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Then suddenly he went right off the rails
Mothers' Stories of Adolescent Cannabis Use
Debra Jackson
Professorial Fellow, School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, NSW
Judy Mannix
Lecturer, School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, Penrith NSW
Abstract
Adolescent drug use provides challenges for parents, health professionals and the wider community. Of those adolescents who use drugs, cannabis is often the drug of choice. A number of adolescents will develop problems associated with cannabis use, and the burden of managing these problems will fall on the family, particularly the mother. This paper explores adolescent cannabis use from the perspective of mothers of affected young people. Twelve women took part in conversational style audio-taped interviews. Stories were extracted from the resulting narratives and were analysed guided by the work of Anderson and Jack (1991). Detailed findings are grouped under the themes: First awareness: 'I couldn't deny it was happening'; Constant vigilance: 'I watched his every move'; Cannabis and family life: 'I'd start to shake when he walked into the house'; Disrupted lives: 'I was terrified he'd go to prison'; Shifting aspirations: 'just staying alive'; and, Maintaining a loving relationship: 'I always told him I loved him'. Implications for nursing practice are drawn from the findings.
Keywords
mothering, drug use, women's health, adolescent health, school nursing, family conflict, cannabis, feminist research
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