Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner

Drug abuse, risks of infectious diseases and service utilization among former Soviet Union immigrants: a view from New York City.

Abstract Based on the high rates of injection drug use and infectious disease such as HIV, HCV and tuberculosis in their home country, immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) comprise a high-risk population in the United States. Yet, little is known about their drug abuse and health problems relative to other immigrant populations like Hispanics. The objectives of this exploratory study were to identify disease risk behavior, and utilization of and barriers to treatment services among drug using immigrants from the FSU. Focused interviews were conducted with 27 public officials and administrators in New York City. This study found that FSU immigrants tend to have culturally unique drug abuse patterns and behavior, such as rapid transition to injection drug use, and suspicion and avoidance of traditional drug treatment approaches. The findings of this exploratory study point to the need for further research and the need to take immediate steps to promote culturally appropriate treatment and prevention services that can address the spread of harmful behavior that threatens the public health of FSU immigrants and Others.

An analysis of 12-step programs for substance abusers from a developmental perspective

Twelve-step programs are increasingly recognized as important resources and treatment adjuncts for recovering alcohol and other drug abusers. It is therefore important that social workers and other clinicians understand the therapeutic value of these programs to the recovery process. This paper explores 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous in light of Margaret Mahlers conceptualization of the separation-individuation process that leads to object constancy and healthy object relations.

Opioid Use Trajectories, Injection Drug Use, and Hepatitis C Virus Risk Among Young Adult Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union Living in New York City

Available evidence suggests that young former Soviet Union immigrants in New York City have high rates of non-medical prescription opioid and heroin use, drug injection and injection-related risk behavior, making them vulnerable to hepatitis C virus (HCV)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, overdose and associated harms. This group has been the focus of little research, however. This paper presents quantitative and qualitative data from 80 former Soviet immigrants (ages 18-29) to characterize their opioid use trajectories, injection risk behavior, HCV/HIV testing histories and self-reported HCV/HIV serostatus, and provides clinically meaningful data to inform tailored education, prevention and harm reduction interventions.

The Impact of Job Loss on Professional and Managerial Employees and Their Families

Despite the recent economic boom, layoffs of professional and managerial employees in the United States continue to affect millions of individuals and their family members. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study of the impact of unemployment on ten displaced professionals and managers and their families. A seven-stage typology describing reactions of the unemployed and their families to long-term unemployment is presented. Impact on the family, differences in reactions to loss of employment based on gender and on age, and information regarding re-employment status of these individuals are discussed. Implications for work-based programs, clinical services, and policy are provided.

The impact of alcohol and other drug abuse on the American family

The changing economic and social conditions, the availability of a greater variety of substances and the abuse of these substances by adolescents, by women and by the elderly are bringing new pressures on society in general and on family life in particular. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of various substances on the family in todays post-industrial American society and point out its implications for clinical treatment, research and prevention.

The role of empathy in work with women offenders

Research has validated the crucial aspect of empathy in effective clinical practice. Empathy requires the identification of the helping professional with the emotional experience of the client. However, in their work with women offenders, clinicians can encounter a number of obstacles to appropriate empathic interventions: the workers may over‐empathize with their clients; the offenders may be resistant to being helped; and there may be institutional and social dynamics that may discourage empathic helping by staff. This paper discusses the concept of empathy and the difficulties encountered by social workers and other clinicians in their efforts to provide appropriate empathic approaches to this population. Effective strategies that will allow for appropriate use of empathy by clinicians working with female offenders are offered.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Examining the Relationship Between Trauma and Addiction

Trauma and trauma-related disorders as well as substance misuse and substance use disorders are often integral to the problems and issues that social workers contend with in their practice. Further...

Wounded Healers: A Multistate Study of Licensed Social Workers’ Behavioral Health Problems

Studies indicate that helping professionals are disproportionately affected by behavioral health problems. Among social workers, the nature and scope of these problems are understudied. This article reports the findings of a 2015 survey of 6,112 licensed social workers in 13 states regarding their problems with mental health; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; and gambling. To ascertain whether these problems preceded or developed during their social work careers, the periods of time when these issues were experienced were identified. Results indicate that 40.2 percent of respondents reported mental health problems before becoming social workers, increasing to 51.8 percent during their social work career, with 28 percent currently experiencing such problems. Nearly 10 percent of the sample experienced substance use problems before becoming social workers, decreasing to 7.7 percent during their career. Analyses by race or ethnicity, sex, and age identified between-group differences in the prevalence of these problems. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for the social work profession.

Evidence-Informed, Evidence not Used: A Pilot Study of a Sustained Flawed Process and Unfinished Business.

An anonymous, online survey using a convenience sample of global researchers was implemented during 2013–2014 to explore the actual use or nonuse of their research outcomes in a range of interventions in the area of substance use and related disorders. Eighty-seven researchers from 19 countries responded. Based on their self-reports, the utilizability of their findings were either unknown to them or had no effects in terms of substance use treatment, prevention, policies, or professional education. Most respondents did believe, however, that their investigations had an influence on substance use research. The studys limitations are noted.

Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol use disorder is a broad diagnosis that encompasses several commonly used terms describing problems with drinking. It includes alcoholism, also called alcohol addiction, which is a long-lasting (chronic) condition characterized by a powerful, compulsive urge to drink alcohol and the inability to stop drinking after starting. In addition to alcoholism, alcohol use disorder includes alcohol abuse, which involves problem drinking without addiction.