Introduction
Alcohol abuse is one of the biggest killers in the under 40s in the United States, with the disease itself affecting around 17 million adults (Hasin et al., 2007). It is now stated that around 1 in 10 children live with a parent who has some form of alcohol abuse problem, suggesting that it is of increasing importance. In one scenario, a woman who had an alcohol abuse problem became pregnant and wanted to keep the child. Unfortunately, her alcohol addiction had started at age 14 and was an inherent part of her lifestyle, making it very difficult for her to stop. Despite significant counseling hours and interactions with doctors, she was unable to stop drinking during the time she was pregnant and breast-feeding. Upon birth, it was noted that her child had low birth weight but fortunately had no other obvious defects. Her alcohol abuse problems meant, however, that she was seen as unfit to be a mother and the child was placed in the care of Social Services.
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"Non-Punitive Alcohol and Drug Treatment for Pregnant and Breast-feeding Women and their Exposed Children".
Thesis Statement
As alcohol abuse problems are common in the United States and impact both parents and their children, there should be rehabilitation programs which are easily accessible for women who are abusing alcohol or drugs rather than resorting to Social Services.
Beneficence
The theory of beneficence is to support the welfare of any patient by removing obvious sources of harm and practicing good (Viney, 2005). Within this ethical theory, the clinician has the duty to try and solve the problems of the individual, rather than simply taking the simplest route. In this case, it seems that removing the child from the home may be initially beneficial to the child, but in the practice of beneficence there is a duty to improve the health of both the mother and of the child as well as giving the child a loving home environment (Shonkoff et al., 2012). The research suggests that a child living with its biological parents has a much longer life expectancy and reduced rates of depression than those taken away by Social Services (Shonkoff et al., 2012), so starting a rehabilitation program that helps mothers overcome drug and alcohol abuse problems could lead to children being able to live with their biological parents longer.
- Hasin, D. S., Stinson, F. S., Ogburn, E., & Grant, B. F. (2007). Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(7), 830–842.
- Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., McGuinn, L., … others. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246.
- Viney, C. (1995). A phenomenological study of ethical decision-making experiences among senior intensive care nurses and doctors concerning withdrawal of treatment. Nursing in Critical Care, 1(4), 182–187.
