The developmental stage of childhood or youth exposes individuals to vulnerabilities that may stem from their yet underdeveloped autonomy and reliance on external sources or people for support, which may heighten susceptibility to risks such as substance use.Many of them are encountered through the child’s process of discovering the world, how the world works, and the child’s desire to be part of it not excluded. But, what about situations that drive you away from the social and cultural environment that you are born into or used to, your efforts of trying to fit in don’t seem to work, and you feel that you are not enough to be in a certain social circle? This can create considerable stress and anxiety in a person.
Due to extraordinary situations, many children can be exposed to vulnerable situations, for example, leaving their place of origin, and even more so if they are unaccompanied minors. A person’s temperament or personality traits, family issues, factors related to school or community, including accessibility to illicit drugs, can significantly influence their susceptibility to substance use and risky behaviours. These circumstances affect young people’s development, day-to-day lives, relationships with family, friends and peers and self-image (UNODC, 2012).
Young migrants face numerous challenges during migration, including various stressors that heighten their vulnerability. Moreover, having irregular or undocumented legal status exacerbates their vulnerability, earning them the term “vulnerable among the vulnerable” (Rosas, 2021). This vulnerability, especially when unaccompanied, exposes them to multiple risks, characterized by their limited ability to act or react in the short term.
Migration can generate big stress and frustration, which can come from the necessity to leave their friends, change schools and countries; and it can generate cultural pressure and lead to adverse mental health (Vida Pourmand, Kendall A. Lawley, Barbara J Lehman, 2021). This can be related to the transition of migrating between countries, the reasons that forced them to leave their home, or the situations they faced during their migration route. Generally, people are more vulnerable and exposed to risk during periods of transition. For young people moving from one cultural context to another very different culture, the transition can beparticularly risky. Normal adolescent issues can be further entangled by the need and difficulties in adapting to new cultures and approaches to belonging and acting in culturally appropriate ways in the new environment. This could possibly trigger stressors in young migrants, rendering them at higher risk of using substances as a way to escape from the reality in which they live.
All of these circumstances create situations of stress in young people, and it is very important to support migrant youth and children, in order to bring out the potential and protect the life goals of the youth and children who have had to leave their homes. It should betaken into account that the primary objective of substance use prevention is to help people to improve quality of life, particularly young people, and prevention contributes to the safe development of children and youth to realize their capabilities and become active members of their community.
However, there are subsets of young people who receive guidance on prevention strategies. These strategies aid individuals in enhancing their lives by providing interpersonal tools. Prevention strategies help a child or adult to be a better person, with more self-confidence, relate to others in a positive way, creating interpersonal skills that will help them throughout their lives.
Additionally, we must also take into account that prevention in vulnerable groups must be driven in a context-specific way. It is very important when starting prevention programs to have cultural sympathy, because there may be problems associated with age, gender, ethnicity or being related to the workplace, which need to be dealt with delicately.
It is also useful to incorporate culture into programs; this may include paying attention to language, designs and symbols that have specific meanings within the culture or using community leaders or role models in media promotion.
Service provision and programs need to be flexible to meet the needs of the people, understanding and respecting their culture, communicating in their language, and fostering social leaders from within their community through creative and flexible strategies such as music, forums, debates, and focus group sessions to discuss their experiences and emotions.
Another important aspect is to encourage youth participation (Drug abuse prevention among youth from ethnic and indigenous minorities, 2004). And the most important, is to have empathy with others, the ability to understand the feelings and emotions of others, based on the recognition of the other as similar (López, M. Filippetti, V. Richaud, María, 2014).
So, let us empower the community with prevention activities, teach with cultural sensitivity, create leaders in the same community, adapt to the group with which you are working, connect with your group, change people’s lives, and improve generations.
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME. (2012). UNODC Youth Initiative DISCUSSION GUIDE. UNODC YOUTH INITIATIVE, https://www.unodc.org/documents/drug-prevention-and-treatment/discussion guide final 2012 04.pdf.
Vida Pourmand, Kendall A. Lawley, Barbara J. Lehman. (2021). Cultural differences in stress and affection following social support receipt. National Library of Medicine. Recuperado 13 de octubre de 2022, de https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8428676/pdf/pone.0256859.pdf.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Vienna. (2004). Drug abuse prevention among youth from ethnic and indigenous minorities. https://www.unodc.org/pdf/youthnet/handbook_ethnic_english.pdf.
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME. (2020). Handbook on Youth Participation in Drug Prevention Work. UNODC YOUTH INICIATIVE. Recuperado 13 de octubre de 2022, de https://www.unodc.org/res/prevention/youth-initiative/resources-new_html/Handbook_on_Youth_Participation.pdf
López, M. Filippetti, V. Richaud, María. (2014). Empathy: from Automatic Perception to Controlled Processes. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/apl/v32n1/v32n1a04.pdf.
ROSAS, R. (2021). Unaccompanied irregular migrant minors from Central America: vulnerability and discrimination. NODAL. https://www.nodal.am/2021/10/menores-migrantes-irregulares-no-acompanados-provenientes-de-centroamerica-vulnerabilidad-y-discriminacion-por-roxana-rosas-fregoso.
