Substance Abuse in the Czech Population : Reflections on threats, their value context and possibilities of social prevention

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989592%3A15260%2F22%3A73613770" target="_blank" >RIV/61989592:15260/22:73613770 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5507/cmtf.22.24461755" target="_blank" >https://dx.doi.org/10.5507/cmtf.22.24461755</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5507/cmtf.22.24461755" target="_blank" >10.5507/cmtf.22.24461755</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Substance Abuse in the Czech Population : Reflections on threats, their value context and possibilities of social prevention

Original language description

The book presents the results of part of a broadly defined international Czech-Slovak interdisciplinary cross-sectional survey conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic (collection 2018–2019) and during the pandemic (collection 2020–2021). The first chapter introduces the reader to the broad context of substance use risks. Following this theoretical anchoring of the issues under study, the reader is presented in subsequent chapters with the results of a sociodemographic analysis of attitudes towards substance abuse, the results of an analysis of original measures of reflection on the risk of substance abuse in four domains that are key to the social functioning of each substance user: 1. Health and possible health risks associated with substance abuse. 2. Economic risks associated with substance abuse. 3. Social relationships, status, and ties in the local community and society. 4. The perceived threat along these four dimensions is analysed concerning the value preferences of respondents. The threat of addictive substances is strongly perceived, especially in the area of health, and media campaigns and established prevention programmes have been very successful in this respect. We are led to this interpretation by the fact that respondents feel most threatened by smoking in the health dimension but do not feel a similar threat when abusing illicit drugs. Threats in the economic dimension are similar to those in the health dimension and are felt most strongly for tobacco abuse. Again, respondents with drug abuse perceive the lowest degree of threat in this domain. The area of family life is perceived as threatening, especially for alcohol abuse. The explanation seems logical. Alcohol becomes a health risk only gradually with prolonged excessive consumption. However, before it destroys the body, it destroys the personality (many respondents see/know of families that have broken up because of alcohol). Tobacco, although it is also a legal addictive substance and its social tolerance is high, affects a person precisely in the area of physical health but has little effect on mental health. Thus, tobacco does not pose a direct threat to the family, i.e. it does not destroy the family relationally. The other drugs have a negative connotation (with perhaps the minor exception of marijuana), and their role in devastating health and the family is well known, both as a consequence and as a cause. While respondents recognise a substantial risk in the area of family relationships, this threat is not seen in the social context. It does not cause social exclusion as strongly, nor does it very often lead to a loss of social status. Drinking alcohol and smoking, in particular, appears to be socially acceptable and part of standard social integration. The results show that values that refer to a desire for adventure and varied experiences (active and exciting life, courageous/brave, open/receptive, creative) are positively associated with substance abuse. This connection is in line with all assumptions about the value orientations of people with drug abuse, where the drug symbolises a new journey, an uncharted adventure, fulfilling the need to break away from stereotypes, a rebellion against stereotypes, and the dull greyness of everyday life. Logically, in line with values that saturate the experience of adventure and discovering the new, the unknown, the group of respondents with the abuse of illegal drugs and tobacco, nicotine, and related products also cherishes the values that lead to an escape from norms (freedom, equality). A correlation can also be traced to the desire for pleasure, joy, and happiness. The positive effects of drugs, as they are generally described and understood, directly promise the fulfilment of these values. A specific category is the value of a comfortable life, which is highly valued by people abusing illicit substances. Illicit drugs are a way to escape from responsibilities; they symbolise carelessness. All of these values are highly preferred by abusers and, conversely, rated low by people who have had problems with the substance in the past but are currently abstinent. Thus, value preferences are dominated by a preference for other values. A significant challenge for interventions in the field of social pedagogy is the positive correlation of the value of friendship/friendship with abstinence from tobacco, nicotine, and related products. It is again confirmed that the problem in Czech society is not only a high tolerance for abusive behaviour but that abusive behaviour is a social norm. The quest for social bonding leads to this abusive behaviour. The analysis of value preferences thus again confirms the initial assumption that abusing legal substances is a social issue, a way of making contacts, and a way for people to get closer to each other. Primary prevention, as currently conceived, does not seem to be sufficiently compelling. The authors of the book take the view that its effectiveness can only be increased by integrating a values-based context into prevention programmes and ensuring that prevention does not only aim to prevent abuse but also has an educational effect. Indeed, as the research presented here shows, some values are intensely reinforced in respondents who have managed to stop their problematic substance use and are abstinent. They cherish these values even more than people who avoid these substances for life. On the other hand, there are also values that former substance users significantly less prefer compared to current users and the general population. Thus, reinforcing these value preferences as part of secondary prevention is an appropriate way to bring about lasting behavioural and attitudinal change. The design of specific prevention programmes and their future implementation will require a more in-depth analysis of each value in the context of the social functioning of at-risk groups. This analysis, its implications, and, above all, the design of prevention programmes dedicated to the effective reinforcement of values that influence attitudes towards substance abuse will be one of the critical tasks of social work and social pedagogy.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

B - Specialist book

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50902 - Social sciences, interdisciplinary

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

ISBN

978-80-244-6175-5

Number of pages

174

Publisher name

Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci

Place of publication

Olomouc

UT code for WoS book

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