Understanding Substance Use: Policy and Practice (Critical Approaches to Social Work) - Softcover

Arnull, Elaine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1909330930 ISBN 13: 9781909330931

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

Changes to drug and alcohol policy post-1995 introduced the partnership style of working and many different routes by which treatment can be accessed. This means that a wide variety of professional groups now work with drug and alcohol users.

The book makes a major contribution to the understanding substance use, drawing on relevant and recent policy. It draws on practice and engages the reader in current debates in the area. The book provides theoretical underpinnings that are influential in practice. As key aspect of social work practice, substance misuse is relevant for practitioners. A much needed book for students, practitioners and policy-makers.

Bridget Ng'andu, Ruskin College

This book provides an analytical and critical discussion of policy and practice in this area. It lays out the key debates and issues for understanding, exploring, dealing and working with substance misuse issues, users, their families and other professionals. The reader is introduced to the policy framework and why it is important for generic social work and other health and social care practitioners to have an understanding of substance misuse and the issues involved. The reader is assisted to think about how they can use their professional skills and values to inform assessments and interventions with substance users and reflective exercises encourage the reader to consider values issues and examine their own attitudes. This book will be valuable to students and practitioners wishing to update their skills and knowledge.

About this title

About the Author

Elaine Arnull‘s research has attracted international attention and exerted an influence on policy and practice. She is interested in finding innovative solutions to research, social policy and educational problems. Elaine was as a Probation Officer and has worked in the third and policy sectors. She is an experienced educator and has developed and taught social work, criminal justice, criminology, health and research methods programmes. She is the author of ‘Social Work in the Youth Justice System: a multidisciplinary perspective’ (2013) with Darrell Fox and numerous journal and research publications. Elaine has worked with substance users and their families, developed and campaigned on substance use policy and researched substance use across the spectrum of statutory, criminal justice and voluntary and not for profit sectors.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Understanding Substance Use

Policy and Practice

By Elaine Arnull

Critical Publishing Ltd

Copyright © 2014 Elaine Arnull
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-909330-93-1

Contents

Acknowledgements, 
Meet the author, 
List of acronyms, 
Summary of initiatives, 
1 Introduction, 
2 Social policy: the first strategy – Tackling Drugs Together, 
3 Social policy: drugs and alcohol post-1998, 
4 The social and legal context of substance misuse, 
5 Why do people think that substance use is a problem?, 
6 Approaches to substance use, 
7 Values, 
References, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Drugs and alcohol are hotly debated features of our society. They have been a focus for discussion throughout history and moral arguments and judgements have formed recurring themes in that discourse.

This book addresses the areas of substance use policy and practice; it considers changes to drug and alcohol policy that have occurred since the first drug policy, Tackling Drugs Together in 1995. The policy changes incorporated into that policy have formed the basic architecture that subsequent policies have incorporated; this includes an emphasis on partnership at a policy and practice level. Directions during this period have included debates and discussion about community and respect, about individual vs collective rights, about libertarian freedoms and the role of the criminal justice system. The trajectory of policy and the debate that surrounds it do therefore mirror those within the wider social policy arena, although the moral attributes or deficits ascribed to those who use substances or work within the treatment sphere may be more keenly ascribed than in other areas.

The pace of change for social policy has been fast since the late 1990s and for drug and alcohol policy this has been acute — many of those involved have expressed and continue to express an inability to 'keep up' with the changes to policy, delivery and rhetoric. For students from a variety of backgrounds interested in the area or intending to work or practice within a field touched by substance use this scale and pace of change can make the area seem overwhelming and the area unknowable. And yet few people's lives in the UK or much of the developed world will be untouched by substance use, either within their personal or family life, within their world of work, their social sphere or the media they consume. Making this connection between the personal and the learning and working environment may seem uncomfortable and some will argue irrelevant. However, because substance use touches the lives of most, it provokes deep-seated feelings, reactions and values which may be unrecognised; learning in this area and perhaps practising in this area requires a recognition of that personal orientation and this book consistently asks the reader to consider and make those connections. This area of social policy is heavily value laden and it affects all aspects of policy-making, practice delivery and the discussion and debate which then surround them. This can be seen in the terms that are chosen by the discussant, for example 'use', 'dependence' or 'addiction'. It influences the way in which famous people talk about their own substance use and the way the media reports on or portrays that. It informs the way individuals, organisations and communities respond to health prevention programmes such as the debate recently surrounding unit pricing of alcohol and the provision of safe injecting rooms in Brighton, England. If policy is to be made that is based on conceptions of

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1909330930
• ISBN 13: 9781909330931
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160