Report on the Drug Situation 2010 - Bundesministerium für ...

8 Social Correlates and SocialReintegrationThe main sources for this chapter are the nationwide documentation system of clientsof Austrian drug treatment centres (DOKLI), annual reports of providers of support servicesfor drug users and similar centres, as well as information issued by the Addictionand Drug Coordination Offices in the provinces. Additional information on this aspectis also provided in SQ28 as well as Map 8.1, which shows specialised social integrationservices provided by drug support centres in individual towns and cities of Austria.As in previous years, the most pressing social problems of drug users are homelessness,unemployment and debts; this especially applies to severely addicted users in thestreet drug scene.Interventions for social (re-)integration of (former) drug addicts are directed at bothclients after drug-free treatment and people who are currently using drugs. In Austria,interventions of this kind have traditionally been of major importance, especially in theareas of housing, work and (further) education and training. To some extent they arepart of the chain of treatment and integrated in the corresponding treatment modules.The various interventions, some of them low-threshold in kind, are available aftertreatment or as a part of accepting drug assistance. Addicted people may also takepart in a range of other services that focus on unemployment, homelessness andspare-time activities. Building links between drug-specific organisations in order toprovide better services to clients has become more and more important.8.1 Social exclusion and drug useThe social situation of the drug users turning to treatment and advice centres inAustria definitely continues to be worse than that of the general population (as tohousing, education, employment and income). However, it should by no means beconcluded from this that drug problems mainly arise in the group of socially disadvantagedpeople. All it shows is that this group will more readily turn to the drugtreatment system than people who (still) have their own social and financial resources(see Chapter 5.3).Among the clients of 2009 registered in the Austrian DOKLI system (see Chapter 5.3),the share of people with jobs continues to be smallest in the group undergoing inpatienttreatment: 9% (2008: 13%). Here, the percentage of persons who indicate thatthey are unemployed is also highest (2009: 47%). Especially among clients in longtermoutpatient treatment, the share of women who have jobs is significantly smallercompared to men (women: 26%; men: 31%). The difference between these two groupshas decreased slightly, however.Chapter 8 / Social Correlates and Social Reintegration 71