Research and Intervention for drug-addicted mothers and their children: new perspectives

According to research carried out by the EMCDDA, drug-addicted women in Europe account for at least one quarter of the total European population consuming illicit substances (Emcdda, 2006a). A specific research platform entitled “Women and Drugs” was created within the context of the second European project “Democracies, Cities and Drugs.” This platform is focused on what characterizes and distinguishes female substance addiction from male substance addiction: its manifestation, its attributes, and the interventions or services which can be put into effect while devoting special attention and offering specialized care to this phenomenon. Our findings confirm that women substance users are exposed to a great number of risks such as medical, social, economic, familial and psychopathological risks requiring intervention through specific tools and aimed responses (see Brentari, Hernandez, Tripodi, 2011). The investigated factors included pregnancy, parenthood and the well-being as well as development of the child, while taking into account institutional and ethical reflections regarding this complex theme. The substance abuse phenomenon indeed affects a high number of fertile women. When drugs are consumed during pregnancy, they can have serious, direct and indirect effects on the postpartum development with subsequent effects on the child (OTIS, 2010). Substance abusing mothers represent an at-risk parenting situation which, in turn, profoundly influences the quality of the mother-child relationship. The awareness of these at-risk situations for children along with the widely accepted notion that ideally, children should always be raised by their mothers led to the introduction of residential treatment in Italy. These services deal with maternal pathologies and provide care and assistance for children; in fact, these therapeutic communities accommodate addicted mothers as well as their children. Up until recently, therapies for children (particularly medical ones) were administered by institutions outside of the community, while no therapeutic treatment was mandated for minors. The first therapeutic communities for drug addicted mothers and their children appeared in Europe in the early nineties. These institutions must provide assistance to children and assure them the greatest possible social, psychological and physical well-being. In addition to the funds available for each mother, funds for each individual minor are made available on a daily basis. Our project: “Research and intervention on minors in communities for addicted mothers and their children: from at-risk parenting to child wellbeing” was promoted within this specific intervention framework. The project aims to secure child well-being by assessing maternal parenting as well as by carrying out direct and indirect observations of the child, his/her caregivers and the caregiver-child relationship. At the same time, the most suitable intervention for each single subject is put into effect.