Parents as an under-utilised resource for the substance dependency service to their youth : developing a model for social work practitioners

Abstract

Parents have a permanent obligation and responsibility towards their progeny. Therefore, when the youth is dependent on substances, parents become severely affected by the problem and, subsequently are at the forefront of supporting and assisting the youth to recover from substance dependency. Despite the incalculable role that they execute in supporting the youth, the current interventions tend to underutilize them as a resource for substance dependency service to their youth. This study aimed at exploring how parents can be utilized as a resource for the substance dependency service to their youth. In the study, explorative, descriptive, contextual and intervention research designs were employed to determine how parents can be utilized as a resource for the substance dependency services to their youth and to then develop a relevant social work intervention model. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select 10 parents of substance dependent youth and 11 social workers from the 10 service points of DSD Gauteng, in the CTMM, who met the inclusion criteria and willingly participated in the study. Data was collected using face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews as well as an interview-guide. Tesch’s (1990) steps of qualitative data analysis were utilized in making sense out of collected data and data verification was also done. The trustworthiness of the qualitative data obtained was established through Guba’s (1981) model, addressing the credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability of this study. For the purpose of this study, the researcher adopted the strengths-based and family systems approaches as its theoretical base. Ethical requirements such as informed consent, beneficence, anonymity, privacy and confidentiality as well as avoidance of harm to participants were adhered to. The main findings of this study proved that parents are underutilized as a resource for the substance dependency services provided to their youth. Thus, the model was developed in an effort to provide social work practitioners with a framework on how parents can be utilized in the substance dependency services to their youth.