Lori K. Holleran

Substance Abuse Among U.S. Latinos: A Review of the Literature

SUMMARY Latinos have recently become the largest minority in the United States. High fertility and high immigration rates suggest continued high rate of growth. Alcohol and illicit drug use within this population give reason for concern. Beginning in early adolescence, Latinos and Native Americans lead the nation in alcohol and illicit drug use. They also have a high need for alcohol and illicit drug treatment compared to Whites and African-Americans. Research concerning ethnic differences is reviewed in order to gain an understanding of the patterns and trajectories of substance use within the Latino community. Prevention and treatment interventions specific to Latinos are described, and gaps in the literature are noted. Finally, implications of the current research findings for social workers and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Creating Culturally Grounded Videos for Substance Abuse Prevention

ABSTRACT This article describes and critiques the pilot phase of a project in which an ethnically diverse group of students from a large southwestern urban high school created culturally based substance abuse prevention videos for urban middle school students. The rationale evolved from research that suggested that a peer-created, culturally-specific approach to drug abuse prevention would be more effective than would programming created by adults operating from a “so-called” culturally-neutral” perspective. The dual perspective of this article includes both the field experiment per se and the data collected, using a case study perspective. Overarching themes of culture and power are discussed, as are the elements of age and gender. Implications extending beyond the pilot offer insights for researchers and practitioners.

Acculturative Stress, Violence, and Resilience in the lives of Mexican-American Youth

ABSTRACT This article explores how Mexican-American youth experience stress and trauma in a variety of arenas. Such youth utilize their energy, creativity, and resilience in order to cope with cultural tensions that arise from acculturative processes, role conflicts with family and peers, school challenges, and identity formation processes. Violence, in the form of internalized colonialism, external oppression, and actual violent acts (e.g., gang fights, suicides, and physical and/or sexual abuse), can be a major risk factor for negative outcomes such as substance abuse. However, this ethnographic study demonstrates that many Mexican-American adolescents navigate stressors and traumas in such a way that transforms the potentially distressing events into life-affirming rites of passage. This article explores these issues through qualitative data analyses from a study of Mexican-American youth in a Southwestern city.

Mexican American Youth of the Southwest Borderlands: Perceptions of Ethnicity, Acculturation, and Race

This article discusses the findings of a qualitative study of a group of young Mexican Americans in a barrio, fictitiously called “Las Montañas Bonitas,” located in a large Southwestern city. Young Mexican Americans’perception of ethnic identity is the focus of this study. The ethnographic techniques of participant observation, focus groups, and semistructured interviews were used. The most poignant finding is the respondents’use of racial terms to define and understand acculturation differences. Also, the intense negative feelings expressed by Mexican Americans about less acculturated, monolingual, Spanish-speaking individuals are noted. Other findings suggest that respondents have strong connections with both contemporary youth culture and traditional culture. The overarching themes of respondent narratives relate to boundaries and loyalty in the face of internal colonialization.

Early Intervention for Alcohol Use Prevention and Vehicle Safety Skills: Evaluating the "Protecting You/Protecting Me" Curriculum.

ABSTRACT The present study reports the evaluation results of the “Protecting You/Protecting Me” (PY/PM) alcohol use prevention and safety curriculum for third, fourth, and fifth graders when taught by high school peer leaders. The primary goal of the PY/PM prevention program, developed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), is to prevent injury and death of children due to underage consumption of alcoholic beverages and vehicle-related risks, especially as passengers in vehicles in which the driver is not alcohol-free. Two classrooms for each grade were randomly assigned to receive either the Intervention or serve as a Comparison in four sites in Texas. From pre-test to post-test, 259 surveys were matched (Intervention n = 128, Comparison n = 131). A 6-week follow-up survey was also completed with 120 Intervention students. The results showed the Intervention group made significant improvements, relative to the Comparison group, in Vehicle Safety Skills, Intentions not to Ride with an Alcohol Impaired Driver, Media Literacy, and Knowledge about Brain Development. Additional findings showed some individual differences by gender and grade and that the interventions effect varied in a few areas depending on pre-test score, gender, and grade. Overall, the curriculum benefits students by influencing their attitudes toward advertisements, increasing their intentions not to ride with a driver who has been drinking, developing their skills to protect themselves when they have no other option but to ride with an alcohol impaired driver, and improving their knowledge about the developing brain.

Empirical and Theoretical Support for the Inclusion of Non-Abstinence-Based Perspectives in Prevention Services for Substance Using Adolescents

Abstract The purpose of this article is to present the Harm Reduction Model and its potential as a framework from which to provide prevention services for adolescents. While it may be uncomfortable for service providers to acknowledge, the vast majority of adolescents in the United States will have used mood-altering substances sometime during their teen years. While non-abstinence-based prevention services have existed for some time, they are not without controversy. This article proposes Harm Reduction as a complimentary or alternative perspective for work with adolescents for whom abstinence may not be immediately possible and/or may not be a realistic outcome for services. This article outlines the abstinence-oriented and Harm Reduction perspectives, as well as the Stages of Change model; utilizing empirical support, it then discusses how these perspectives can work together in social work practice in the adolescent substance abuse prevention arena.

Applying a Cultural Competency Framework to Twelve Step Programs

Abstract It is important for clinicians to develop cultural competency skills in any cross-cultural setting where a working knowledge of the clients culture is important to the delivery of services. Twelve Step recovery programs represent a distinct culture, where members have developed their own set of norms, behaviors and even language. An understanding of this culture is important to any clinician working with clients who may be referred to and/or are members of a Twelve Step group. This article defines cultural competency, applies this to the culture that has developed around Twelve Step groups, and provides information to familiarize clinicians to these cultural norms.

Creating culturally grounded prevention videos: Defining moments in the journey to collaboration

ABSTRACT This article identifies the interactions among a group of high school students, their teachers, and a university research team as they evolve from an adult-directed to a student-led collaboration that resulted in the creation of a set of culturally grounded prevention messages that effectively prevented or delayed the onset of adolescent drug use. Beginning with an overview of the theoretical triad that served as the projects foundation, we describe the processes used to understand the unfolding dynamics within the collaboration and provide a checklist for those who might wish to replicate the collaborative process.

Documenting changes in the delivery of substance abuse services: the Status of the "100 best treatment centers for alcoholism and drug abuse" of 1988.

Abstract This study explores the impact of managed care on the substance abuse service system by reviewing the current status of the programs that were among the elite service providers in 1988. A survey was conducted assessing the status of the one hundred centers touted as “the 100 best treatment centers for alcoholism and drug abuse” (Sunshine & Wright, 1988). Findings include the following: Almost a third of these centers (31%) are no longer providing services, the majority of the programs who reported data continue to provide services primarily at a residential level of care (92%); however occupancy rates have dropped, the number of annual inpatient admissions have risen, and the length of treatment episodes has significantly decreased. In 1988, almost all (97.5%) facilities adhered to the 28-day treatment regiment, as evidenced by average treatment episodes of 26 days or longer. However, in 2001, the majority of programs (57.5%) reported treatment episodes of 25 days or less. While these facilities represent a fraction of the number of facilities that provide substance abuse services, they do exemplify elite programs that should be insulated from economic troubles, and help to document the changes that have occurred in the delivery system. Awareness of these changes is important for every social worker that advocates for substance abuse services.

Postmodern feminism: a theoretical framework for a field unit with women in jail

This article presents a postmodern, feminist framework as a foundation for a social work student field unit with women inmates in the corrections system. Feminist pedagogical methods were developed and implemented for this field unit and, once trained, the students utilized feminist social work skills within the jail environment. The case study illustrates the field unit design, student learning processes, and examples of student interventions. In addition to becoming skillful clinicians, student interns became social change agents within the corrections system. Implications for micro, meso, and macro levels of social work practice are discussed.