Copes Research Paper: Family Intervention in Substance-Dependent Middle School Students

COPES Research Paper: Family Intervention in Substance-Dependent Middle School Students

Description of Agency and Problem

Middle schools located in the Bronx, New York, parallel to all schools in the United States, strive to promote academic success. However, upon working at a particular middle school in this region, it is evident that there are multiple difficulties that prevent students from achieving their highest school performance. Growing up in detrimental contexts such as poverty and crime, students at this middle school struggle with a problem that has been of growing and urgent concern: substance abuse. Unfortunately, progress reports, grade point averages, and referrals to the counseling center all indicate that substance-dependent students are doing poorly in their current classes and/or grade level. Although some of these students come to the school’s counseling center to receive help with their drug use and academics, there are many students who receive minimum or no support at all. It is also important to note that the counseling center is sometimes not enough to improve substance-abusing behavior and school performance. Due to the overwhelming number of substance-dependent students and the lack of sufficient support from the counseling center, other possible interventions should be considered.

Therefore, it would be beneficial to see if these students can improve academic functioning through other forms of substance abuse intervention. Due to the strong influence of familial contexts in the lives of adolescents, it is important to research the effects of family intervention on substance-dependent students. This present study will help examine the correlation between substance abuse and school performance through such treatment methods.

COPES Question

In support of a strong evidence-based practice, Gibbs (2003) argues for the importance of a client-oriented, evidence search in the form of the COPES question. This specified format is a...