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Opponent Process Theory for Substance Abuse Treatment
Author(s) -
Dawson Roger E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
juvenile and family court journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1755-6988
pISSN - 0161-7109
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6988.1992.tb00719.x
Subject(s) - substance abuse , context (archaeology) , psychology , juvenile delinquency , substance use , substance abuse treatment , adversary , psychotherapist , economic justice , psychiatry , drop out , clinical psychology , criminology , computer security , political science , computer science , economics , law , demographic economics , biology , paleontology
This article examines problems and issues of the juvenile justice and drug & alcohol systems in the context of treatment resistant, substance dependent, delinquent youth. The evaluation research on traditional medical model treatment shows high drop‐out and relapse rates along with limited impact on polydrug users. Outdoor challenge programs are reviewed as an alternative within the context of Opponent‐Process Theory and the therapeutic use of stress. These forms of stressful challenge may produce improved self‐esteem and positive affect which may be useful as alternative forms of substance abuse treatment, especially for resistant delinquent youth who have not benefitted from more traditional forms of treatment.