More handpicked essays just for you.
14.The harm done by drug abuse to the family and social relations
Parental alcoholism effects on children
Drug and alcohol effects on the family
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In life you learned a lot from your friends, culture, society, culture and from your surroundings but it’s a parents job to teach you about good and bad and make sure you are on a right path. As in the two work of literature “Letter to my son” by TA-NESHISI and “Under the influence” by Scott sanders tells you the perfect example of the influence of father on his son’s life. Where Sanders youth was under the influence of his father’s alcoholism, and how this effected Sanders and his family, but also how it is effecting on his own children as well. Sanders relates his youth growing up watching alcohol transform his father which created an environment of fear in Sanders family. It was only after Sanders grew up that he discovered the disease …show more content…
However you will go through the same struggle same adversities where whites still have a fair edge compare to …show more content…
Where sanders supposed to get love and gifts from his father and mother he saw his parents fighting and abusing each other as Sanders stated “All evening, until our bedtimes, we tiptoe past him as a past a snoring dragon. Then we curl in our feat full streets listening. Eventually he wakes with a grunt, mother sling accusations at him he snacks back, she yells he growls, their voice clashing. Before long she retreats to their bedroom sobbing not from the blows of fists, for he never strikes her but from the force of words”. It shows you he had a tough time in his childhood and how this influence has not only effected Sanders and his family, but also how it is effecting his own children as well. Which creates the antagonism between father and son even sanders relates his youth growing up watching up his father’s drunken behavior which alternated between rage and melancholy and he also relates how his father’s alcoholism caused his brother to become rebellious, his sister retreated into herself. It is through his present perspective that Sanders can look upon his youth and both understand what he was going through at the time, making sense of the chaos of his youth, and understanding how it effecting him even now, causing him to become a workaholic, carrying with him a secret fear that someday the slightest drop of alcohol may cause him to sacrifice
Black people are paid almost half of what white people are paid, which forces them to live in low income communities which tend to be unsafe, and also put their whole family in danger. Due to their low income, they might not be able to afford health care which causes them to “lose more work because of illness, have more carious teeth, lose more babies as a result of both miscarriage and infant death…” according to William Ryan from Blaming the Victim page 648. People who have low income due to the wage gap tend not to be able to afford college compared to white people, which hinders their future and their ability to succeed. In fact, on page 214 in Shades of Belonging: Latinos and Racial Identity, Sonia Tafoya states “Hispanics who identified themselves as white have higher levels of education and income and greater degrees of civic enfranchisement than those who pick some other race category.” This shows how minorities are mistreated in society unlike white people. In the end, it doesn’t matter what your abilities are because if you are not white you are not treated equally. “If you’re not white, you’re black,” (141 Sethi). Anyone who is not white in the United States are seen as inferior. If you’re not white, you 're not treated as an equal. Non-whites are judged based on their appearance and are made fun of due to their accents. Numerous non-whites are harassed and are told “you are in America, learn how to speak English!” When in fact, there is no official language of the United States. According to Sonia Shah in Asian American? on page 217, Asians are paid less in the workforce even when they have the same level of education as whites. Regardless of whether non-whites receive the same education level as whites, they are still not equal, not even in the work
As well as the long last effect that alcoholic parents have on a child and a loved one. Moreover, McCullers writes his story incorporating the reality of alcoholism to allow people to visualize the effect of addiction and how it a very serious life changing issue that can deteriorate and break apart families. Mucllurs also indirectly emphasizes the sacrifices that parents must do to ensure the happiness and wellbeing of their children and how being disconnected from your social circle can lead to very serious mentally draining issues. As well as how he emphasizes Martins own intentions and how Matin suffers his own dilemma throughout the story for specific
As I read “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of My Father’s Booze” over and over again I began to realize that my cousin and my family fall into the same situation as Sanders’ did. The essay made me realize that my family is not the only one who has to face this difficulty throughout my whole life. Even though I am not twenty-one yet I know that I am not going to abuse alcohol the way that some people can because I know it can have a different effect on my body and mind unlike some people. I feel the same pain that Sanders’ has gone through losing his father to alcohol. There is always a part of me that wishes I could talk to my cousin and uncle and just ask them why, why did they do it?
In the article “Children of Alcoholics” produced by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the author explains the negative effect of parental alcoholism on their children’s emotional wellbeing, when he writes, “Children with alcoholic parents are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, antisocial behavior, relationship difficulties, behavioral problems, and/or alcohol abuse. One recent study finds that children of drug-abusing fathers have the worst mental health issues (Children of Alcoholics 1). Walls reflects upon her childhood experiences in which her father would become drunk and not be able to control his behavior, as she writes, “After working on the bottle for a while, Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up Mom or anyone else who got in his way. When he’d had his fill of cussing and hollering and smashing things up, he’d collapse” (Walls 23). The Walls children, who frequently encounter their father’s abusive behavior, are affected mentally in the same way that national studies have shown. Jeanette Walls describes how, after drinking, her father’s behavior becomes cruel and intolerable through his use of profanity, threats, and angry, even violent, actions. In a conventional family, a parent has the responsibility of being a role model to influence their children in a positive way as they develop. Unfortunately, in the Walls family and other families with alcoholic parents, children are often subject to abuse and violence, which places them at risk, not only physically, but mentally. Rex’s irrational behavior when he is drunk is detrimental to the children’s upbringing, causing them to lose trust in their parents, have significantly lower self-esteem and confidence, and feel insecure. Rex’s behavior contributes to Jeanette’s
“When Dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off…” (Walls 115).In Jeannette Walls memoir, The Glass Castle, Walls enlightens the reader on what it’s like to grow up with a parent who is dependent on alcohol, Rex Walls, Jeannette’s father, was an alcoholic. Psychologically, having a parent who abuses alcohol is the worst thing for a child. The psychological state of these children can get of poorer quality as they grow up. Leaving the child with psychiatric disorders in the future and or being an alcoholic as well.
As the United States developed and grew, upward mobility was central to the American dream. It was the unstated promise that no matter where you started, you had the chance to grow and proceed beyond your initial starting point. In the years following the Civil War, the promise began to fade. People of all races strived to gain the representation, acknowledgement and place in this society. To their great devastation, this hope quickly dwindled. Social rules were set out by the white folk, and nobody could rise above their social standing unless they were seen fit to be part of the white race. The social group to be impacted the most by this “social rule” was the African Americans. Black folk and those who were sympathetic to the idea of equal rights to blacks were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. (Burton, 1998) The turning point in North Carolina politics was the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898. It was a very bold and outrageous statement from the white supremacists to the black folk. The Democratic white supremacists illegally seized power from the local government and destroyed the neighborhood by driving out the African Americans and turning it from a black-majority to a white-majority city. (Class Discussion 10/3/13) This event developed the idea that even though an African American could climb a ladder to becoming somebody in his or her city, he or she will never become completely autonomous in this nation. Charles W. Chesnutt discusses the issue of social mobility in his novel The Marrow of Tradition. Olivia Carteret, the wife of a white supremacist is also a half-sister to a Creole woman, Janet Miller. As the plot develops, we are able to see how the social standing of each woman impacts her everyday life, and how each woman is ...
One in five adults can identify with growing up with an alcoholic relative and Twenty-eight million Americans have one parent abusing or dependent on alcoholic (Walker, & Lee, 1998). There are devastating and ubiquitous effects of alcoholism, which vary from psychological, social, or biological problems for families. Counselor’s treating this problem all agree that the relationships within a family, especially between a parent and a child is one of the most influential within a system, but what are the effects on the family when a parent is an alcoholic? Contemporary research has found there is a higher prevalence of problems in the family when alcohol is the organizing principle. In addition, there is copious research on the roles of individuals within the family becoming defined into specific categories, and evidently, the roles may become reversed between the parent and the child. This topic of functional roles in alcoholic families will be analyzed and investigated further. Family therapy has had substantial results in the treatment of an alcoholic parent. These results will be discussed more along, with the literature examining the existing research related, to specific interventions and treatments in family therapy with an alcoholic parent. Before research on the treatment is illuminated on distinctive therapies, it is crucial for counselors facilitating family therapy to comprehend the literature on the presenting problems commonly, associated with alcoholic parents and the effects this population has on their families. Furthermore, the adverse outcomes an alcoholic parent has on their children and spouses has been researched and reviewed.
With all of these facts, the author tries to prove that racial differences and privileges appear exaggerated and unrealistic. The privileged and less privileged exist at all levels of society. Duke wants white people to understand that they are in the same position as all other races. The awareness of “white privilege” is only a fallacy that causes feel of guilt without foundation.
In society, race clearly affects one’s life chances. These are the chances of getting opportunities and gaining experience for progression. The social construction of race is based on privileges and availability of resources. Looking at society and the formation of race in a historical context, whites have always held some sort of delusional belief of a “white-skin privilege.” This advantage grants whites an advantage in society whether one desires it or not. This notion is often commonly referred to as reality.
They loved them so much even though the parents didn’t deserve it most of the time. That is unconditional love. They grew up very poor and were often forgotten about. There dad was an alcoholic who disappeared for days at a time, and bouncing from job to job. When he was home and drinking he “turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up [their] mom or anyone who got in his way”(23). Most of her memories of her dad are him being drunk, which turns him abusive and rude. They don’t have much money so she looks at is as good opportunity for her father to stop drinking. Jeannette never only sees her dad as an alcoholic like she should, she still cherishes his love. Along with her father’s drinking problem, her mother’s lack of rules and parental skills are out of the norm. She believes "people worry.... “people worry too much about their children. Suffering when they are young is good for them”(28). Her mother believes that they can learn on their own, showing that she does not care about the hardships her children are constantly dealing with in their environment. With this negligence the children are often forgotten about as well. Jeannette was put in many situations where she thought her parents “might not come back for her or they might not notice she was missing”(30). That is not how a child is suppose to feel about her parents yet she constantly
America is considered to be a county where white privilege is unearned, where social status is dignified and the whites are highly educated. In a society that favors one group, there are some similarities between the “people of color”, like Asian Americans and African Americans, who share an identity of struggle. Broad physical similarities, such as skin color, are now used efficiently, if also often inaccurately, to identify the difference between racial groups. However, economic, political and social forces in the US work to keep these groups separated from the privileged society.
The strongest and most influential person who modeled alcohol use in my childhood was a male relative. I was not completely aware of many of these impacts until adolescence. As a child, I did not know what alcoholism was, I just assumed that the Beefeater Gin stench coming from my relative was his cologne. However, as I grew older and was exposed to a greater variety of people and circumstances, I slowly became aware of alcoholism. I began to incorporate the new experiences I had in relation to alcohol use with a deeper understanding of my extended family. This new awareness was unsettling and painful to me. Many of my relatives were alcoholics. There was never a family brunch, dinner, or casual gathering that was not centered around alcohol. The excessive and consistent reliance on alcohol fueled the arguments and shouting matches I witnessed between my male relatives. Their arguments were always laden with racist, sexi...
In the United States alone, there are 28 million children of alcoholics - seven million of these children are under the age of eighteen. Every day, these children experience the horrors of living with an alcoholic parent. 40%-50% of children of alcoholics grow up and become alcoholics themselves. Others develop eating disorders or become workaholics. Children of alcoholics receive mixed messages, inconsistency, upredictability, betrayal, and sometimes physical and sexual abuse from their parents. They are made to grow up too fast because they must help keep the family structure together by doing housework and taking care of siblings since the alcoholic is not doing his or her part. Children form roles that they play to help disguise the disease. The roles help distract people from seeing the real problem and serve to protect the family so it can continue to function. There are five roles that the family members will take on-- the enabler, the hero, the scapegoat, the lost child, and the mascot.
The crippling effects of alcoholism and drug dependency are not confined to the addict alone. The family suffers, physically and emotionally, and it is the children who are the most disastrous victims. Frequently neglected and abused, they lack the maturity to combat the terrifying destructiveness of the addict’s behavior. As adults these individuals may become compulsively attracted to the same lifestyle as their parents, excessive alcohol and drug abuse, destructive relationships, antisocial behavior, and find themselves in an infinite loop of feelings of emptiness, futility, and despair. Behind the appearance of calm and success, Adult Children of Alcoholics often bear a sad, melancholy and haunted look that betrays their quietest confidence. In the chilling silence of the darkest nights of their souls, they yearn for intimacy: their greatest longing, and deepest fear. Their creeping terror lives as the child of years of emotional, and sometimes physical, family violence.
Parents are the most important people for their children’s development and success. However, there are increasing number of parents who are addicted to alcohol and other illicit drugs in the United States. According to combined results from 2000 and 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), it has been estimated that 10% of children (more than seven million) have at least one parent who is dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs, and that 6% have at least one parent who is in need of treatment for illicit drug use (Conners, Robert, Leanne, Jeffrey, Tracy, Ken, and James, 2004). Parents’ addiction to alcohol and other illicit drugs might create unstable home environment including family disruption, family violence, loss of employment, and financial instability, marital breakdown, and physical and psychological abuse (Gabriele, 2011). Children of substance abusing parents are widely considered at high risk for a range of biological, developmental, and behavioral problems, including for developing substance abuse problems of their own (Conners, Robert, Leanne, Jeffrey, Tracy, Ken, and James, 2004). Thus, it is important to examine how parents’ addiction to alcohol and other illicit drugs negatively affect their children physically, psychologically, and socially.