e m h might also find 0 t h m s ~ n s
justifying the addict's drug habit. They would try to force him to stop the
drinking by doing things for him, by promising him rewards and the like. They
would try to bribe him in different ways.
2) Withdrawal from the society: The family withdraws from all social
1 interactions, for fear of being identified as a problem family. They will try to
protect the addict from the consequence of drug abuse by taking responsibly
for his actions. They might also try to control his drinking by breaking the
bottles or destroying the drug paraphernalia. In some cases the wife might
join him to drink in a controlled manner.
3) Loss of control: When the family members dance to the tune of the addict
for a long time and the addict continues to behave the same way, taking
advantage of the good will of the family members they begin to feel angry.
They may not express this anger, but they will begin to feel that every thing
about the family is going out of control.
4) Re-organising the Family System: This is one of the early methods, which
the family found effective. The family members take up the responsibility of
the addict and fulfill the roles the addict is supposed to fulfill. This becomes
more evident when the addict is the head or an important member of the
family. The wife might begin to do double shift to earn some extra money or
the eldest child might take up the responsibility of running the household. 37
Substance Abuse and 5 ) Breaking Stway from the addict: As the addiction becomes intolerable, the
Its Implications
family members cut themselves away fmm the addict. The family may disown
the addict; get him arrested by the police. The wife might decide to divorce
the husband, if that is socially acceptable.
6) Letting the addict face reality: This is most helpful stage where family
members break through their denial and let addict face the crisis.
Emotional Response of the Addictive Family
We would like to repeat that addiction is a family disease. No member can escape
the c o q u e n c e of the addiction of one member of the M y . They d e r physically
as well as emotionally. Here we are describing how the family mponds emotionally
addiction:
Guilt: The family members feel that addiction of dear one is due to some of their
own fault. This response is strengthened by social stigma attached to addiction.
The family blames themselves or some outsider for the tragedy fallen on them.
Self blame leads to more guilt and shame. The family members may start blaming
each other as well.
Anger: The family members try their best to adjust themselves to the demands of
the addict. They may not express their resentments and may not even meet their
own physical needs to placate the addicts. This builds up anger in the minds of the
family members. This suppressed anger can lead to other psychosomatic illness.
Grief: The family has lost all interest in life. They also feel the loss of a very dear
person. There are sorts of loss, like material goods, good name of the family,
personal dignity etc. grief needs to be expressed, just like any other emotion. But
they feel that no one understands them. They suppress the grief and suffer alone.

Shame: Living in an addictive family is very stressful. The behaviour of the addict
is highly unpredictable. The members do not know what to expect h m the addict,
They are afkid of their own life and their future, there is too much tension in their
relationship.
Loneliness: Loneliness produced by the combined effects of shame, hurt and
fear cannot be avoided. To protect themselves from M e r emotional pain, they
try to hide emotions and do not disclose them to anyone outside. They will talk a
lot but never express their feelings. They are deeply alone.

Check Your Progress I

Note: a) Space is given below for your answer.
b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit..
1) What is the effect of substance abuse on your family?
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 Impact of Substance Abuse
3.3 BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSE OF THE on Family and on
National Development
ADDICTIVE FAMILY
All behaviours are expressions of emotions. Addictive families have certain
predictable behavioural patterns. The intensity of these behaviours may differ, but
they do not have similarities in contents.
Protecting: The family members want the addict to get out of the problems. So
they take up the works and duties he himself has to perfom. Instead of making
him realize and face the problem arising out of his irresponsibility,they will do all
his work, clear his debts, and tell lies about his absence. This process is called
enabling. We will be discussing more about in the next section, i.e. codependency.
Controlling: The family members make all kind of efforts to control the addictive
habits of the addict. They may buy fixed amount of drugs for him to use at home;
they may try to destroy the supply of drugs in his possession, and they may try to
accompany him whenever he goes. The more the addict is controlled, the more he
will resist and blame the family for his addiction.

Blaming: The addict's action areg- for the family. This makes the members
angry. But often they do not express it to avoid confrontation. When something
goes wrong seriously in the family, the members will begin blaming the addict the
misfortune.

Denial: No one would like to admit unpleasant realities, which they cannot control.
One way to handle such situations is to deny them.

Check Your Progress I1

Note: a) Space is given below for your answer.

b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.

1) How does your family respond to addiction?

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3.4. CO-DEPENDENCY
"Co-dependency is an emotional, psychological and behavioural condition that
develops as a result of an individual's prolong exposure to, and practice of, a set
of oppressive rules which prevent the open expression of feeling as well as*'
!,& .
Substance Abuse and direct discussion of personal and interpersonal problems" (Robert Subby). In other
Its Implications
words it means being a partner in dependency.

When a person takes to drug he will not be able to continue his habit for a long
time if somebody is not there to help him to face the consequences of his action.
Without them he would be forced to face the consequence of his drug habit,
before it becomes a case of full-blown addiction. Even at an early stage of addiction
the addicts behaviour is already becoming unhealthy and antisocial, that it's natural
consequences would have prevented him from going any fiuther. But those who
love him step into protection. As the disease progresses, they come in with more
and more protection. This can be called enabling. The function of a person who
does the enabling is called codependency.They are people who keep on reacting.
They react to their own problems, pains and behaviour of others. They react to
their own problems and pains. They will have to be guided to respond rather than
to react. Responding is answering to a situation. Reacting is denying the situation.

Check Your Progress I11

Note: a) Space is given below for your answer.
b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.
1) What is Codependency?
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3.5 SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT
In the recent years drug abuse has @own dramatically out of all limits. Most drug
abusers are young, some are rich and most of them are poor. Drug abuse drains
precious human and natural resources that might otherwise be used for social and
economical development. The destruction of individuals, f d e s , communities, and
undermining of natural economics as a result of substance abuse needs to be
contained.
National development involves development of human and natural recourses. Drug
abuse imposes a heavy burden on both human and natural resources. On the side
of human development drug abuse takes the toll on the younger generation who is
the future of our nation, while on the side of natural resources, the cost are both
direct and indirect.
The direct burden of drug abuse in terms of loss of productivity is on the part on
the abusers as well as the nation. In some cases, the abusers may be key positions
of productivity. When he fails to function efficiently, the whole system suffers.
Therefore the loss can be many sided.
 Substance abuse is a huge national burden that it kills the youth. Addiction kills 1rnp.d of Substance Abuse
on Family and on
many and incapacities many more. The young people are the true wealth of the National Development
nation. Addiction strikes at this vital area. As we have seen earlier, addiction has
severe damaging effects on the families. It produces many anti-social individuals.
Shortly we shall be discussing also the relation between criminal and addiction.
From this stage addiction is a big obstacle to national development.
The nation pays for addiction in terms of crime, automobiles and workplace
accidents, and medical treatment of the abusers through public health care system.
Communities, schools and business also incur expenses. "Increasing drug prompts
retaliatory action from the government in terms of 1) prevention and treatment of
drug addiction and 2) treatment of drug related diseases through the public health
care system. Can the government of the developing Asian nations afford to take
this additional pressure without substantial international support, or curtailing other
priorities? Given the growing recourses crunch for social sector intervention in the
region. The answer seems to be unambiguously negative. The government of India
I
allocated about Rs. 140 million to provide prevention and treatment services in
1994. This works out to be Rs.1500 per individual addict.
The money spent on purchasing of drugs goes into the hands of organised crime
groups. We have seen that drug trafficking is an organised criminal activity. Drugs
increase the earning of these criminal gangs. They also become part of the black
money laundering scheme.
Drug abuse lrads to the spread of many diseases and epidemics, like HIVIAIDS.
This too plays havoc with valuable human resources. It also adds to the burden of
public health care system.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND CRIME

While discussing the part of drug abuse plays in domestic violence, we describe
that the addict uses violence to obtain his supply of chemicals. However, this does
not limit the type of crime committed. We know the stories of business executive
who have stolen company b d s to finance their drug habit. A drug user will go to
any limit of criminal behaviour to obtain his supply of drugs. This may also include

i
r
murder.
There can be four kinds of crime related drug abuse.
1) Crime committed by drug addicts to obtain drugs
2) Crime committed by the peddlers, fighting for their share of drug market
3) Violence unleashed by drug mafia to protect their business and lastly
4) Financial crimes like money laundering, illegal manufacture and trade of drugs.
One of the estimates says that 70% of major crimes in the US are drug related.
The transactions of drug mafia run into thousands of billions of dollars every year.
These criminals are better armed than the state police in many respects. They
have been able to b+g government and replace them with their own as happened
in South America
Drug abuse and drug trafficking are indirectly linked to terrorist organisations.
They created demand for drugs by pushing them into market. For many terrorist
Substance Abuse and organisations drug money is the major source of income in India. This is another
Its Implications
type of criminal activity connected with abuse. In short the drug W i c k i n g is
organised, if criminal activity.

Check Your Progress IV

Note: a) Space is given below for your answer.
b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.
1) How does addiction affect national development?
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A total drug free nation may be a utopian idea. Drugs have been there, fiom the
dawn of human history. They always are there. Like every other natural resources
at disposal of human kind, drugs can be put to beneficial use. Drugs have begun
to rule the lives of young people. This is a bad omen.
There is a growing global concern to reduce the consumption of harmful drugs.
The process begins with the education of the young. There are two prevalent
opinions in the world with regard to the abuse to drugs one is legalizing the use of
all psychoactive drugs, and other is total prohibition of the same. Prohibition has
not worked. Legalizing does not help the improvement of quality of life. We cannot
vote for or against the toxicity of a drug. Education, information and prevention
will be the key to a drug free nation.

The unit has been discussing the impact of substance abuse on the family and the
nation. We describe the fimction of the family in the life of an individual and the
nation. We have seen how addiction changes the environment in the family totally
by destabilizing the family function. Addiction encourages violence in the family
and negatively the personality of the children.
When addiction destabilizes the family it will try to maintain its equilibrium by
unhealthy responses. Most of the family continues to respond negatively to
addiction, which promotes the addictive behaviour of the individual.
The nation also pays a heavy price for addiction of its citizens. Crime, terrorism,
and, black money are some of the by-products of drug abuse that negatively
influence national development.
 Impact of Substance Abuse
3.9 KEYWORDS on Familv and on
National Development
Adjustment problem : Difficulty experienced by an individual to respond
to the demand of personal and social relationship
Black money : Elicit money
Coping skill : Ability of an individual to meet the challenges
of lie
Demographic : Related to population
Eco system : Biological community of interacting organism and
their physical environment
Hydrosphere : The area of the earth covered with water
Herbicide problem : Chemical that kills plants
/ Identity problem : Inability of an individual to value oneself as a person
i Internalize : To accept a value or an ideology as ones own
Money laundering : An illegal process by which black money is
converted into legal possession
Negative feedback : Unhelpfbl response h m another person
Self worth : A sense of feeling that one is good
Sibling : Children of same parents
Utopian : Not realistic
Withdmwn : Keeping away from the group

3.10 SUGGESTED READINGS

Sharon, Wegsceider Cruse ( 1 989), Another Chance, Science and Behaviour,
California
Scoot (1978),Social Problems, or em& and company, Illinois.
Tata institute of social science (1 996),Health Habits, Healthy I@ Mumbai.
LJNDCP (1 999), Drug Demand Reproduction Report, Regional Ofice, New
Delhi.
T.T:Ranganathan (1 989),Alcoholism and Drugs Dependency, Clinical Research
Foundation, Chennai

3.11 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check your 'progress I

1) Addiction is a Edmily disease. Although only one person in the family is addicted
to a chemical, all the members suffer from its consequences. Addiction brings
Substance Abuse and in unexpected problems to the family. Some of them are financial, some of
Its Implications
them may be health related and others may be legal issue. The family loses
its balance and the normal hctioning of the family is altered for the worse.
Addiction brings about a total unhealthy atmosphere in the family.
Check Your Progress I1
1) The family makes different approaches to addiction of one of its members.
Denial, blaming, isolation and controlling are some of the responses adopted
by families faced with addiction. All of them are inadequate. Most of them
i n W y promote addiction.
Check Your Progress I11

1) It is a behavioural pattern adopted by one or more members of the family in

response to addiction. Due to fear of the consequence of the addicts
behaviours, the other members of family dkctly or i n d b d y prevent the addict
from facing the consequences of his addictive behaviour.
Check Your Progress IV

1) National development is affected directly or indirectly by some substances

abuse: An addict is a citizen of a nation. Addiction damages the health and
wealth of the citizen. Addiction also reduces the productivity of the nation,
since most are not efficient workers.
Indirectly costs of addiction on the national development are in the area of
health care, prevention, crime, black money, terrorism etc.