Social support among Malay, Chinese, and Indian drug addicts in Malaysia

The January-December 2008 National Drug Information System Unit (NADI) report indicated that the Malaysian drug situation remains a serious one. According to 2007 AADK (Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan) report, one of the contributing factors towards relapse cases in drug addiction is lack of social support from the society when they re-enter the community. To date, studies investigating this aspect are still limited. The current study investigates the social support perceived by the addicts among three ethnic groups, namely Malay, Chinese and Indian. Two-hundred and sixty three male addicts from various rehabilitation centers participated in this two-phase interview study, whilst the non-addicts consisted of 94 male students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The instrument used in the first phase is the Social Support Behaviour Interview Schedule, and in the second phase, respondents were asked open-ended questions to further explore the reasons for their relapse. Overall, the results showed more similarities than differences in perceived social support from the three ethnic groups, suggesting that similar strategies could be used to rehabilitate the drug addicts. The important agents that can help drug addicts to return to normal life are father, mother, and siblings. The important dimensions of social support from the parents are socializing, emotional, practical assistance, financial assistance, and advice and guidance. The findings also suggests that peer influence is an important reason for drug addiction and relapse. Hence it is suggested that special training programme should be conducted for the family of addicts. Additionally, the post-rehabilitation programme should emphasise in providing a concrete support groups for the rehabilitated addicts