Undeserving Men and Patronised Women

Abstract

There is someThing inTriguing in The gender aspecT in substance abuse treatment today. It is difficult to claim that the treatment system was much more transparent in handling men’s and women’s problems when there were clear and publicly sanctioned different roles for men and women or when women were regarded by many as victims of male oppression. But today there seems to be confusion both about what to do in treatment and about how to interpret what is done. This is clear also in two of the articles in this issue of Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Jessica Storbjork (2011) analyses gender differences in a large clinical sample from Stockholm county, looking at the consumption of substances, substance-related problems, routes to treatment, treatment experiences and the social situation among men and women. She finds, somewhat surprisingly, that the alcohol and drug consumption levels and prevalence of dependency among men and women in treatment do not differ significantly. The substance use per se, if there is such a thing, is handled in the treatment system in a gender-equal way. And yet, more men are economically dependent on illegal activities or social allowances, while proportionally more women have (relatively more generous and socially more acceptable) sick-leave benefits. More men than women in treatment do not have a home of their own. Men have also more commonly been in prison or in contact with the criminal justice and social welfare systems, whereas women have comparatively often been treated within the general health care or mental health care systems. While the differences between men and women are not always that dramatic, the problem-handling system, reflecting society at large, seems to define many substance-abusing men as undeserving poor. Their care and need of help will be individually needs-tested and the measures taken will more often be correctional or even punitive. Women with problems, on the other hand, more often receive better material security and professional treatment, including psychotropic drugs (which for some become a problem). Storbjork asks whether the long-standing focus on women’s unmet treatment needs has created real problems. This focus may have strengthened stereotypical conceptions about non-existent gender differences. It may also hinder the relevant handling of many men’s problems, because the needs of “undeserving” men have become invisible.