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This chapter introduces the problem of methamphetamine misuse focusing on rural children, and the psychological as well as physical hazards posed to children due to parental impairment and exposure to adult criminality. The research presented in this book is undergirded by a sociocultural model of human development. Understanding the contexts in which children are reared, as well as participants' (children's, parents', professionals') experiences and perceptions of those contexts, provides models for the design of culturally and developmentally sensitive mental health interventions for children exposed to trauma.

This chapter focuses on the perspectives and experiences of four mothers in recovery from addiction to methamphetamine. Mothers vividly described the rapid loss of control that can occur with methamphetamine misuse, as well as the power of the addiction. They described their illness as impacting their children's physical and psychological well-being including through exposure to domestic violence, adult substance misuse, and other anti-social behavior, and loss of important relationships. They expressed concern that their children would misuse drugs. Women described recovery as possible only with significant external support, and they reported lasting physical, psychological, and social side effects of their illness. Understanding mothers' experience of methamphetamine addiction can increase our awareness of this illness suggesting strategies for engaging them in intervention.

This chapter provides an overview of the mixed methods research strategy. The site of the research is predominantly white, working-class, rural Illinois in the early 21st century. Participants were twenty-nine children in foster care because of parent methamphetamine misuse, four mothers recovering from methamphetamine addiction, seven foster parents of children from methamphetamine-involved families, and twenty-eight knowledgeable rural professionals (child welfare and law enforcement professionals, substance abuse and mental health providers and educators). Methods included extensive participant observation primarily shadowing child welfare investigators; in-depth, audiotaped individual interviews with adults and children; and standardized psychological testing of children.

This chapter explores the extent to which the misuse of drugs and/or alcohol is associated with offending behaviour and the nature of that association. The answers to those questions are more complex than might at first appear and are used to suggest some practice implications for those working with substance misuse in a criminal justice context. Both alcohol and drug misuse are dynamic risk factors for offending behaviour, included as part of a holistic assessment of risk. For those offenders where substance misuse is indicated, this risk assessment may be supplemented by specialist assessments focusing on the substance misuse in more detail. This chapter also considers the social context of alcohol and drug use and their complex relationships with crime. It discusses what is known about effective interventions, with a particular focus on responsivity and the motivation to change. The chapter seeks to help practitioners clarify the complex relationship between substance use and offending behaviour and the implications for responsivity.

This chapter describes the psychological functioning of school-aged children in foster care because of parental methamphetamine misuse. In semi-structured interviews, children described emotional pain, few social resources for coping with emotions, problem-solving, or talking about their experiences; and avoidant or passive coping skills. Results from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL, Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC, Briere, 1996) revealed individual variation in psychological functioning, but most children displayed significant dissociative or post-traumatic symptoms, as well as other significant emotional and behavioral problems. The high rate of mental health problems suggests the need for non-traditional strategies for service delivery in rural areas targeted toward these vulnerable children. Early identification and treatment of mental health problems should be a priority.

This chapter provides a portrait of the impact of parental methamphetamine misuse, as seen through the eyes of a child welfare professional with over twenty-five years experience working with children and families in rural Illinois. Her account of the strain on rural communities and the devastation of individuals and families make concrete the human experiences of methamphetamine misuse: the endangered child welfare professionals, devastated parents and traumatized children, and also their resilience and resourcefulness.

One of the most obvious social changes over the second half of the 20th century was the increase in the proportion of young people using alcohol and different kinds of drugs. Recreational use of illegal substances has increased and is now a conspicuous part of the social landscape. We know that using substances is associated with a range of poor outcomes. The UK has a high level of adolescent alcohol consumption and problem use. What are the implications? The literature is rarely focused on the more specifically developmental aspects of use in adolescence, and preliminary evidence suggests that indeed there may be links between the rising trends in both substance use and mental health outcomes.

This chapter details the current situations in relation to the extent, nature and characteristics of women rough sleepers in each of the countries in the study. It will discuss the context of the problem of women rough sleepers in each country with regard to how much is currently known about women who sleep rough, previous research that has been carried out and also the current situation in each country with regard to legislation, policy and practice. It includes discussion of the relevant European literature on the subject of homelessness, the different social contexts of the organisations and women rough sleepers themselves who took part in the study and will highlight salient similarities and differences in responses from those interviewed and will contextualise this against the background of the current social, political and cultural climates within each country in the study. It includes literature reviews that were carried out by each partner country at the start of the project.

This chapter draws on interviews with young people affected by parental substance misuse (among other family troubles), arguing for greater attention to difficult family relationships in contemporary sociological thinking on personal and family lives. The analysis highlights the challenges such young people face in constructing a morally acceptable self in the absence of expected parenting practices and the family narrative they support in a cultural context where the primacy of family relationships to children and young people is so taken for granted as to obscure and devalue alternative sources of self-worth and identity.

This final chapter sums up the key ideas about risk, responsivity and diversity, spelling out the messages for practice along the way. In Part One, the book introduced the concepts of risk, responsivity and diversity, having briefly charted the changing nature of face-to-face work with offenders. In Part Two, the text explored the issue of working with offender groups who fall outside the majority, adult, white, male offenders. The chapters, which focused on offenders from certain groups (women, young people, and minority ethnic offenders), suggested that their diversity should be appreciated and stated that this will have implications in terms of how they are worked with. Part Three examined the issues of mental disorder, substance misuse and poor basic skills, because of their prevalence in offender populations. Part Four tackled the issue of responding to offenders who illustrate different aspects of risk, in terms of the risk of reoffending and the degree of harm they may pose to others.

Chapter 7, “Motivational Interviewing: Theory and Practice,” provides the theoretical and practice foundation for motivational interviewing (MI). MI employs a client-centered counseling style for achieving behavior change by facilitating exploration and resolution of ambivalence. The trans-theoretical model of change is discussed, as is the “spirit of motivational interviewing,” which highlights the practitioner’s way of being with clients. The chapter presents skills and techniques to enhance older adults’ ability to work through ambivalence and develop a sustainable plan for action. In addition, later-life problems in functioning that benefit from the use of motivational interviewing are summarized, including substance abuse/misuse, chronic disease management, smoking cessation and diet, exercise and weight control. Contextual issues related to clinical practice, and special considerations for use of MI with older clients, are discussed. The chapter includes a case example of motivational interviewing with an older woman with alcohol misuse issues.

This chapter focuses on the results of our 10-year study of retirement and its alcohol-related consequences in order to describe how conditions and relationships (social networks) at work during the retirement process influence drinking in retirement. The chapter focuses on identifying those factors that explain when retirement is likely to be stressful or dysphoric and the role they play in explaining the onset or exacerbation of alcohol-related problems over time among older adults. In addition to examining factors related to the retirement experience itself (e.g., forced on the individual as opposed to something the individual plans for and does of his or her own volition), it examines the role potentially played by conditions (e.g., unit-level drinking norms, stress climates) and relationships experienced by older adults at work prior to retirement and how individual differences (e.g., gender, alcohol expectancies) may interact with these factors to influence subsequent substance misuse.

Heralded as the most progressive legislation of the world, the Children Act of 1989 revolutionized children’s law in England and Wales. It is underpinned by six principles: the supremacy of the child’s interest in all decisions concerning their upbringing and education; the recognition that it is best for any chid to be brought up by their blood family, that his religious and ethnic background must be respected, and that siblings should not be separated; the abolition of the stigma of illegitimacy and its replacement with the attribution at birth of paternal responsibility to the child’s father; the unification of public and private law, and the creation of the ‘menu’ of Residence, Contact, Prohibition, and Specific Issue orders available to the court; the establisment of the new principle that time is of the essence in all cases relating to children; and the creation of the presumption that ‘no order is better than an order’ thus the ingerence of the court must be minimal. I believed in those principles and in the benefits that the Children Act would bring to my clients—children and parents alike. I had some reservations: the system was expensive to implement on two counts: first, it gave the child a ‘guardian’ (a qualified social worker appointed by the court through CAFCASS, a governmental agency), as well as their own solicitor paid for by Legal Aid, as was the representative of the parents, who had the right to instruct independent experts; second, because its requirements of social services and other agencies involved further training and increased resources, as well as further involvement of the judiciary, and increased court time. Hornby and Levy were at the forefront of its implementation: our entire staff received in-house training that was open to other disciplines, within the spirit of cooperation between agencies that permeated the Act and its implementation. I also lectured in Britain and abroad and was proud to tell others that social services were under a duty to keep families united, rather than removing children from parents, and make efforts to return to the family the child removed from it, or if this failed, to place the child within the extended family, or with adoptive parents, within a year.