Occupational profile of drug abusers

Abstract

The aim of this research is to study occupational performance history to obtain further knowledge about persons that are in treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug abuse.  The assumption is that persons drug abusing, that go into treatment and rehabilitation, have an imbalance in their previous occupational performance history that can be related to the abuse.

The Occupational Performance History Interview (OPHI-II) was used in this study covering twenty eight participants. A first tentative occupational profile of a drug abuser was constructed from the data gathered. Imbalance in occupational identity, occupational competence and occupational performance environments (the three scales used in the OPHI-II instrument) is possibly associated with drug abuse according to the findings.

An occupational profile, as defined in this study, could be useful to identify components of an effective preventive drug abuse program, which may allow to avoid or delay drug abuse. Furthermore, the author believes that this  findings could be useful in a critical analysis of policies and programs currently being used by the state, however, this is a matter that exceeds the scope of the study.