Women drug abuse in Europe : Gender identity - Irefrea

even if this should not be neglected as a possible starting point for specificinterventions this reduction is generally transitory.Related to this, French literature has underlined how the desire for maternity maysometimes also have the same result of reduction in drug consumption or even lead tostopping completely whereas, once the woman has given birth, she may feel her hopeswere not fulfilled and therefore suffer a relapse. On the other hand, other AA feel thatmaternity may be of help in resolving dependence even though in the presence ofprecocious maternal dysfunction this may only be transitory. Specific intervention istherefore of great importance and to be hoped for (Venner, Fourest, 1998).Moreover, in the woman, unlike in the man, the motives leading to undergotreatment are related to maternity with a noticeable difference between the genders: forwomen the main motivation is either identified with the desire to keep custody of thechild or is linked to health problems. For men, more often the choice is related to workor is seen as an alternative to prison.Furthermore, unlike for the men, the problem of care of the children is shown bymany authors to be one of the most important aspects in the life of female drug addicts,from the moment it becomes of essential importance regarding the beginning of thedrug dependence, the motives and the continuation of the habit.Paradoxically, however, the presence of children is also reported as an obstacle inthe decision of whether to undergo treatment or not, or at least it is named as a specificdifficulty for residential treatment since there are only a limited number of places inEurope where drug addicted parents and their children are admitted together.However, apart from these aspects, the bibliographical review does not highlightspecific differences in relation to the identity of gender regarding the problem oftreatment, even if they have been reported in different places.There is no agreement on the belief that women “bear up” to the treatment morethan men, or that they are more resistant to accept it but “bear up” to it more once theyhave started a rehabilitative path.The European researchers have all reported how, once in treatment, the womenshow specific needs that may be related to not only the relationship with their family,their past as a prostitute, and the problem of co-dependence on the partner but alsoregarding their child.Certainly, from this point of view, the organisation of the Services takes on a greatimportance including the possibility that they are able to offer opportunities that takeinto consideration the complexity and specificity of the needs of the drug addictedwomen, including emotional and affective needs. This does not necessarily assume theneed for differentiated treatments but rather to foresee complementary programmes ofexternal support which take into consideration the distinctive problems of the womanand thus favouring a more realistic planning.51