Brief Group Intervention on Substance Use Prevention for Children in Conflict with Law

India, with a population of 253 million, has 21% of this massive population comprised of children, a statistic that emphasizes India’s status as home to one of the largest child and adolescent populations globally; that means every fifth person in India belongs to the age group of 10 to 19 years.  (Census-India 2011; UNICEF 2023). The Magnitude of Substance Use in India Report, 2019 shows a prevalence of 1.8% opioids, 1.3% alcohol, 1.17% volatile solvents, and 0.9% cannabis among adolescents (MoSJE). The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4) in 2019 revealed that one-fifth of students aged 13 to 15 had ever used any form of tobacco product, and 2.8% of students had ever used e-cigarettes. (MoHFW, 2021). Lifetime substance-use disorder prevalence rates ranged between 22% and 96% for juvenile justice-involved adolescents, higher than the 7%–11% prevalence rates for adolescents in the general population (Rohan et al.2020). In the Indian context, the term “Children In Conflict With Law” (CICL) refers to individuals below the age of 18 years who are alleged or found to have committed offenses.  (The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015). This can encompass various unlawful behaviors, from petty crimes to more serious offenses. These children come into contact with the legal system due to their actions, causing consequences that can include judicial proceedings, detention, or rehabilitation measures. Children in conflict with the law are vulnerable to substance abuse due to a variety of bio-psycho-social factors. Adolescents struggling with psychosocial vulnerabilities, particularly those linked to substance use, can often find themselves in conflict with the law. (Whitesell,2013) The adolescent brain is still developing and drug use can have long-term negative effects. Early drug use initiation can lead to faster development of dependence in adulthood. Young people are more vulnerable to drug use than adults are (UNDOC,2023). Children in conflict with the law (CICL) and children in need of care and protection (CINCP) have a higher prevalence of mental health- and substance use related problems; similarly, juveniles with mental health problems have a higher chance of coming in contact with JJS (Snehi, Gupta., 2020) Meta-analysis findings suggest drug users were 7 to 8 times more likely to offend than nondrug users, and integrating psychosocial interventions into rehabilitation frameworks gives a higher chance of breaking this cycle (Bennett T., 2008).

Often, within correctional settings, attention leans toward the legal dimensions of CICL, overshadowing the issue of substance use and intervention focusing on this aspect. Works of literature exist in the Indian context on curative perspectives of substance use in this population. Very few studies focus on the prevention and promotional aspects of substance use, and studies suggest that preventive strategies should be strengthened for at-risk populations: school dropouts, first-time offenders, and juveniles with externalizing disorders (Snehil & Gupta, 2020). Research on interventions for preventing substance use among Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) is limited, especially in terms of examining the deep psychosocial factors that contribute to substance misuse and the development of preventive and promotive strategies, this gap is notably evident in the context of India (Das et al 2016). The current study aims to fill the existing research gap in the literature on preventive interventions for substance use in this population.

The current study uses the Quasi-experimental research design with pre-post research design without a control group, comprising three phases, namely the need assessment phase, the intervention phase, and the post-assessment phase. This research design allows the same group to be compared over time by considering the data trend before and after the intervention. During the first qualitative phase, the researcher conducts focus group discussions with Children in conflict with the Law, Key Informant interviews with key stakeholders, and field experts and In-depth interviews with the Parents of Children in conflict with the Law to identify the existing needs for psychosocial intervention needs in addressing substance use among Children in conflict with the law that time bounding, contextual and culturally sensitive. The samples are recruited voluntarily with prior informed written consent, and the sample size for this phase will be decided based on data saturation. The data will be audio-recorded and transcribed to identify the relevant themes. A group intervention module will be developed based on the emerging themes from the needs assessment. The content, duration, and methodology of the sessions will be validated by the experts. The study’s second phase aims at the delivery of the intervention based on the intervention module to 65 Participants who will be recruited based on the inclusion-exclusion criteria on a consecutive sampling method after prior informed assent from Children in Conflict with the law (CICL) and consent from parents of CICL. The research tools include ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test) by WHO to assess the pattern and severity of Substance use, Brief COPE- Carver C.S., 1997, to identify the coping pattern, and the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ), a brief behavioural screening questionnaire to screen the internalising and externalising problems in the subjects along with the Knowledge, attitude practice questionnaire and Socio-demographic sheets to collect the basic profiles. During the post-intervention period, the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice questionnaire will be used at two times a month after the intervention and  3 months later as a follow-up. Data would be assessed using appropriate statistical tests based on the normality of data distribution.