Barn som lever med foreldre som ruser seg

Abstract

In Norway, substance abuse among parents is a growing problem. Substance abuse internally in a family has negative impact on the children. Children with caregivers that have a substance abuse problem, in proportion to children that don’t, have a much higher risk of developing problems of their own. Resilience is the term used for children who perform well despite having lived under abnormal conditions like this. Resilience is not given, but something a child can develop over time. In order for a child to be able to develop resilience, there must exist protection factors in the environment that works preventive.

Social work consists of having the knowledge and skills required within the preventative and treatment field of work. This applies to work with the children, but also the rest of the family as a whole. Early intervention in the field of substance abuse is a particular priority area of focus at the government, and their escalation plan for the drug field. The importance of a good growing environment where all children are seen and heard is highly prioritized. In addition, the importance of addressing the problem development as early as possible gets a lot of focus too.

The job as a social worker consists of helping people to help and improve themselves and the situation, which they are located in. A social worker needs to work with each individually family that struggles with substance abuse as a special case. It may be similarities between the different cases, but complex issues like this cannot be generalized. For instance, if you were only to focus on the child and not on the family as a whole, you may miss out on important aspects that could play a major role in whether or not you get to the root of the problem.