Preventing Substance Abuse & Crime in Special Populations

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): At least 7.5 million people with intellectual disabilities (ID) most with mild disabilities, live in the U.S. As our service delivery system evolves, emphasis has shifted from providing services based on I.Q., to a classification system focused on functional ability identifying the minimum external supports necessary for people with ID (i.e., mental retardation) to survive on their own. The unintended consequence of this shift is that many young adults with mild and moderate ID are at increased risk of falling through the cracks. Due to a lack of social competency, awareness, and social support, they are at increased risk of involvement in behaviors and activities that could result in harm (e.g., substance abuse, crime). Substance abuse and crime prevention training has not been adequately addressed for this vulnerable population Phase II will expand on the work accomplished during development of the Phase I R-SAC prototype (i.e., Refuse-Substance, Alcohol, Crime), and create a series of three interactive DVD programs for young adults with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities (ID). Tailored by sex and content mastery, the repeat-visit programs will address issues and concerns faced by young adults with ID, who are developing into autonomous citizens, with the same rights and risks as you and I. The R-SAC program series, commercially titled 1) Staying Out of Harm's Way: Strategies for Avoiding Alcohol Misuse; 2) Staying Out of Harm's Way: Strategies for Avoiding Substance Abuse; and 3) Staying Out of Harm's Way: Strategies for Avoiding Crimes and the People who Commit Them, will 1) provide knowledge about legal aspects and potential harm related to alcohol abuse, illicit substances, and antisocial or criminal behavior; 2) teach an observation strategy (i.e., Stop-Look-Listen) using examples specific to each program's focus (e.g., substances-program one; alcohol- program two; antisocial behavior-program three); 3) model an array of avoidance and refusal strategies using examples specific to that program's content, and finally, 4) provide practice scenarios, requiring program users to integrate knowledge and observation skills and successfully apply refusal strategies to real-time video-based on-screen simulations portraying peer pressure to engage in harmful activities. Each of the final R-SAC interactive products (i.e., three interactive DVDs) will branch into one of three complete programs (i.e., male program, female program, step-down remedial program). Each branch will be approximately the size of our prototype program (671.5 MB) or slightly larger, and the typical CD-ROM holds about 700 MB. As such, the final products will be produced as hybrid PC/Mac programs, housed on DVD- ROM, creating a truly self-directed, stand-alone learning experience appropriate for program users with mild and moderate ID. A niche analysis, conducted by Foresight Science and Technology, indicates high social value, high interest, low competition, and high sales potentials for a program series of this type.