Culture Influence On Substance Use Among Adolescents

Culture Influence on Substance Use among Adolescents
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation
Cultural competence involves the ability of individuals to understand and appreciate the different perspectives of a given culture. Therefore, regarding knowledge, an individual has the obligation of learning all the available cultural practices to ensure that they can practice on how to follow them. Without knowledge, then it would be difficult to understand such perspectives. As well, once an individual has the knowledge to learn such cultural practices, there is also the need to have various skills that are important when it comes to the practice of the different cultural practices. Among such skills is the ability to communicate with other people, being understanding and patient among others. In order to ensure cultural competence, a good attitude towards the various beliefs is necessary because it enables a person to appreciate the culture and end up embracing it (Ewing, Wray, Mead & Adams, 2012). On the other hand, having a bad attitude towards the culture would make it difficult to follow the cultural set rules and regulations.
Among the dimensions of culture that have an impact on the prevention of substance use disorders among adolescents and the treatment is the individualism-collectivism dimension because it deals with the manner in which the individuals of a society integrate themselves in different social groups. Individualism suggests that there is a great possibility that an individual is able to take care of themselves while according to collectivism, people integrate themselves into strong groups. Some of the groups turn out to be the starting point or a motivating factor to individuals who have been taking drugs hence making the treatment process a difficult one. On the other hand, some groups such as the religious ones play a substantial role in aiding the treatment and prevention processes of drug-affected individuals (Nissen & Merrigan 2011).
Another dimension is the short and long-term orientation. In the short term orientation, the society has a great reliance on the past and embrace the tradition that has been taking place across different cultural practices. On the other hand, the long-term orientation is based on society's virtues that are directed towards the future. Therefore, these orientations have an impact on the treatment and prevention of substance use because they dictate the kind of adolescents that the society prefers to have (Daley, 2016). Given a community whereby drug abuse is not viewed as a major problem, then it would be difficult to fight and eradicate substance abuse. As well, a society that has a focus on having a drug-free future would play a substantial role in aiding through the success of treatment and prevention against drug abuse.
In addition, indulgence versus restraint is another dimension that deals with the ideas of individuals satisfying their needs in ...