2026· Gumilyov Journal of Sociology· Vol 155, pp. 130-144· 0 citations
TL;DR
Particular attention is paid to the role of digital technologies in increasing access to drugs and the influence of the family environment on the development of vulnerability to addiction, as well as the systemic barriers preventing them from receiving effective support.
Abstract
Drug addiction remains one of the most pressing issues in modern society, requiring a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of psychoactive substance use and pathways to recovery.
The aim of this study is to identify the key factors contributing to the onset of psychoactive substance use among young people, as well as the systemic barriers preventing them from receiving effective support. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten adult men aged 25-36 years who had personal experience of drug dependence and were at various stages of recovery in Astana, Kazakhstan. Particular attention is paid to the role of digital technologies in increasing access to drugs and the influence of the family environment on the development of vulnerability to addiction. These two dimensions were not predetermined at the outset of the study but emerged inductively from the thematic analysis as the most analytically distinctive findings of this sample within the Kazakhstani context.
The results demonstrate the multifactorial nature of drug use. The dominant factor is peer pressure, particularly from trusted individuals such as older siblings or close friends.
The main barriers to seeking help are the fear of stigma, a compulsory registration system, the financial inaccessibility of effective individual rehabilitation, and an acute shortage of qualified addiction treatment specialists. The phenomenon of comorbid addiction, in which gambling and drug use reinforce one another, requires particular attention when developing support programmes.
The practical significance of this work lies in the formulation of specific recommendations for government bodies aimed at reforming the support system for people with drug addiction.
Key challenges identified included the absence of integrated treatment for comorbid mental health conditions, frequent relapses, lack of culturally adaptive interventions, limited innovation in treatment approaches, minimal family involvement, and absence of individualized treatment planning.
F. Ahmed, Djamil A Malik· Foundation University Journa...· 0 citations
Drug use is an ancient practice, but its associated disorders represent a contemporary public health challenge. This study investigates the impact of proximal processes in childhood/adolescence and adulthood on substance use, focusing on the role of Therapeutic Communities (TCs). Using a qualitative methodology, 19 residents of TCs in the state of Rio de Janeiro were interviewed. Instruments included a screening test (ASSIST), a sociodemographic inventory, and semi-structured interviews. Content analysis of the interviews was supported by the Requalify.ai software, which proved to be an efficient tool for categorizing and visualizing qualitative data. Results indicate that factors such as dysfunctional family environments, violence, and early onset of consumption, often mediated by peer influence, are determining risk factors. On the other hand, peer social support within TCs emerges as a crucial protective factor, associated with positive changes reported by participants. The sample revealed an overrepresentation of Black and Brown individuals, highlighting the racial dimension in the history of drug use in Brazil. The study concludes that proximal relationships are decisive in both the etiology and recovery of substance use disorders, and that TCs, although controversial, can offer a supportive environment that favors change, especially through peer support and cohabitation.
Marceli de Souza Rosa-Pereira, L. Pessoa· Lumen et Virtus· 0 citations
It was revealed that initiation of substance use was most often in adolescence, and alcohol was the most often used substance, and there was a moderate positive relationship between the age of initiation and the age of participants.
Yashasvini Sharma· International journal of hum...· 0 citations
INTRODUCTION
Research focusing on deaths due to addiction tends to explore the deceased themselves, their families, or those who have witnessed an overdose. However, limited research exploring the impact of bereavement on staff working in addiction services exists. This study explored how staff working within addiction services experience service user death.
METHODS
An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was used in this study. Ten members of staff working in an Alcohol and Drug Recovery Service (ADRS) in Scotland who had experienced the death of a service user were recruited. Data were collected via semi-structured, in-depth, one-on-one interviews.
RESULTS
Three group experiential themes (GETs) were identified: 1) Traumatic events; 2) The emotional aftermath; 3) Abandoned by the system. These GETs explored factors that further compounded service user death, aspects of how staff processed their grief, and factors relating to management and the wider system within the contextual framework of bereavement.
CONCLUSIONS
Staff in addiction services experience complex grief responses following the death of a service user, such as sadness, guilt, and anger. These responses are compounded by factors such as stigmatised deaths and disenfranchised grief, along with expectations of professional endurance. Their grief responses are further influenced by expectations from a wider service context, and the moral injury that staff can experience at work, leading staff to question their practice and decision-making. Staff appeared to rely on colleague support in the absence of other workplace support, within a service culture of 'silence' about these bereavements. This study offers recommendations for support for staff members in these settings, such as the inclusion of bereavement in models of supervision, and the introduction of supportive peer groups and reflective practice within teams. These changes could lead to an open environment of talking about death and emphasise the importance of staff well-being in an empathetic and trauma-informed framework. Finally, management could foster wider awareness of the impact of bereavement within addiction service systems to enhance support.
Rachel Kelly, Andrew Smith, Lynda Russell· Journal of substance use and...· 0 citations
The stigma surrounding substance use and substance use disorders (SUD) represents a significant barrier to behavior change (e.g., help-seeking, recovery), with only 7% of individuals with SUD receiving any form of help. This dissertation focuses on understanding how stigma manifests in online communities and developing computational interventions to address it. This research has three primary aims to: (1) characterize online substance use communities and expressions of stigma, (2) model internalized stigma as a psychosocial and temporal process, and (3) develop and deploy narrative-aware natural language processing (NLP) tools for the detection and transformation of stigmatizing language. To achieve these aims, we conducted network analyses of drug-related subreddits to identify influential communities and developed a multi-level taxonomy for classifying personal drug experiences disclosed on Reddit. Building on these foundations, we identified distinct phenotypes of stigma expressions using computational methods and validated them against established theoretical frameworks. The next phase of the research involves modeling the internalization of stigma over time. Together, these descriptive and temporal characterizations motivate the final component: creating and evaluating computational tools to intervene in stigmatizing communication. These tools include a framework to transform stigmatizing language into more empathetic alternatives, and a persona-aligned empathetic response system developed across three phases: (i) deriving narrative archetypes of self-stigma from publicly available Reddit data, (ii) building a classification system to recover these personas in order to simulate a cold-start chat environment, and (iii) qualitatively analyzing the responses of a narratively-aware chat system against baseline systems. This dissertation advances computational social science and NLP literature by (1) providing robust computational approaches for understanding the lived experiences of people who use drugs, specifically how stigma manifests in their online disclosures, (2) demonstrating how computational methods can effectively model stigma as a dynamic process, and (3) delivering practical, empirically-informed tools for addressing harmful language and supporting individuals affected by substance use stigma.
Adolescent and young people’s substance use is deeply embedded within family systems, yet the experiences and needs of family members are often overlooked, with greater emphasis typically placed on their role in supporting treatment. Drawing on the stress–strain–coping–support model, this study explored how families experience and respond to youth substance use in a low-resource setting. An exploratory qualitative design was employed, with 19 family members of individuals under the age of 24 receiving treatment for substance-related conditions at a tertiary mental health facility in Harare, Zimbabwe purposively recruited. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in Shona or English, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using codebook thematic analysis in NVivo 12. Participants described youth substance use as both a family and community issue, shaped by broader social and structural contexts. Families experienced chronic stress and strain across multiple domains, including financial hardship, relational conflict, and emotional distress. Responses to these challenges were complex and dynamic, ranging from active engagement and support to tolerance and withdrawal. While many participants reported feelings of helplessness, others described developing adaptive coping strategies over time. Participants also highlighted unmet support needs and offered recommendations for more responsive prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services. These findings underscore the significant and multifaceted impact of youth substance use on family systems and highlight the importance of family-centred, contextually grounded interventions that address both individual and systemic factors in low- and middle-income African settings.
Chido Rwafa-Madzvamutse, C. van der Westhuizen, W. Mangezi et al.· Discover Psychology· 0 citations
