Drug And Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs - 2241 Words

Although there has been a steady decline in substance use during recent years, nearly a quarter of Canadians meet the criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD) at some point across their lifespan (Statistics Canada, 2012). In addition, three-quarters of all women in drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs report being sexually abused (Najavits, Weiss Shaw, 1997), and about one-quarter of the men (Ouimette, Kimerling, Shaw Moos, 2000). Childhood abuse has been shown to be a significant risk factor in adolescent and adult substance use, and this relationship tends to be more substantial in women as apposed to men (Simpson Miller, 2002; White Widom, 2008). Research indicates that throughout the lifespan, adolescence is the period†¦show more content†¦The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) released a Reauthorization Act (2010) which states that the minimum set of behaviours that define child abuse or neglect (National Child Abuse and Neglect Trainin g and Publications Project, 2014) as: â€Å"Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.† In addition to the above description of child abuse or neglect, the DSM-IV-R provides the criteria for trauma. According to the DSM-IV-R, the criteria of trauma includes a real or perceived threat of physical harm to oneself or others, resulting in emotional reactions of extreme fear, horror or helplessness (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Sexual Abuse According to Statistics Canada (2012), reported that more than half of all victims of sexual abuse or assault were under the age of 18, and over 80 percent of these cases were perpetrated by someone close to the victim such as a family member or acquaintance. The working definition of childhood sexual abuse has been re-worded The DSM – IV consideration of childhood sexual abuse is summarized in the APSAC Handbook of Child Maltreatment (Myers et al., 2002) as: â€Å"Child sexual abuse involves any sexual activity with a child where consent is not or cannot be given. This includes sexual contact that is accomplished by