"Rosa Lee"--A Review

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the relationship between Rosa Lee and her daughter, Patty as described in Leon Dash's ""Rosa Lee: a Mother and Her Family in Urban America." Like her mother, Patty is a heroin user as well as a prostitute. The paper traces the reasons for these choices that Patty made and how her relationship with her mother shaped her path. The paper additionally cites research articles which support the belief that the dynamics of family life may significantly contribute to addictive behavior. The reviewer concurs with author Dash by stating the only treatment that will lead to any success with Patty will involve both the use of medication--methadone, most likely--and the establishment of relationships with individuals who do not partake in the use of heroin and do not tolerate its use in her.

From the Paper:

" In many cases, and certainly in Patty's case, the dynamics of family life contribute most significantly to the subject's addictive behavior: "Even though its values are largely shaped by the surrounding subculture, the family plays an integral role in shaping the attitudes of its members toward drug abuse," (Schlaadt 12). Typically, family settings within which drug abuse is common or accepted facilitate the spread of that practice to other family members. This was clearly the case in Patty's introduction to heroin. Patty was first exposed to the drug by watching her brother and his girlfriend while hiding in his closet: "After Ronnie pushed the liquid into his vein, she watcher her brother's worried frown change into a look of pleasure. . . . Ronnie refused to inject her that day. But, Patty told me, 'I knew then, "Well, I'm gonna try that one day,"'" (Dash 186). One of the major problems with being introduced to such a serious drug at a young age is that the pain and suffering associated with growing-up in a drug abusing household does not simply end with childhood: "If these children survive, it follows them, particularly if they are girls, into their own adulthood. For example, many of these girls will, themselves, resort to substance abuse in adulthood," (Pagliaro 94). Depression is another major result of such a childhood. This effect can manifest itself in further drug use, or even in attempted suicide. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brown, Stephen E. et al. (1991). Criminology: Explaining Crime and its Context. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing.
• Dash, Leon. (1996). Rosa Lee: a Mother and Her Family in Urban America. New York: Basic.
• Pagliaro, Ann Marie and Louis A. Pagliaro. (2000). Substance Use among Women. Lillington: Brunner/Mazel.
• Schlaadt, Richard G. (1992). Wellness: Drugs, Society, & Behavior. Guilford: Dushkin.
• Shoham, Shlomo. (1966). Crime and Social Deviation. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company.

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