Book Review: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment in the United States

• Author: Karen Mills
• Published date: 01 June 2006
• Date: 01 June 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016806291175
• Subject Matter: Articles

Nonetheless, these are minor quibbles when considering the overall scope of Banner’s

project. The Death Penalty: An American History is a remarkable achievement. There

should be little doubt that it rightfully belongs alongside the very best scholarship ever writ-

ten on the controversial subject.

Beau Breslin

Skidmore College

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment in the United States, by Sally J. Stevens and

Andrew R Morral (Eds.). Binghamton, NY: Haworth, 2003. pp. xix, 296.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806291175

Adolescent substance abuse is a significant problem in the United States. And yet although

services for these individuals exist, there has been little research into their efficacy; also,

because programmes are not supported by manuals, there is no capacity to replicate those

that show promise. This is the premise of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment in the

United States. The book delineates the methodology behind research into 10 very different

programmes that offer a range to adolescent users. These vary in style from outpatient/day

center programmes to residential facilities. All are subject to the same research criteria,

participants being assessed according to the same framework, The Global Appraisal of

Individual Needs. In this respect, the assessment of the programmes is rigorous, and every

effort seems to have been made to use reliable tools for measuring performance, and tools

are cross-referred to weed out any discrepancy.

Following an initial outline of the research, each programme presents a manifesto

explaining the nature of its work, the method of recruitment, and processes of intervention.

Here, descriptions are fascinating, and without exception, the feel of interaction is warm.

This is particularly the case in relation to the chapter concerning outpatient family therapy,

as the facts are supported by case studies. However, the tone of interactions is frequently

one of didacticism rather than personal resolution of internal and external conflicts. In addi-

tion, although the style of these chapters overall is readable and statistics are easy to assim-

ilate, there are too many, too similar acronyms that confuse the text and the reader.

At this point in the research, no conclusions have been formed as to relative efficacy, and

no manuals are finalized. The reader is left with a sense of the range of programmes avail-

able but only hunches as to what might best suit a particular client. No practitioner could

make choices as to service provision on the basis of what is contained here. In this respect,

this book provides a stepping stone to greater clarity and efficacy in service provision.

However, it is in relation to what is not discussed that this book falls short. The premise

on which the research and each of the programmes is based is that substance abuse is a

significant problem in the United States; however, for all outpatient and some inpatient pro-

grammes, the drug of choice for users is overwhelmingly marijuana. Programmes do not

identify adequately how they define the notion of problematic use of this drug—whether

this is by virtue of its legal status in the United States, perceptions of marijuana as a gate-

way drug, or connections between marijuana smoking and mental ill health. Despite this,

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