ABSTRACT
SUMMARY. Substance abuse has devastating effects on the lives of African-American children and adolescents who are both directly and indirectly victims of this problem. This article discusses child and adolescent substance abuse from a psychosocial developmental perspective within an Africentric paradigm. The authors explore contributing and intervention factors related to substance abuse that impact developmental milestones. They delineate preventive tactics for addressing the problem of substance abuse and delineate implications for social work practice. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.comJ
KEYWORDS. Substance abuse, African-Americans, drugs, African-American children
Next to racism, substance abuse has been described as the primary health and social problem of the African-American community (Watts &
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Wright, 1983). Amplifying this premise, the devastating effects of substance abuse are increasingly encroaching on the lives of African-American l children and adolescents. Goddard (1993) contends that "the context of drug use in the Black community is especially problematic in that most children know someone who uses drugs and have actually seen someone doing so" (p. 14). Although National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) statistics indicate that African-American youth have lower rates of substance abuse as compared to Hispanics and Whites (NIDA, 1995), Bell (1990) suggests that African-American children who do abuse substances have little to no chance of accessing and utilizing substance abuse treatment as compared to their White counterparts. Moreover, African-Americans who do use alcohol or other drugs experience relatively higher rates of health and other drug-related problems. Inasmuch as substance abuse is also linked to rising rates of teen pregnancy, suicide, sexually transmitted diseases, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), juvenile accidents, deaths, crime, and incarceration (Acoca, 1995, NIDA, 1995), the negative consequences of substance abuse are magnified for AfricanAmerican children and adolescents.
