Recent orders
Preventative Responses
Preventative Responses to Drug Problems
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Preventative Responses to Drug Problems
Drug education, despite only being recently emphasized in drug policy strategies, has a long history in the United States. Today, what comes to mind at the mention of drug education is high-profile programs. Worth noting, the earliest drug education programs emerged from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. While supply-side strategies reduce the availability of drugs to customers by enforcing laws, demand strategies reduce the overall level of drugs in society by reducing the need for drugs among potential users.
The information model is the most familiar to the baby boomers generation that attended public school in the 1960s. It is implemented through schools and other forms of media. Evaluation studies regarding information-oriented drug education programs suggest that they are not always effective in preventing drug use. The affective model seeks to improve decision-making abilities, communication skills and self-assertion. Although the effectiveness of affective programs is not entirely clear, they have shown promising results. The social influence model is drug resistance education. The model seeks to prepare the youth to overcome the pressure of peers in using drugs. Harm reduction model assumes that abstaining from drug use is not realistic with the youth and drug use is not synonymous with drug abuse. The drug testing has been carried out in the United States since the 19th century but started in sports since the 1930s. Since the civil war, drug use has been recognized as an issue among military personnel. Drug tests in schools only started recently and the issue remains largely controversial. According to the Supreme Court, drug tests are constitutional if students participate in extracurricular activities. There are various indicators for effective drug testing, including identification of drug users, deterrence, impact on productivity, impact on accident rates and impact on workers’ morale. Some controversies surrounding drug testing include the reliability and constitutionality of drugs testing.
Summary of Article Relating to Chapter 12
The Role of Drug Education in Schools
The article centers on how the school experience is a preventative measure to the drug problem in school. The text asserts that school plays a critical role both inside and outside a classroom in preventing harm caused by alcohol or other drugs. While drug education in the school curriculum is essential, there are many ways schools can be of help. The article insists on the need to take up a “whole of school” approach as it is holistic and recognizes that students’ well-being and health result from overlapping and complex factors within the school environment. Further, the text recognizes that substantial learning takes place outside the class set up and that maintaining a good relationship with teachers, sports, coaches, school nurses, and counselors impacts young people’s development. Drug education influences students’ values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge within the classroom, empowering them to make informed decisions concerning alcohol and drugs. Best practice for drug education is that it should be relevant and accurate to real-life situations, including depicting how many young people today are addicted to alcohol and drugs. The article relates to the chapter content as both sources recognize that drug education alone is not enough as it only has a limited impact. Both texts also assert that there are various drug education programs being employed today in response to the rising use of drugs among various populations in society.
References
The role of drug education in schools – Alcohol and Drug Foundation. (2020). Retrieved 13 November 2021, from https://adf.org.au/insights/drug-education-schools/
Prevalence of Mental Illness and Drug Addiction and Their Effect of Developing Youth.
Subject
Students Name
Institution of Affiliation
Date
Prevalence of Mental Illness and Drug Addiction and Their Effect of Developing Youth.
Drug addiction typically stems from a mental illness, and this has a long term effect on the user’s children. The children are more likely to develop drug addictions themselves, and this can be as a result of the previous exposures and experiences that leave them with no option. Most of the reasons as to why children indulge in drug and substance abuse is a result of suffering from mental illness that can be caused by issues with the brain chemistry. Parents may as well be susceptible to drug use, and this provides an easy lane for their children to be drug users just like their parents. There is a high probability that children born of parents who used drugs either during pregnancy or when bringing up the children will indulge in drug use.
According to Murray, drug addicts are most likely lured into drug and substance abuse as a result of mental illnesses. The drugs are able to alter the mindset of a person and thus result in euphoric effects. Those with mental illnesses lack serotonin in the brain, but drugs can temporarily increase the serotonin levels. From the article, mental illness is a brain disorder and thus affects the chemistry of the brain that in turn affects the thinking, sleep and moods of the users. “There’s a sense of lost childhood, grief and loss at the core of their experiences” The quote from the article exemplifies the severity of growing up with a parent who is suffering from mental illness. The child in such a family is greatly affected and feel they must raise themselves. Due to this, their childhood consists of worries and sorrow for the parent.
Despite the parent being alive, the children grieve as if they have experienced a loss in their parent and this as well affects their mood that later translates into a disruption of the brain chemistry. Children in these circumstances end up using drugs to lower their nightmares. “Mental illness drains off the energy needed for a child’s normal development. They are often forced into accepting parenting roles before they have matured up” The quote is an indication of how children of suffering parent’s copes with the illness. Mental illnesses prohibit the parents from showing their children love and affection which are most critical in a developing child. Due to this, the child is forced to adopt the parenting roles due to lack of parental attention, wearing the child’s mind over the years and this, in turn, can lead to being susceptible to mental illnesses just like their parents.
Children of addicts are more likely to develop drug addictions. According to research, some of the mental illnesses are hereditary, and this implies a mental condition can be passed from a parent to their children. The children born in these type of families have to raise themselves as well as the other siblings as their parents are already ill and therefore are unable to take care of them. With the children being left with the role of raising themselves, there is little room left for them to be happy like the normal children. The children grow up seeing their parents use drugs to reduce the effects and therefore they may get exposed to drugs at an early age and get used to them due to availability. In most occasions, parents who take drugs during pregnancy have a higher chance of giving birth to a child who suffers from mental illness due to malfunction of the brain as the child can be addicted to drugs from birth.
Scientists are doing experiments on people suffering from mental disorders and how it affects brain chemistry. Besides, they are determined to find the connection in the brains of more than one person in the same family who suffers from a mental illness. If they are able to discover a cure, they will have to identify the signs early enough, and through this, they will be able to stop the progression of the mental conditions, thus decreasing the rate of drug abuse and consequent addiction. “The researchers would also study families in South India where there is a prevalence of people marrying their relatives in order to identify the genetic loci that are responsible for causing mental illnesses”. Through these studies, the researchers will be able to identify by studying two married relatives and thus show how mental illness results. Complex disorders such as bipolar disorders and schizophrenia could probably find a cure from such studies.
According to an article by Sanghani, the onset of a mental condition and the consequent drug addiction can be as a result of the relative or other caregiver are left with the responsibility of bringing up the children. The children may develop a hatred for the guardians as they may not fully understand their parent’s illness. The children may as well refuse to acknowledge the situation, and this results in loathing the parent. The caregivers may, therefore, blame the children for their parent’s drug addiction. The article cites the example of Whitney Houston’s case where just after her death, her daughter committed suicide, and this can be attributed to the influence of the caregivers.
“They have suffered bereavement, but because of the stigma attached to this kind of death, somehow the family gets tainted” The quote can be a good explanation of Houston’s case whereby losing a loved one due to drug addiction becomes unbearable, and the healing process becomes even harder. The continued unacceptance to the situation may contribute to self-denial and the consequent punishment for oneself through death like Houston’s daughter. “What’s worse is that post-bereavement, families are often so focused on the person who died that they may not give enough attention or support to the children. In that situation, the child may bottle all their feelings in or even go on to repeat their parent’s mistakes”. The quote describes how the children resolve to cope after the death of a loved one, especially on drug addiction. The child is more likely to become addicted especially if they are young adults and this may lead to suffering from mental illnesses.
Most of the drug addicts are typically poor and cannot or will not make an effort to get out of poverty. The drug addicts spend most of their money on drugs, and thus they cannot afford the necessities for their children. Drug addicts are often unreliable due to the mental effects of the drugs, and therefore they find it difficult to find a job, they, therefore, live a desperate life of poverty. The children of these drug addicts, therefore, fall into drug dealing to find their daily bread. They have no other option available as the drugs are readily available, being used by the parents and possibly sold around the family. Due to poverty, there is a high chance of adoption for the children implying someone else might assume the responsibility of bringing up children of parents suffering from drug addiction and this may result to poor bonding of the children and their parents.
According to the US Occipital, “Among the three disorders of depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the later affected family living arrangement the most”. The quote indicates that the three disorders are severe mental illnesses, but schizophrenia is attributed to causing the greatest damage. “The most untraditional living arrangements were found for children born to parents with schizophrenia, where mothers’ illness had a somewhat higher impact than father’s” and this can have attributed as being the reason for the families living in poverty. Poor mental health denies people the opportunity of getting hired meaning that they find it difficult to survive, with the children resulting to drug abuse as a way to escape reality and for food, eventually suffering mental illnesses due to abuse.
Works Cited
Article 1: Sanghani, Radhika, “Lexis Advace®” Lexis Advance®-sign in/ LexisNexis, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=0df0e775-eb32-4e64-a0bae4f4f316dda0&pddocfullpath=%Fshared%Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5GJ8-25X1-JCJY-G17N-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A5GJ8-25X1-JCJY-G17N-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=389195&pdteaserkey=srl&pditab=allpods&ecomp=1fyk&earg=srl&prid=b6926e65-4ffd-48f7-a4b3-6c2f53c6ff75.
Article 2: “Lexis Advace®” Lexis Advance®-sign in/ LexisNexis, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=dbf270ea-c875-48d0-b7f1-61305038c322&pddocfullpath=&shared%Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5SB1-DNS1-JDK-R00B-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=326033& pdteaserkey=srl&pditab=allpods&ecomp=1fyk&earg=srl&prid=a1ffd278=bcec-459a-9f48-0056742516b0.
Article 3: Murray Dubin, Inquirer staff writer A family affliction mental illness affects more than the individuals who suffers from it. The unspoken burden of their families in profound. The Philadelphia inquirer, May 22,1977 Thursday SF EDITION. https//:advance-lexis-com.ezproxy.uno.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:4719-B3R0-01K4-9399-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed March 21, 2019.
Article 4: Few children born to parents with serious mental illness live with both parents while growing up. US Official News, October 31, 2016. https://advance-lexis-com.ezproxy.uno.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5M2M-9DF1-J9XT-P4FD-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed March 21, 2019.
The Ethics of Abortion
The Ethics of Abortion
Name:
Institution:
Date:
Ethics of Abortion
Abortion is described as the process of removing the fetus from the uterus that results in termination of pregnancy. This process is among the known medical procedures carried out in America and other nations every year. Several research studies done indicate that more than 30 percent of the women end their pregnancy through abortion. Currently, abortion has become a crucial ethical issue in the field of politics, law and also religion as each sector has its interpretation and opinion toward this topic. Abortion is often depicted as a two-sided debate that includes those who identify themselves as pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life followers do not support it as they believe that it’s murder. On the other hand, pro-choice followers support abortion. However, the issue of abortion is quite multifaceted, and it also includes speculations on biology, ethics, and constitutional rights. The paper outlines the different views and understanding to this controversial topic (Baird & Stuart, 2001).
Ethics deals with what is right and wrong conduct. It explains what should be done and what should not be done. Medical ethics concerns how healthcare professionals should handle moral problems arising out of the care of patients. Most of the clinical decisions consider more than just the patient’s condition. The ethical principles that guide medical workers in making clinical decisions include autonomy, veracity, beneficence, nonmaleficence, confidentiality, role fidelity and justice (Morse, 2007). Ethical issues arise when all values cannot be respected. It, for this reason, requires prioritizing the values in conflict and justifying bleaching the values that are not respected. Research have proved that ethics is not the only discipline that deals with these issues: the law and religion also plays a significant role.
Nurses as the clinicians must understand the ethical principle concepts so that they can make sound clinical decision whenever they are faced with various ethical issues such as abortion. Ethical principles form a significant reference guideline of the health ethics. The principle of beneficence concerns itself with the well-being of the person involved. It means that people should strive in doing well and avoid harming others by all means (Morse, 2007). The principle of autonomy describes the importance of independence. It explains that people’s choices should be respected. Giving patient independence should be regulated so that they don’t end up making decisions that can harm others or themselves. The principle of non-maleficence describes importance of avoiding harming others. It’s stated as “above all do no harm to others.” People should not harm others intentionally or involve themselves in activities that can hurt others. The principle of justice describes that all persons should be dealt with fairly. All people should be equally treated unless there is a genuine reason as to why an individual may be treated differently from others (Bastable, 2003). Veracity is the principle that obligates a person to tell the truth. Confidentiality is the principle that ensures the protection of the privacy. The principle of role fidelity requires loyalty, fairness, truthfulness, advocacy and dedication.
There are different viewpoints on debates on whether it’s ethical or moral to terminate the fetus’ life during the pregnancy and before the normal childbirth. Currently, modern medical technology allows people to have an abortion based on their will and needs in many countries. However, people ask themselves whether it’s ethical to abort (Baird & Rosenbaum, 2001). For us to understand this ethical issue we need to understand some crucial questions that are triggered by this issue. People ask whether a fetus is a human person who has rights, self-conscious and self-aware. The fact is that there is no satisfactory answer or solid evidence for this question. Some people say that the fetus can feel pain between twenty to twenty-six weeks of pregnancy. Whatever the answer is the best way is to apply this issue with different philosophical perspectives on multiple situations.
We shall discuss this issue first in terms of two opposite views from Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarianism. Kant, a German philosopher, believes that all human have individual dignity and command of respect (Gillon, 2001). According to him, all behaviors and actions are done by the people merely because they are the right things to do. Secondly, people do things based on whether they are moral and not on other purposes. Kant would believe that an abortion is morally incorrect because it not right to kill a person, and it’s considered as a murder in any circumstances (Hewson, 2001). In simple words, no matter what circumstances a woman encounters during her pregnancy it’s not morally right to consider an abortion of the fetus. This view considers an abortion as immoral because Kant believes that it’s a murder to another person no matter what those reasons for pregnancy.
Jeremy Bentham is British philosopher who started the theory of utilitarianism that rejects the points of view of Kant. An abortion under Bentham’s opinion can be permissible under certain circumstances. For instance, when the mother does not have financial resources to bring up this future child. Also, when the mothers know that the fetus will be born with physical disability, abortion can be allowed for the purpose of achieving a balance of pleasure over pain (Baird & Rosenbaum, 2001). If the kid will be born with innate disability that cannot be cured by any medical means, his or her life might be miserable from the mother’s point of view. If it’s already known that the child is going to suffer for the rest of his life, why not choose a better way of relieving pain. Hence, turn that into happiness for both sides (Gillon, 2001). There is no absolute distinction between what is right and wrong based on Bentham’s view, only if the consequences are the most favorable for the person’s greatest happiness. As a result, an abortion is decided by careful consideration of the overall utmost and happiness as a whole.
The issue of abortion raises many ethical questions. To get the answers to these questions, we can group the issue into two different groups that include: pro-life argument and pro-choice argument. Pro-life people are against abortion. Using Science, we know that the unborn are distinct, living and whole human beings from the initial stages of development (Baird & Rosenbaum, 2001). Embryology supports this by asserting that a zygote is the beginning of new human being. Pro-life advocates believe that abortion unjustly takes the life of defenseless human beings. They believe that aborting a fetus treat a distinct human being with inherent moral worth like just a disposable object (Hewson, 2001). They also argue that abortion results in complications later in life such as ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage. Pro-life advocates do not support this issue as they equalize it to murder that is going against the human rights.
Pro-choice people support abortion. These people believe that the fetus become self-conscious and self-aware at around twenty-six weeks after conception. This group argues that a woman should never be strained to undergo pregnancy or childbirth if she is not willing to carry the pregnancy (Gillon, 2001). The group suggests that the woman should be free to ask for an abortion if it is performed at an early stage before a fetus reaches the status of a person. They also argue that the government should accept the decision of a woman who seeks an abortion. They also state that abortion is a safe medical procedure. The majority of women who have an abortion have it during their first three months (Greenwood, 2001). Medically performed abortions have less than 0.5% risk of developing complications and do not affect the woman’s health or her ability to have a child. Pro-choice believers encourage women to abort their fetus if they have a substantial reason for terminating the pregnancy.
The rights of the pregnant woman are another issue to consider when deciding whether abortion is right or wrong. Women possess certain rights that entitle them to abortion. One of them is the right to privacy. This right is outlined in the case of Roe and Wade where women were given the right to end their pregnancy in the first trimester. The other one is right to ownership of one’s body (Gillon, 2001). A person possesses the right to do what she wants with her body. The other one is right to equal treatment. Women argue that men can’t get pregnant and thus they should not be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy as they are equal to men. The other one is the right to self-determination (Hewson, 2001). Women have the right to decide about their futures, and it’s immoral to force a bear a child against her will. Many feminist see the issue of abortion within the context of history of oppression of women and history of danger and death for women when abortion is illegal. These women rights complicate the issue of abortion.
The issue of abortion is multifaceted, and it also involves ethics, religion, and law. Ethics has to do with what is right or wrong. The principal argument advanced on the issue of abortion includes the view that a fetus is an innocent person. It also includes the view that it’s morally wrong to end the life of an innocent person. As a result, it’s morally wrong to end the life of a fetus (Baird & Rosenbaum, 2001). The religion holds that the issue of abortion is morally wrong, and nothing can justify this evil act. The law is not consistent from one country to another. Some states legalize abortions while it is illegal in others. Even in those countries that it’s legal, physicians fear to engage in this practice. The issue of abortion is controversial.
Nurse practitioners, as clinicians have the role of understanding the ethical principles so that they can apply them to solve ethical issues such as abortion. Patients cannot make a reliable decision on such a controversial issue as abortion without the help of a clinician (Morse, 2007). They are expected to make a sound judgment about ethical issues that they encounter in daily practice. For instance, the principle of autonomy grants the patient the right to make independent choices about their health but the clinician must regulate those choices to ensure that they are beneficial to the patient. The clinician should also use the principle of non-maleficence to advise a person who is seeking abortion without a medical indication that they are harming others (Morse, 2007). In this case, such a person wants to harm the innocent fetus and this advice can assist the person to make a sound decision about the issue. The nurse practitioners, as a clinician should advise the client that she should strive to do good according to this principle.
The principle of justice describes that all people should be dealt with fairly. The clinician should advise the client who wants to abort her fetus without medical indication that even the fetus deserves a fair treatment (Greenwood, 2001). The clinician should also apply the principle of veracity to tell the truth to the client concerning the issue of abortion. He or she should ensure that whatever they discuss with the client regarding this issue remain private (Bastable, 2003). The clinician should also ensure that he or she remain loyal, fair, truthful and dedicated while advising the client on the issue of abortion according to the principle of role fidelity. Thus, nurse practitioners, as a clinician plays a pivotal role in assisting the client to make substantial decisions about this controversial issue of abortion.
From the above argument and understanding, the abortion issue is controversial as there is no precise decision that brings a satisfying solution to the act. People are presented with so many philosophies and arguments that leave them confused on which is best to follow. The issue is multifaceted involving ethics, religion, politics and the law. Clear understanding of the ethical principles can help healthcare providers to make a reliable decision about this issue. Healthcare providers play a pivotal role in assisting clients address this issue. The issue of abortion remains a controversial all over the world.
References
Baird, R. M., & Rosenbaum, S. E. (2001). The ethics of abortion: pro-life vs. pro-choice.
Bastable, S. B. (Ed.). (2003). Nurse as Educator: Principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Gillon, R. (2001). Is there a ‘new ethics of abortion’? Journal of Medical Ethics, 27(Suppl 2), ii5-ii9.
Greenwood, J. (2001). The new ethics of abortion. Journal of medical ethics, 27(Suppl 2), ii2-ii4.
Hewson, B. (2001). Reproductive autonomy and the ethics of abortion. Journal of medical ethics, 27(Suppl 2), ii10-ii14.
Morse, J. M. (2007). Ethics in Action: ethical principles for doing qualitative health research. Qualitative Health Research, 17(8), 1003-1005.