Substance Misuse–Related Parental Child Maltreatment

Abstract

In Australia, children removed from the parental home because substance use–related child maltreatment issues are commonly placed in grandparent custodial care; however, the longer term relational costs of this approach have yet to be determined. Conventional, summative, and directive content analyses were conducted on data extracted from 88 Australian custodial grandparent completed Grandcarer Needs, Wellbeing and Health Surveys. Conventional analysis revealed the most common reason grandparents gave for their assumption of custodial care was drug use–related acts of parental child maltreatment. Summative analysis revealed antidepressants, marijuana, Valium, ice, and amphetamines were the most commonly used parental drugs and that these drugs were frequently used in combination with dexamphetamine, antipsychotics, heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine. Directed analysis contextualized the strain that drug use–related custodial caregiving places on grandparents’ financial resources, and how this strain is burdensome when the grandparents’ annual income is less than Aus$80,000. It also contextualizes the need for future research to explore family reunification desires/barriers.

‘It's not fair’: Custodial grandparents' access to services and supports in Australia

“…Increased 'burden of care' impacts upon diverse sub groups are identified in the literature; for example, those with low incomes may face significant financial burdens when caring in the context of parental substance use (Taylor, Marquis, Coall, & Wilkinson, 2017).…”

Grandfamilies and the Opioid Epidemic: A Systemic Perspective and Future Priorities

“…Individuals who experience OUD are frequently stigmatized by their families. Instead of being treated as if they have a chronic disease, they are perceived as being selfish, unable to cope with their lives, or as having failed morally (Engstrom 2008;Taylor et al 2017). When an individual who has OUD is also pregnant or already a parent, the stigma is intensified, as they are frequently viewed as bad parents who are harming their children (Taylor et al 2017).…”

“…Instead of being treated as if they have a chronic disease, they are perceived as being selfish, unable to cope with their lives, or as having failed morally (Engstrom 2008;Taylor et al 2017). When an individual who has OUD is also pregnant or already a parent, the stigma is intensified, as they are frequently viewed as bad parents who are harming their children (Taylor et al 2017). This stigma can even extend to the children of parents with OUD or SUD, as evidenced by previous references to the lost generation of "crack babies" (Roe et al 1996(Roe et al , p. 1073).…”

“…As noted, research on the topic began more than twenty years ago and focused on grandparents raising grandchildren in the context of the crack cocaine epidemic (e.g., Burton 1992;Minkler and Roe 1993;Minkler et al 1992;Roe et al 1994). Following a lull in research on the topic, there has been a recent increase in studies specifically examining parental substance misuse in grandfamilies (e.g., Anderson 2019;Davis et al 2020;Gordon 2018;Hansen et al 2020;O'Leary and Butler 2015;Taylor et al 2016Taylor et al , 2017. The majority of this work has approached substance misuse broadly, with only a few studies focusing specifically on opioid misuse (e.g., Anderson 2019;Davis et al 2020).…”

“…Studies also reveal variation in the degree to which grandparents initiate their caregiving responsibilities and how collaboratively they work with parents, which likely reflects existing family interaction patterns and hierarchies (Gordon 2018;Roe et al 1994). For example, in a study of 88 Australian custodial grandparents, Taylor et al (2017) found that some parents had voluntarily relinquished responsibility for the care of their children to grandparents, while other situations involved the grandparents or child welfare authorities removing children from the parents' care.…”