Research Methods Assignments | Online Homework Help

To   prepare for this Discussion, read the Poitier et al. study and then    revisit what you have learned about your assigned step of the  research   process. Consider what would be the most important  information to share   with your colleagues about that step. Together  the class will create a research plan for evaluating the rite of passage  program described in the assigned article.  APA Format

Article below,

Each member of the class will be assigned one step of the research process:

1.  Research methods

This  article approaches the treatment of addicted African American women in  ways drawn from traditional African culture. While the modern African  American woman is clearly not the same as her continental African  foremother, the reality of her life is still predicated on the basis of  her culture and her material wealth or lack of it. The approach  recommended here, a rite of passage, derives from the belief that the  value orientations drawn from the African wisdom of the ages offers the  best way to work with families to recover both sobriety and a powerful  understanding and repossession of culture that will help to ensure not  only sobriety but also ways of holding together and rebuilding the  families of today and the future.

Historically,  drug treatment programs have been less than sensitive to women and to  the cultural considerations that affect them, and women, as a whole,  have seldom received adequate treatment. Although opportunities for  women to receive treatment have recently begun to expand, in many cases,  treatment for drug addiction alone is insufficient. For women to  receive adequate care with sustainable results, it is critical that they  and their children be involved in the recovery process. With the  establishment in 1992 of the Women and Children’s Branch of the Center  for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), a federal agency, it became  apparent that the family is the most powerful resource for the survival  of its own members [Amen 1992].

To  be effective, the treatment approach must explore uncharted waters:  family preservation as a primary factor in the treatment of  substance-abusing women. The inclusion of family members and the  understanding of the family’s cultural context, when taken together, can  be major deterrents to the protracted use of drugs. The withdrawal of  destructive substances can reduce the negative forces that have the  overall effect of disassembling the lives of women and their families.

The  rite of passage is an innovative approach to treatment for African  American women and their children whose existence has been marked by  family dysfunction and substance abuse. It is designed to assist  families recovering from addiction and addictive ways of living. It  offers a balanced approach, rich in African culture and tradition, that  empowers families to achieve the level of functioning necessary for  sustenance of individuals and the families that individuals make  together. The aim is to make families self-sustaining.

The rite of passage approach integrates four basic principles for a full human life, beyond mere existence: ( 1) Restraint, ( 2) Respect, ( 3) Responsibility, and ( 4)  Reciprocity. If incorporated into an overall recovery program, these  principles can inspire participants and their family members to make  personal life changes and to grow mentally, spiritually, and physically  healthy.

Since  the family is the most powerful interpersonal resource for the survival  of its members, effective treatment depends upon family preservation as  a primary factor in the treatment process [Amen 1992]. This article  expounds upon the thesis that an adequate prototype/model for the  treatment of African American drug-abusing women and their families must  proceed from a knowledge base of both cultural and gender-specific  treatment modalities, and offers such a model.