Research Paper Assignment Description
Choose an “at-risk” population that is more prone to abusing substances and research the literature to investigate the problem’s clinical presentation. (Examples of “special populations” include teens, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered,the elderly, and other groups with an empirically documented history of substance abuse.)Specific aspects of this population’s substance abuse to be addressed in the paper include:
• Prevalence of substance abuse in this population
o What does research indicate is the rate/percentage of substance abuse in this population versus the general population?
o What are the primary drugs of choice for this population? (Provide statistics and data to validate your response.)
o Is this population more prone to certain effects (psychosocial, physiological, etc.) of substance abuse?
• Factors correlated with increased risk of substance abuse
o Why would this population be considered “at-risk” of developing substance use disorders?
o What variables are related to this population’s increased rates of substance abuse?
o What biopscyhosocial variables may make someone from this population more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol?
o What cultural variables may contribute to this trend?
• Treatment approaches
o What does research indicate are the best treatments for this population? Explain the theoretical bases of these treatments and why they are effective in treating the identified population.
o What evidence-based practices exist to treat this population?
o How effectively/often does this population utilize traditional 12-Step programs (e.g.: AA)?
• Advocacy
o How/Why is this population marginalized by larger society? How does this relate to the social work value of “social justice”?
o What resources/policies are needed to meet this population’s unique needs?
o On a state/local level, how might you provide social work advocacy for this population?
• Personal application
o What are your thoughts about providing social work services to this population?
o Why/How might working with this population be appealing to you? Unappealing?
o What steps would you need to take to work effectively with this population?
o What counter-transference or personal issues might you have to address when working with this population?
o How might this research paper be beneficial to your practice as a social worker?
This paper should be approximately 4-6 pages in length(exclusive of cover page, abstract and reference pages) and utilizea minimum of three scholarly references. The research paper should be in APA format, including in-text, direct quote, & reference citations. Resources pertaining to this assignment are available on the course’s MyClasses page under the “Assignments” link.
