Content 4 4 Value contexts of substance abuse 4.1 Exploration of values 4.1.1 Methodology for measuring values 4.1.2 The problem of validity and reliability in measuring value preferences 4.2 Value consequences of substance abuse 4.3 Value consequences of alcohol abuse 4.4 Value consequences of the use of tobacco, nicotine and related products 4.5 Value consequences of the abuse of medicines and medicinal products 4.6 Value consequences of illegal substance abuse Preface 6 es, and respondents' leisure time. The interdisciplinary team in the Department of Christian Social Work of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology at Palacký University in Olomouc was the head of the entire research and its implementation in the Czech Republic.The present book focuses on a specific part of a broad research issue in the Czech environment. In addition to the socio-demographic analysis of attitudes towards the abuse of the aforementioned four groups of addictive substances, the outcomes of the analysis of the original results of the measurement of reflections on the threat of these substances in four areas that are crucial for the social functioning of each user are presented. The first of these areas is naturally health and the possible health risks associated with substance abuse. The second is the economic risks associated with substance abuse. The third is the level of social relationships, status, and ties in the local community and society, and the fourth is the threat of substance abuse in the area of family and family relationships. The perceived threat in these four dimensions is analysed in relation to the value preferences of the respondents.The authors of this book have attempted to approach the issue of addiction across disciplines in such a way that the relationship between the perceived threat of substance abuse and value preferences in contemporary society can be shown from the data. Value preferences are the key to selecting appropriate methods of social prevention and intervention when addiction occurs only at the stage of recognised threat. The book, without its interpretive level aspiring to describe clinical methods of dealing with addiction, provides a broader context of addiction issues and their reception than is usual in similar publications. The authors have not only devoted their efforts to mapping the situation but also offer suggestions for forms of prevention and intervention by social work and social pedagogy for groups at risk. In doing so, they distinguish between different groups of addictive substances that affect social functioning and value preferences in different ways.