Father-distance and drug abuse in young men
Schneider, R.J.; Kojak, G.; Ressdorf, H.
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 165(4): 269-274
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-3018 PMID: 908925 Document Number: 114284
A 16-item questionnaire regarding a young man's relationship to his father was given to 3 groups: a heroin- and alcohol-addicted group; a general psychiatric outpatient group; and a control group. Only the addicted group had significant elevations of the father-distance score. Many drug abusers viewed their relationship to their father as difficult or distant. Their greater father-distance than the psychiatric outpatient group indicated that the behavior of drug abuse may be different from other emotional problems of young men and is more specifically associated with a disturbed father-son relationship. Drug abuse in young men should often be considered and treated as a disorder of behavior. The mechanisms of identification (by the son, with the father) and its role in the development of social skills was central to an understanding and treatment of addiction in man. Identification occurred through the perceived salience of father, the role model. Drug-addicted young men who have poor social skills need a treatment program which makes use of the developmental factors related to the process of identification. The treatment should be comprehensive, probably residential for a significant period of time, highly structured, supportive, nurturing and authoritarian. Fathering factors (guidance, encouragement, personal involvement, provision of rewards, punishments and models for identification) are important.