Women and psycho-social-cultural issues in drug abuse in the globalization world (página 2)

The fact that the female drug addicts are a clear
minority in respect to the males, with a rate of less than in The
United States, leads to the situation that together with the
needs for assistance on the one hand, and the whole of the
evolutionary potentiality are often conformed by an
interpretation of the situation which takes on a prevalently male
connotation.

The Menstrual cycle
on drug abuse

Sidney H. Schnoll, M.D., Ph.D., and
Michael F. Weaver, M.D in the study of drug use by women, the
phases of the menstrual cycle are rarely taken into account. The
menstrual cycle[2]has dramatic effects on a
woman"s body, yet drugs are rarely given with consideration of
this fact. Because the hormonal fluctuation encountered during
the menstrual cycle may affect the outcome of studies with a
particular drug, the desired positive effect might not result.
Studies that test new drugs
with women usually are conducted with postmenopausal women.
Although elderly people often use drugs, high rates of anxiety
and depression occur more frequently in women of child bearing
age, yet psychotropic drugs are not studied adequately in the
younger female population.[3]

Gastrointestinal transit time changes during phases of
the menstrual cycle and also can affect how drugs are absorbed
into the body. The time sustained-release drugs spend in certain
parts of the gastrointestinal tract is critical for absorption.
Time changes also can be critical to maintaining therapeutic
blood levels in women during various menstrual cycle phases.
Medical professionals also know that older women metabolize
benzodiazepines much faster than older men (Greenblatt et al.
1980; Ochs et al. 1981). Women"s decrements of liver
function are different from men"s (Dawkins and Potter
1991). However, this is true only of microsomal oxidation
and not of glucuronidation, which is important for the
longer-acting benzodiazepines that are metabolized to active
metabolites. Some shorter-acting benzodiazepines like oxazepam
and lorazepam are directly metabolized to excretable forms;
glucuronidation is the process responsible. There is no evidence
that benzodiazepine metabolism is altered during the menstrual
cycle. Antipsychotics cause tardive dyskinesia and extrapyramidal
effects more frequently in women than in men (Halbreich et
al. 1984); care must be taken in prescribing these drugs for
women.[4]

Because the drug abuse treatment system was largely
developed at a time when most patients were men, there is concern
that this system is not sufficiently responsive to women"s
economic, social, and emotional issues (Kumpfer 1991; Wallen
1990, pp. 103-109).

Entering the world of globalization and the twenty-first
century has brought great changes in female identity, which can
contribute significantly to the understanding of certain
psychological, emotional, and social in a world of globalization
not only at personal
evolution, but also on the social implications. One problem is
drug abuse and is evident, the female drug addiction. The women
are in a condition of greater vulnerability than men and are more
heavily exposed to risks to their health and physical appearances
are the phases of the menstrual cycle, this is one aspect in this
essay, regarding the other social, psycho and pathological
aspects.

The system of social-health services in the United
States for treatment and rehabilitation does not seem to take
this into account sufficiently for underestimating their specific
needs and therefore propose that intervention protocols are the
same as men has not been do take into account aspects of female
identity, which has to do with the behavior and psycho-social
vision of the world of women, influenced by media advertising,
beauty contests, the presentation of women often as a visual
object and the real world of the woman responsible towards
society and the sons and daughters, young single mothers and the
social pressure and stress.

In the most general form, and according to Llopis,
Castillo and Rebullida in a study of 2003, the association
between psycho-pathological addictive disorder and traits in
women often have a relationship with a history of sexual abuse,
rape and abuse. Another aspect that is particularly relevant in a
drug and alcohol
dependence in women is undoubtedly the fact that one or more
parents have had, earlier this dependency. As for the personal,
familial, social and labor faced by women who suffer from a
disorder of alcohol or drug dependency of a greater number of
suicide attempts in case of men.[5]

Women often
experience drug abuse and addiction quite differently than
men

The female identity play important role to understand of
certain social psychological aspects[6]not only at
a personal evolutional level but also regarding the social
implications, and changing rapidly and consequent repercussions
in new trends in the consumption of drugs.

Social influence refers to the way people affect the
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others. Like the study of
attitudes, it is a traditional, core topic in social psychology.
In fact, research on social influence overlaps considerably with
research on attitudes and persuasion. Social influence is also
closely related to the study of group dynamics, as most of the
principles of influence are strongest when they take place in
social groups.

Conformity is the most common and pervasive form of
social influence. It is generally defined as the tendency to act
or think like other members of a group. Group size, unanimity,
cohesion, status, and prior commitment all help to determine the
level of conformity in an individual. Conformity is usually
viewed as a negative tendency in American culture, but a certain
amount of conformity is not only necessary and normal, but
probably essential for a community to function.

The two major motives in conformity are normative
influence, the tendency to conform in order to gain social
acceptance, and avoid social rejection or conflict, as in peer
pressure; and informational influence, which is based on the
desire to obtain useful information through conformity, and
thereby achieve a correct or appropriate result. Minority
influence is the degree to which a smaller faction within the
group influences the group during decision making. This refers to
a minority position on some issue, not an ethnic minority. Their
influence is primarily informational and depends on consistent
adherence to a position, degree of defection from the majority,
and the status and self-confidence of the minority members.
Reactance is a tendency to assert oneself by doing the opposite
of what is expected. This phenomenon is also known as
anti-conformity[7]and it appears to be
more common in men than in women.

The differences
between man and woman

The differences between man and woman have their origins
in an obvious sexual dimorphism[8]The
majority of cultures have established a differentiation of social
role between the sexes which considers them not only distinctive
but often antagonistic. Biological differences such as pregnancy
in women or the greater physical strength of men have determined
the assignation of traditionally dichotomized roles: one
characteristic of men and the other characteristic of woman, as
much on the educational plane as on that of the family,
employment and even in interpersonal relationships of power. In
spite of the fact that some separation on the basis of biological
differences has been made obsolete by technological changes, the
social system, even in more advanced societies, collaborates in
the perpetuation of this dichotomy of roles.

Women in the
socio-cultural circumstances

In current socio-cultural circumstances, the gender
variable constitutes a key reference when analyzing and
understanding the significance and the effect of certain external
common differences between men and women in so far as social
attitudes and repercussions on the quality of life are concerned.
The attitude towards a situation has been considered as a
relative predictor of human behavior and an underlying one in
psychological processes and social behaviors.

Attitudes towards social aspects in respect of the
relationship of equality between women and men have a special and
determinant affect on the objective and subjective dimensions of
the quality of life and, in an overall concept of the term,
health included. The ability to develop an influential and
autonomous role is a process which must not only be developed in
the first years of infancy and adolescence but one which must be
continued in the different stages of adult life.

The experiences of participation in the family, school,
work place, etc. are key factors in understanding the potential,
limitations and obstacles affecting the participation of women in
the social system. The assumption of an active social role is not
produced in isolated subjects but in individuals linked to the
everyday context of interaction between communities.

Therefore, in order to understand the differential
effect between men and women in drug use, it is necessary to
enter the more social terrain where the conditions of individual
identity are established. The perspective of gender permits
analysis of the relationships of power and influence in the
configuration of the identity of women. The traditional model of
the family is based on a hierarchal relationship of power and
activities. The male is allocated the role of authority and the
women that of the subordinate, roles segmented by the hierarchy
of the social groups with different status. This aspect have been
change rapidly and consequent repercussions in new trends in the
consumption of drugs. The globalization[9]have
made big changes in the women behavior, also the new technology,
information through internet and information
have made a new impact in their daily activities.

Women in the social
hierarchy

In addition, the activities allocated to men and women
also occupy a position in the social hierarchy, the masculine
activities being of greater social value and the feminine ones
the most devalued. These activities, those labeled as female, are
the most fundamental in social reproduction (care of family
members and domestic tasks), without which no social group would
survive, and their good administration determines the quality of
life. Thus, women are relegated to a subordinate social space but
they are allocated tasks which are fundamental but which,
paradoxically, are devalued.

Added to this model of power relationships between men
and women is the constant dialectic game of transgression and use
of these roles to their own advantage, by men as much as women
but more so the women in order to confront their subordinate
position. This game explains why new forms of domination of the
masculine spaces are constantly being generated to maintain their
position of power and, at the same time, the transgression of the
feminine spaces.

This is important for two aspects that concern this
subject. In the first place, the activity of caring for others,
the devotion to the family as part of the feminine identity, is a
double-edged weapon, it makes the female more dependent on these
others, on the males, in particular, but also gives them greater
strength and power, given that the development of everyday life
and the affective sphere of their families depends on
them.

There are many women who feel themselves identified with
the role of career, and make it the centre of their lives.
Secondly, in our societies, masculine values are not only being
perpetuated but they are being reinforced giving more value to
the activities and spaces which have traditionally been masculine
much as the employment/professional one, and maintaining the
traditional feminine activities in a devalued position (Rivera
1998) although these, at the same time, are encroaching more and
more on the employment space. Some women attempt to integrate
themselves in the space with most prestige – the professional one
– and distance themselves from the domestic and care space,
but others do not achieve it and remain in the most devalued
space. In the case of younger women, who are the ones most
affected by the social change, some take on the traditional role
positively and continue to seek refuge in the invisible power and
the potential their position gives them.

Others, on the contrary, experience a fragmentation of
their identity. They are not integrated in the traditional role
or part of the prestigious space. In each of these positions,
women are vulnerable and protect themselves in different ways and
this comes to mean that they face up to the use of drugs and drug
addiction with different personal and social recourses, both in
respect of other women as in respect of the men in their
group.

Deriving from the interaction of all these factors will
be the greater or lesser ability to face fundamental daily life
situations which also include the relationship of women and
drugs, the development of drug dependency and its consequences.
The majority of the researchers who have studied women addicts,
Rosenbaum (1981, Hser et al. 1987, Thom 1995, Nelson-Zlupko et
al, Ettorre 1996, Estebanez and Cifuentes 1997, etc.) find
significant differentiation basics between men and women drug
addicts.

Women develop an
addiction much faster

Women take lower quantities of drugs but develop an
addiction much faster, take more tranquillizers and sedatives,
receive a greater measure of psychiatric attention and are found
to be less involved than men in judicial proceedings. They
present lower educational levels, have few financial resources
and are more concerned than their partners about day-to-day
survival. A drug addiction in women involves higher risks and has
serious repercussions on their children. In addition, throughout
their lives, women also suffer frequent episodes of sexual and
physical abuse.

Women drug addicts have different motivations both for
initiation and for continuing use and their main motivation for
giving up drugs is the care and custody of their children.
Finally, women present specific therapeutically necessities
which, when not properly approached, become obstacles in access to
treatment.

The phenomena of drug addiction and the
epidemiology[10]factors affecting the health and
illness of women populations, and the drug addiction in women
involves higher risks and has serious repercussions on their
children serves. The foundation and logic of interventions made
in the interest of public health and preventive medicine an
important factor of prevention. The importance of women
undoubtedly represents a part of the problem which cannot be
ignored. The fact that the female drug addicts are a clear
minority in respect to the males, in the United States, leads to
the situation that together with the needs for assistance on the
one hand, and the whole of the evolutionary potentiality are
often conformed by an interpretation of the situation which takes
on a prevalently male connotation. Indeed, when a problem of drug
abuse becomes evident, the female drug addict appears in a
condition of greater vulnerability than the male and is more
seriously exposed to risks for her health and physical integrity
and understanding, of the subject of female identity can
undoubtedly contribute significantly towards the understanding of
certain psychological aspects, not only at a personal evolutional
level but also regarding the social implications since they are
the ones most affected by these cultural changes such as
life-style with the consequent repercussions in new trends in the
consumption of drugs.

Excessive consumption of Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco, the
use and abuse of other drugs – especially drugs prescribed minor
tranquilizers and sedatives – is a widespread practice among
women. This is a reality that is not supported and that most of
the time is hidden. According to the Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment -1992- (CSAT) in the United States 921.000 young women
and teenagers more than 50,000 abused alcohols, 4.4 million women
over age 12 had used an illicit drug and 1.3 million used
psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical reasons. These numbers
have increased year after year, is a reality. Studies show that
addiction to the woman goes on to pose a health concern. Tobacco
use, alcohol and other drugs, not only adversely affects health,
but in the case of pregnant women affects the whole process of
reproduction, from fertilization, pregnancy and childbirth,
breastfeeding and development the child. The National Association
for Prenatal Addiction Research and Education in the United
States has estimated that each year 375,000 children are born to
mothers who abuse drugs.

Bibliography

Paolo Stocco, Juan José Llopis Llacer, Laura
DeFazio, Amador Calafat, Fernando Mendes. WOMEN DRUG ABUSE IN
EUROPE: GENDER IDENTITY. IREFREA & European Commission.
I.S.B.N.: 84-607-0775-XD. Legal: V-2391-2000. IREFREA ESPAÑA.
Rambla, 15, 2º, 3ª E. 07003 Palma de Mallorca
(ESPAÑA). Print: MARTIN IMPRESORES, S.L. • Pintor
Jover, 1 • 46013 Valencia.

Fernández, Alonso. Los Secretos del Alcoholismo.
1998. Madrid
Ediciones Libertarias.

Sidney H. Schnoll, M.D., Ph.D., and Michael F. Weaver,
M.D. Pharmacology: Gender-Specific Considerations in the Use of
Psychoactive Medications. Division of Substance Abuse
Medicine.

Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Kathleen R. Merikangas, Ph.D., and Denise E. Stevens,
Ph.D. Substance Abuse Among Women: Familial Factors and
Comorbidity. Department of Epidemiology.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sexual
dimorphism.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Globalization and
various aspects which affect the world in several different
ways.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Epidemiology.

Jeremy Kendal, Luc-Alain Giraldeau, and Kevin Laland.
The evolution of social learning rules: Payoff-biased and
frequency-dependent biased transmission
Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, Dawson
Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. 2008.

Autor:

Jorge Yeshayahu
Gonzales-Lara

Brentwood, New York November 18, 2009.

Jorge Yeshayahu Gonzales-Lara, MA

Sociologist, University of Inca Garcilaso de la
Vega,

Latin American Studies & International Migration,
Hunter Collegue, US.

Graduate from Federal Academy as Federal immigration
Officer, Glenco, Georgia

Accepted into Diploma Program Alcoholism & Substance
Abuse Counselor

Brentwood, New York 2009.

[1] When we think about male and female
identity we tend to assume that these individual identities are
absolute and that there is a male identity and that there is a
female identity. In addition to this, we also tend to imagine
that everyone around us regards male and female identity in the
same way. Not only that, but we are inclined to believe that
male and female identity are so absolute in their nature that
they can be defined in detail, rather like a national costume
or a recipe. Because of this, an impression exists that when we
talk to another male or a female as the case may be, that their
impression of the male identity and the female identity is
identical and therefore can be agreed upon by all. In fact,
nothing could be further from the truth.

[2] The menstrual cycle is a cycle of
physiological changes that occurs in fertile females. Overt
menstruation (where there is blood flow from the uterus through
the vagina) occurs primarily in humans and close evolutionary
relatives such as chimpanzees. Females of other species of
placental mammal undergo estrous cycles, in which the
endometrium is completely reabsorbed by the animal (covert
menstruation) at the end of its reproductive cycle. This
article focuses on the human menstrual cycle. The menstrual
cycle, under the control of
the endocrine system, is necessary for reproduction. It may be
divided into three distinct phases: menstruation, the
follicular phase and the luteal phase. Ovulation defines the
transition from the follicular phase to the luteal phase. The
length of each phase varies from woman to woman and cycle to
cycle, though the average menstrual cycle is 28 days. Hormonal
contraception interferes with the normal hormonal changes with
the aim of preventing reproduction.

[3] Sidney H. Schnoll, M.D., Ph.D., and
Michael F. Weaver, M.D. Pharmacology: Gender-Specific
Considerations in the Use of Psychoactive Medications. Division
of Substance Abuse Medicine. Pages. 224. 225

[4] Sidney H. Schnoll, M.D., Ph.D., and
Michael F. Weaver, M.D. Pharmacology: Gender-Specific
Considerations in the Use of Psychoactive Medications. Division
of Substance Abuse Medicine, Page 225.

[5] Fernández, Alonso. Los Secretos
del Alcoholismo. 1998. Madrid Ediciones Libertarias. Page.
201.

[6] Social psychology is the scientific study
of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of
others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical
method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors include all of the psychological variables
that are measurable in a human being. The statement that others
may be imagined or implied suggests that we are prone to social
influence even when no other people are present, such as when
watching television, or following internalized cultural
norms.

[7] The present a gene-culture co
evolutionary analysis of a small selection of such rules
(unbiased social learning, payoff-biased social learning and
frequency-dependent biased social learning, including
conformism and anti-conformism) in a population of asocial
learners where the environment is subject to a constant
probability of change to a novel state. We define conditions
under which each rule evolves to a genetically polymorphic
equilibrium. We find that payoff-biased social learning may
evolve under high levels of environmental variation if the
fitness benefit associated with the acquired behavior is either
high or low but not of intermediate value. In contrast, both
conformist and anti-conformist biases can become fixed when
environment variation is low, whereupon the mean fitness in the
population is higher than for a population of asocial learners.
Our examination of the population dynamics reveals stable limit
cycles under conformist and anti-conformist biases and some
highly complex dynamics including chaos. Anti-conformists can
out-compete conformists when conditions favor a low equilibrium
frequency of the learned behavior. We conclude that evolution,
punctuated by the repeated successful invasion of different
social learning rules, should continuously favor a reduction in
the equilibrium frequency of asocial learning, and propose
that, among competing social learning rules, the dominant rule
will be the one that can persist with the lowest frequency of
asocial learning. 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved. The
evolution of social learning rules: Payoff-biased and
frequency-dependent biased transmission. Jeremy Kendal,
Luc-Alain Giraldeau, and Kevin Laland. Department of
Anthropology, University of Durham, Dawson Building, South
Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. 2008. (Abstract.) page. 1

[8] Dimorphism: Types of dimorphism (having
two body types) include: Sexual dimorphism, differences in the
physiology of a species based only on sex non-sexual
dimorphism, two clearly distinct physiologies present in a
species not based on sex.

[9] Globalization describes an ongoing
process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures
have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of
communication and execution. The term is sometimes used to
refer specifically to economic globalization: the integration
of national economies into the international economy through
trade, foreign direct investment, capital
flows, migration, and the spread of technology. However,
globalization is usually recognized as being driven by a
combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural,
political, and biological factors. The term can also refer to
the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, or popular
culture. Globalization has various aspects which affect the
world in several different ways such as: Informational –
increase in information flows between geographically remote
locations. Arguably this is a technological change with the
advent of fibre optic communications, satellites, and increased
availability of telephone and Internet. Cultural – growth of
cross-cultural contacts; advent of new categories of
consciousness and identities which embodies cultural diffusion,
the desire to increase one's standard of living and enjoy
foreign products and ideas, adopt new technology and practices,
and participate in a "world culture". Some bemoan the resulting
consumerism and loss of languages. Also: Transformation of
culture. Spreading of multiculturalism, and better individual
access to
cultural diversity (e.g. through the export of Hollywood and,
to a lesser extent, Bollywood movies). Some consider such
"imported" culture a danger, since it may supplant the local
culture, causing reduction in diversity or even assimilation.
Others consider multiculturalism to promote peace and
understanding between peoples.

[10] Epidemiology is the study of factors
affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as
the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest
of public health and preventive medicine. It is considered a
cornerstone methodology of public health research, and is
highly regarded in evidence-based medicine for identifying risk
factors for disease and determining optimal treatment
approaches to clinical practice. In the study of communicable
and non-communicable diseases, the work of epidemiologists
ranges from outbreak investigation to study design, data
collection and analysis including the development of
statistical models to test hypotheses and the documentation of
results for submission to peer-reviewed journals.
Epidemiologists also study the interaction of diseases in a
population, a condition known as a syndemic. Epidemiologists
rely on a number of other scientific disciplines, such as
biology (to better understand disease processes), Geographic
Information Science (to store data and map disease patterns)
and social science disciplines (to better understand proximate
and distal risk factors). Epidemiology is concerned with the
incidence of disease in populations and does not address the
question of the cause of an individual€™s disease.
This question, sometimes referred to as specific causation, is
beyond the domain of the science of epidemiology. Epidemiology
has its limits at the point where an inference is made that the
relationship between an agent and a disease is causal (general
causation) and where the magnitude of excess risk attributed to
the agent has been determined; that is, epidemiology addresses
whether an agent can cause a disease, not whether an agent did
cause a specific plaintiff€™s disease.