Lasten ja aikuisten väliset suhteet vanhempien päihdeongelmaa käsittelevissä Tiimi-lehden teksteissä vuosina 2000-2013

Abstract

Miten päihdetyössä määritellään lasten ja aikuisten välisiä suhteita, kun vanhemmat käyttävät ongelmallisesti päihteitä? Millainen toiminta on lapsille päihdetyön avunsaajana mahdollista? Artikkelissa kysymyksiin vastataan päihdetyön erikoislehdestä vuosina 2000–2013 kerätyn aineisto avulla.

Parental substance abuse is known to cause a range of problems for children. This article looks at how childadult relations are defined in professional texts dealing with parental substance abuse and associated problems. The dataset consists of 86 texts published in 2000– 2013 in the A-Clinic Foundation’s Tiimi journal, which is dedicated to issues of substance abuse prevention and treatment. The meanings given to children whose parents had substance abuse problems were studied using the method of frame analysis. The analysis revealed four frames in which childhood and child-adult relations are defined in different ways: the legal frame, psycho-emotional frame, development frame and everyday life frame. The legal frame views children as victims of parents who abuse substances. In the psycho-emotional frame, the focus is on the negative emotions engendered in children by parents’ substance abuse. The development frame constructs children as not yet adults; they are seen as young individuals in the process of becoming adults. In the everyday life frame, the child is mostly seen as the object of maternal care. Despite their differences, there are also some similarities between these four frames. For example, in all of them adults appear as active and children mostly as passive agents. Research and practice should focus more critically on childhood, intergenerational relationships and substance abuse issues, all of which are complex phenomena revolving around social interaction. More attention needs to be paid to the role of society and the local community in enabling a good childhood when children have substance abusing parents.