Abstract
1.1 INTRODUCTION The use and abuse of substances, especially among the youth, continues to be a serious concern within the international community. Not only does this affect them as individuals, but also their families, the community in which they live and the society at large. This is evident when such practices cause social and family disorganisation, economic instability, social insecurity, and curb progress for individuals, families and the state. Some effort towards intervening on this challenge has and still continues to exist, yet it appears it is not enough. There are some shortfalls in terms of interventions as there is no satisfying improvement; instead, the prevalence of substance abuse is becoming worse each day (Chakravarthy, Shah & Lotfipour, 2013:1022). Findings from a study conducted by the researcher for a minor dissertation (Rikhotso, 2008:41-64) indicate that adolescents who abuse substances experience a range of emotional, physical, academic and social setbacks and challenges. Adolescents engage in substance abuse activities in response to internal and external drives. At this developmental stage, an individual has to make life choices, including the choice of friends and lifestyle. In the process of doing this, people may find themselves engaging with bad company that tunes them into taking substances which later cause addiction. This goes as far as wanting to belong to a particular group steered by peer pressure. Parental modelling and values are other contributory causes leading to adolescents abusing substances. For example, parents who practice Rastafarian religion (Rikhotso, 2008:42) smoke marijuana as a religious activity and expect their children to do the same. Some adolescents are driven by their own curiosity to explore and know things around them. They want to taste and feel what others are feeling when they use different types of substances which are portrayed to them as good feelings. They also initiate their own means to obtain these substances like stealing money 2 from their parents, accumulating pocket money until they can afford to buy substances of their choice, and sometimes getting those substances through friends (sharing) (Rikhotso, 2008:41). Other adolescents reach a stage where they realise that what they are doing is not good and detrimental to their future. They then consider quitting the use of substances, but fail. Reasons for their failure include fear of rejection by their peers, fear of victimisation and failure to obtain alternative means to address their emotional and social challenges (Rikhotso, 2008:49). Little do they know that the more they abuse substances, the more these challenges build up and become more intense and uncontrollable. The effects of substance abuse include effects on volition where adolescents lacked the willpower to decide what action to take in a given situation. On the other hand, they were also affected psychologically as evidenced by feelings of guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness, alienation and many more. Their relationships were at stake as they were rejected by their friends, siblings feared them and they were deserted by their parents (Rikhotso, 2008:50). However, these adolescents’ experiences of substance abuse kept them motivated and burning to discontinue abusing substances; most even made plans on how they would do it. It is based on these findings that the researcher identified a gap and a need to assist these adolescents, hence the idea of developing a model in this study. Some interventions which the focused on promotive and preventive health were cited in another study (Salam, Das, Lassi & Bhutta, 2016:06) and these included the promotion of sexual and reproductive health, nutrition interventions, immunisation, mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention and prevention of unintended injuries. Giovazolias and Themeli (2014:72-73) conducted a case study on a 17-year old boy who was abusing substances which led to altered behaviour and unhealthy relationships. Their findings included enhancement of communication skills, pointing out the consequences of untoward behaviour, minimising associations with substances, using a stimulating environment, training to improve resistance skills, and controlling procedures to assist in reducing the desire to engage in substance use. Progressively, there was a marked improvement as far as behaviour, relating to others and reduction in the level of substance use...
D.Cur. (Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing)