Chinese Female Drug Users’ Experiences and Attitudes With Institutional Drug Treatment

Abstract

With its rapid economic growth and the increased influence of Western culture, China has become a drug-consuming country. Forty-six semistructured interviews were conducted in a compulsory drug treatment institution to document Chinese female drug users' experiences with and attitudes toward two mandated treatment modalities: vocational training and educational activities. Detainees required to participate in first institutional treatment showed enthusiasm and had more positive attitudes; those who had entered the compulsory treatment facilities 2 or more times generally had a negative outlook on their pursuit of abstinence. Although female detainees achieved detoxification in the institution, many relapsed upon release to their community, indicating the institutional compulsory treatment model's failure to ensure long-term abstinence. By revealing four main flaws of the current institutional compulsory treatment, this study indicates the need for a comprehensive treatment system that combines improvements to institutional treatment and development of community-based treatment to address different stages of abstinence.

Suicide Attempts and Perceived Social Support among Chinese Drug Users: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem and Depression

“…They would be fined for being caught for the first time or required to participate in a community-based treatment program if caught for the second time. Being caught for the third time or more would make them subject to a two-year compulsory institutional drug treatment [ 57 , 58 ], which involves vocational training and educational rehabilitation, but does not involve any psychiatric drug treatment [ 57 ]. In 2016, 357,000 drug users were subjected to institutional compulsory drug treatment, accounting for the largest group of drug users who received treatment [ 59 ].…”

Drug treatment and rehabilitation in China: Theoretical rationales and current situations

“…In the Chinese context, illicit drug use has long been negatively regarded as a type of severe deviant behavior, which means harm reduction efforts are mainly applied to reduce social harms caused by drug use rather than harms to the users themselves [30]. As we mentioned before, drug treatment programs in China are often compulsory and run in con inement [29]. Speci ically, the dominant treatment approach is practiced through compulsory institutional rehabilitation with labor, aiming to minimize the social harm of drug use by separating drug users from the mainstream society and socializing them with mainstream norms [31].…”

“…Speci ically, the dominant treatment approach is practiced through compulsory institutional rehabilitation with labor, aiming to minimize the social harm of drug use by separating drug users from the mainstream society and socializing them with mainstream norms [31]. However, the outcome is not that satisfactory and attracts a lot of criticism [29]. In recent years, to address the inadequacy of institutional treatment, the communitybased drug treatment and health-oriented harm reduction programs, mainly consisted of vocational training and psychoeducational training, have been introduced as alternatives [32,33].…”

“…Nearly 2.15 million Chinese were registered as drug users in 2019 [28]. Drug-related crimes and deaths are also increasing [29]. The current drug treatment programs in China are mainly compulsory, addressing coercion and discipline.…”

A Multi-Site Cross-Sectional Study of Anxiety Symptoms and the Associated Factors Among Chinese Drug Users Undergoing Compulsory Detoxification Treatment

“…In addition, the drug users are more susceptible to negative feelings, such as helplessness and hopelessness, or feelings of guilt in adverse situations which could contribute to future relapse. Previous research has reported that drug users have an increased prevalence and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety as compared to the general populations, which also need to be addressed during treatment (4)(5)(6).…”