Psycho-Social Factors Related To Drug Abuse among Female Drug Users

Abstract

Substance use was considered to be primarily a male problem, and many substance abuse studies are conducted with a predominance of male participants. However, recent substance abuse research indicates several differences between the male and female substance users including the etiology of substance abuse and the consequences that result from substance abuse. So, female addiction pathway is a growing concern in the drug field. Female drug addiction is largely an unexplored domain. Still many questions regarding this issue related biological aspect, psychosocial aspect, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, barrier to treatment entry, retention in the treatment process and completionsof the drug treatment need to be explored. The study was aimed to explore the factors, which influence the females to initiate drug life. It was also aimed to explore what factors contribute to maintain their drug life. There is severe lack of knowledge on this significant issue worldwide, especially in Bangladesh. In this context, grounded theory approach of qualitative research design was used to explore the contributing psychosocial factors associated with drug addiction among females. In depth interviews were conducted on 11 females with substance abuse problem who were selected through purposive sampling. Verbatim transcripts from the recorded interviews were the main source of data for this study. NVivo-10, data analysis was completed through open, axial, and selective coding. The present study revealed 7 main themes, namely: (i) deprived feelings of parental love and care, (ii) influences of the institution, (iii) impact on selfhood, (iv) craving for belongingness, (v) emerging awareness (created by the negative effects of drug abuse) (vi) obstacle against recovery and (vii) Expectation for recovery. Two main core concerns revealed in this study are - (a) females were bounded in a problematic cycle namely “crisis as a child in a parent child relationship” before coming into drug life, (b) “crisis as a partner in intimate relationship” after taking drug. Former problematic cycle of parent-child relationship led to the next problematic cycle of intimate relationship, as they were seeking attachment through love and belongingness, to fix their collapsed life. The drug addiction phenomena, its pathologizing mechanism and its process of healing seems quite different than available traditional knowledge on drug addictions which was obtained from the on drug addicted male cases. Apart from gaining knowledge, this study would also break the silence regarding female drug addiction in Bangladesh, as they are highly stigmatized, marginalized and hidden group in Bangladesh, which is yet unexplored. The findings would facilitate the enhancement of current treatment practices through the evaluation of the existing interventions and treatment programme for female drug addiction.