Κατεύθυνση Αντιμετώπιση Εξαρτήσεων-Εξαρτησιολογία
Library of the School of Health Sciences

2024-04-08

2024

Skoumpourdi Eleni

Τζαβέλλας Ηλίας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Παπαρρηγόπουλος Θωμάς, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Τριανταφύλλου Καλλιόπη, Επιστημονική Συνεργάτης, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ

Χαρακτηριστικά παραβατών ανήλικων ή νεαρών ενηλίκων χρηστών ουσιών που εντάσσονται στο συμβουλευτικό Πρόγραμμα της Μονάδας Άμεσης Κοινωνικής Παρέμβασης του ΟΚΑΝΑ

Greek

Characteristics of minors and/or young adult offenders integrated into the counseling motivational program of Early Social Intervention Service of OKANA (Greek Organization Against Drugs)

Introduction: Psychological vulnerabilities of adolescents and young adults often lead into undertaking of high-risk behaviors (criminal acts, anti-social behavior, substance abuse), resulting in many instances in their encounter with the criminal justice system. For the development of such high-risk behaviors individual, family and environmental factors play significant role.

Aim: The current study investigates characteristics of delinquents adolescents and young adults drug users who approach Early Social Intervention Service of O.KA.NA. (Greek Organization Against Drugs) in Athens following arrest or referral. The main focus is on studying their family and educational background as well as their history of delinquent behavior.

Methodology: A prospective-retrospective data collection method was conducted on a sample of 116 individuals aged 13-25 years (101 boys και 15 girls) with a mean age of 17.5 years (SD= 2.9 years), who attended the Early Social Intervention Service of O.KA.NA. in Athens following arrest or detention or simply through referrals from police departments or any other services within the Greek Police or referral from various psychosocial services in the field and/or from other clients of the Unit. The research tool used for data collection was the form that is used to record the biopsychosocial history (social-history) of each of participants.

Results: All participants resided in the Attica region and were unmarried. The overwhelming majority of participants were male (87.1%) with a mean age of apprehended persons at 17 years (SD=2.8 years). Participants reported cannabis as their primary substance of use (90.5%). From the comparison between apprehended and non-apprehended substance users, no particularly significant differences were found in their characteristics beyond the following elements. Specifically, a significant percentage of apprehended persons (93.8%) seemed to have to deal with a variety of different legal issues over the past 3 years. Additionally, the educational level of the parents of the apprehended persons was high school graduates (65.3% for fathers and 58.9% for mothers), while relationships within their families were mainly nonexistent-conflicting or good but detached (55%). Moreover, the gender and educational level of the participant’s mother appear to be positively associated with the occurrence of arrest.

Conclusions: The present study seeks to contribute to the understanding of today's adolescent and young adult substance-abusing offenders. The findings indicate that adolescent and young adult substance-abusing offenders are particularly vulnerable due to their age, as they appear to face some degree of difficulties at an individual, familial, or environmental level. This underscores the necessity for adopting early intervention practices aimed at promoting and enhancing psychosocial health, both for the substance-using offenders and for society as a whole.

Health Sciences

Juvenile delinquency, Substance use, Risk factors, Family relationships, School

No

0

No

92

73

File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.

https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/3395685