Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

Is concern justified? Problems of definition and prevalence 41qualitative study of alcohol use by second-generation ethnic minorities. The resultssuggest that some second-generation immigrants develop similar drink patterns tothe population at large, but Muslims, with some exceptions, are mainly abstinent.Research has shown a significant positive correlation between the prevalence ofproblem drug use and deprivation (Marmot Review 2010). Social class, however,is a controversial issue when considering its impact on problem drug use. In 1987a Nottinghamshire study compared the address of problem drug users with knownindicators of social deprivation in the postal code and found a high correlationbetween the two. Also, there was a clear correlation between the growth in ‘addictsnotified to the Home Office’ and indices of deprivation such as unemployment(Unell 1987). A correlation does not always mean a ‘cause and effect’ and by the1990s the situation had altered. The 1990s demonstrated both a significant growthin problem drug use and a reduction in unemployment and growing prosperity.What has become clear is that those suffering the most deprivation, such as thehomeless, are also at high risk of drug and alcohol misuse. In a survey of drugand alcohol problems among those provided with housing by a specialist housingassociation for the homeless in Nottingham, the rates of drug and alcohol problemswere very high by any standard (Morris et al. 2004).Although alcohol consumption may be increasing, access to services is moreproblematic. Orford and colleagues found that despite growing levels of alcohol useamong second-generation migrant populations, awareness and perceived accessibilityto sources of advice remain low (Orford et al. 2004).Prevalence of parents with a drink or drug problem:child protection studiesData from child protection studies show that, in general, the reported incidence ofparental alcohol and drug misuse increases with the level of social work intervention.For example, 20% of families referred to children’s social care services were foundto have a history of drug or alcohol problems (see for example Gibbons et al. 1995;NSPCC 1997b). Other more recent research suggests a lower figure, but this mayowe more to difficulties in identifying or recording the issue than in a real drop inincidence. Cleaver and Walker with Meadows’ (2004) scrutiny of 2,248 consecutivereferrals to children’s social care found, on re-analysing their data, parental alcoholor drug misuse had been recorded in only 5.8% of referrals, and of those which wentforward to an initial assessment, parental substance misuse was affecting families in11.6% of cases. But earlier research by the author which focused on suspected childabuse found social workers identified parental substance misuse in a quarter of cases(Cleaver and Freeman 1995). This rate reflected that found in cases where childrenwere the subject of a child protection conference (Thoburn et al. 1995; Farmer andOwen 1995). This figure may still be an underestimation as Brisby and colleagues(1997) found heavy drinking or intoxication was a factor in some 60% of cases atthe child protection conference stage.