Transcript Targeting vulnerable groups

Pompidou Group Conference
“Families, lifestyles and drugs - reaching families in prevention”
Porto, Portugal, 19-20 November 2007
Working group:
Targeting vulnerable groups
Maurizio Coletti
Some common strong beliefs
• Drug use and misuse is more frequent
among:
• Homeless, careless and deprived young
people
• Children whose parents use/misuse drugs
• Young offenders
• School excluded young people
• Early sexually active young people
Some uncomfortable facts
• Inclusion criteria are not seen a definitive
pre-cursor to problematic drug use
• Not all young people experiencing same
factors became users/abusers
• Resilience
To became problematic drug user
• Individual factors (including genetic)
• Family factors
• Environment factors:
– Socio economic
– Availability of drugs
– Difficult acces to social opportunities:
» School
» Leisure time
» Job
From an “old” drug expert
• Claude Olievenstien (’70s):
• Drug does’nt make addict
• It is addict who makes drug
Without doubts...
• Society plays relevant role
• System of reference plays relevant role
• Individual charactheristics play relevant
role
System of reference means...
• Institutions (school, church...)
• Social environment (friends, neighbourhood
• Family
Tasks for working group
1. Family: has the same influence in every
Country?
2. Are families worried of drug in every
Country?
3. Are families of vulnerable people
reachble in every Country?
4. What are successfull action to involve
families of vulnerable people in
prevention?
5. What is (or are) secret(s) of a successful
prevention project in marginalised
environments?
6. What are the main obstacles of the work
with vulnerable groups?
7. What are the role of professional
emotions working marginalised
environments?
8. What are the needs for research in such
field?