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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 25 page paper provides an overview of the impact of social workers' attitudes towards harm reduction. This paper outlines the purpose of the role of the social worker and the impacts. Bibliography lists 15 sources.
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25 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MH11_MHSocWS2.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of substance abusers. Social workers, social psychologists and a variety of practitioners have recognized harm reduction as a means of improving recovery processes for alcoholics and individuals with substance
abuse problems, but a variety of outcome-related perspectives exist regarding the perceived benefits of this public health ideology (Laursen and Brasler, 2002). Laursen and Brasler (2002) outline some
of the central views of what harm reduction is and how it has been used in recent years. Laursen and Brasler (2002) relate Marlatts (1998) description of the basic
principles of harm reduction for substance abusers: * Harm reduction is an alternative to the moral, criminal, and disease models. * Harm reduction accepts alternatives if total abstinence is
not a realistic goal. * Harm reduction is a bottom-up, consumer-oriented approach. * Harm reduction promotes easier access to services. * Harm reduction involves compassionate pragmatism rather
than moral idealism. While supporters maintain this as a beneficial system, critics have argued that harm reduction can allow individuals to remain in denial in regards to their drug
or alcohol problem, rather than focusing on efforts to hold them accountable for their choices (Laursen and Brasler, 2002). Criticisms sometimes stem from
the fact that there is not a single definition of harm reduction that can be applied in every situation, and harm reduction programs often have very different goals and different
purposes. "Nevertheless, the guiding public-health principle is the same--reducing the harm associated with a specific high-risk behavior. (2) Harm is synonymous with consequence and risk; however, risk has more
complex underpinnings in empirical public health studies. Harm is not seen as a dichotomous variable, but rather as a fluid entity on a continuum; thus, an individual can be in
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