Discussion 1

Historical Developments, Policies, and Laws

In order to address the needs of clients, counselors working with substance abusers must understand the effects of both historical developments and national and international drug policies and laws on substance abusers and the field of substance abuse counseling.

In this Discussion, you will reflect on the historical developments, policies, and laws that have had an impact on substance abuse and substance abuse counseling in order to best prepare yourself for serving clients with substance abuse issues. Additionally, you will consider how a scholar-practitioner working in the field of substance abuse counseling can help create social change.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review this week's Learning Resources, focusing on the information about historical developments and national and international policies and laws related to substance abuse. Additionally, reflect on the implications that substance abuse counseling and related prevention programs have for scholar-practitioners committed to social change.

• Reflect on how historical developments and national and international policies and laws have impacted substance abuse and substance abuse counseling.

• Review the DVD segment, "History and Context of Substance Abuse Counseling," with Dr. Tom Cargiulo. Think about how what Dr. Cargiulo discusses about the history of substance abuse in various cultures and the implementation of specific substance-related laws in the United States have impacted substance abuse and substance abuse counseling today.

• Select a specific substance and reflect on the historical developments that have contributed to its abuse. Consider which of these developments have contributed the most to the abuse of this substance today.

• Perform an academic search in the Walden Library and select a scholarly article from a peer-reviewed journal that discusses advocacy and social change in relation to an issue, problem, or concern studied in this course that interests you and that you would like to address in future work.

• Consider the role you might like to take as an advocate and/or agent of social change to address this issue.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a description of the historical development that you believe contributes most to the abuse of a particular substance today. Justify your selection of this historical development and explain the impact it has had on the abuse of the particular substance. Then, describe a negative impact that a national or international policy has had on substance abuse and/or substance abuse counseling. Lastly, discuss your thoughts about the role you might like to take as an advocate and/or agent of social change within the field of substance abuse counseling.

Resources

•Course Text: Substance Abuse Counseling

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oChapter 1, "Introduction to Substance Abuse Counseling" (pp. 1-26)

•Article: Bullington, B. (2004). Drug policy reform and its detractors: The United States as the elephant in the closet. Journal of Drug Issues, 34(3), 687–721. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

•Article:Parry, C. D. H., Plüddemann, A., & Myers, B. J. (2005).Heroin treatment demand in South Africa: Trends from two large metropolitan sites (January 1997–December 2003). Drug & Alcohol Review, 24(5), 419–423. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

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