To Örebro University

The purpose of the study has been to examine the social support available to families of individuals with substance abuse problems. Our purpose is answered by a qualitative survey where we interviwed seven respondents in seven different activities with relevance to the topic. The interview guide was designed according to four themes in which the first theme is to collect background data about the activities while the other three are formed to provide answers to our questions. The results show that families often feel lonely, helpless and powerless and are therefore in need of support from the community and others. This is in the form of, among other thing, dialogues in groups were individuals can exchange experiences and finds out that they are not alone. A gender perspective was examined in the study which showed that the majority of those who apply to the activities was women and that men are often comes in context such as the father of a family. The study is relevant and necessary, as our study as shown that it is important to have family support then the families affected by the relative abuse. The study is also important because these problems need more attention in society. Finally, we can state that there is support available for families today but it needs to be developed.