A study into the cause of drug abuse amongst the Vietnamese youth: An environmental perspective

Abstract

This study describes the environmental causes of alcohol and other drug misuse amongst the Vietnamese street youth. It explores how factors of migration affected the Vietnamese family life, mainly language difficulty, employment, racial bias, and ill-image of the Vietnamese community reported by the media. The study further outlines three atmospheres: family, school and media that contribute to the problems of alcohol and other drug misuse by the Vietnamese youth. Conflict and tension issues between parents and children are discussed in terms of cultural differences, communication and lack of effective parenting skills. Problems at schools faced by the Vietnamese students are discussed in terms of racism, language difficulties and lack of appropriate services. The study highlighted that "very easy" and "easy" to get drug was an added factor to increase drug use amongst this target group. To date there is no existing intervention and prevention programs initiated by the government and the community to deal with racism and schooling issues. The paper suggests some practical strategies that can be employed to deal with these issues in relation of cross-cultural training, racism prevention, parenting skills and increase in employment rates amongst the Vietnamese community.