Perceptions of children's lives: child welfare and policy in the wake of methamphetamine

Update Item Information
Title Perceptions of children's lives: child welfare and policy in the wake of methamphetamine
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Family & Consumer Studies
Author Durham, Leslie Faye
Date 2014-12
Description The link between substance abuse and child maltreatment has only reached the policy level in the last decade. Methamphetamine abuse surged recently, and was particularly dangerous for children because of high rates of female caregiver use, the existence of home laboratories, and increased violence and neglect in the home. Policy makers responded with varying success through different legislative initiatives. In this study, in-depth interviews of 13 stakeholders (legislators, child welfare agency representatives, judges, and addiction counselors) have indicated first-hand understanding of what aids or hinders substance abusing parents involved in the child welfare system. Through in-depth, semistructured interviews, this study investigated how policy makers and implementers perceive methamphetamine abusing parents and child welfare from an insider's perspective. Method triangulation was used to examine relevant policy changes, qualitative interviews, and content analysis of public service campaigns. A unique illustrated timeline was constructed to capture the history of policy, methamphetamine surges, public perceptions, and the burden on child welfare. The purpose of this study was to examine substance abuse and child well-being from the perspective of experts who were in the field of government, child welfare, criminal justice, and addiction treatment in the intermountain west. There are implications of this research on working with substance using parents as well as family preservation and reunification as it provides stakeholders the critical ability to plan for future drug surges as they impact the treatment of children.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Family preservation; Foster care; Substance abuse
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Master of Science
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Leslie Faye Durham 2014
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 276,361 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3358
ARK ark:/87278/s67h4ss6
Setname ir_etd
ID 196922
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s67h4ss6
Back to Search Results