Pathways to Drug Addiction Among Ultraorthodox Young People

Background: The etiology of substance use disorders (SUD) is thought to be composed of personal, environmental and biological factors. Religion and traditional communities are considered to be protective factors that reduce the substance use and addiction. In recent years, however, mainly due to advances in technology and communication, drug use has also penetrated religious and Ultraorthodox populations. This study explored the specific pathways leading to SUD in young Jewish males raised in the Ultraorthodox community in Israel.

Methods: A qualitative method design was utilized. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 13 young men (aged 18-35) raised in Ultraorthodox families, were conducted between August 2020 and March 2021. The participants were currently in treatment or had been treated within the last five years in local authority addiction treatment centers. All the participants had been in recovery for at least a year.

Findings: Content analysis identified four main pathways leading to SUD among Ultraorthodox males: a personal pathway, a family pathway, an educational pathway and a community pathway. The personal path mainly included feelings of difference and a lack of belonging, alongside a longing for belonging. The family path related to belonging to a family that is not part of mainstream Ultraorthodox society (for example, newly religious families, families with Hasidic roots in Lithuania, etc.), as well as a past history of family addiction and complex relationships with the father figure. The educational path predominated when educational frameworks did not match the young person's needs and eventually led to encounters with young males who introduced the participant to drugs. The community path began with a critique of Ultraorthodox society and led to a process of disengagement. Drug use often paralleled the process of leaving Ultraorthodox society and religion.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings shed light on the specificity of the process of addiction to psychoactive substances in Ultraorthodox society, which extends beyond the personal realm. Since Ultraorthodox men usually start to use drug as teens, they face environmental and familial stressors in addition to the factors related to adolescent development itself. Each system on its own, and their combination, constitute a potential trigger for drug use. When developing drug prevention programs, social workers should address the personal, familial, educational and communal factors affecting the Ultraorthodox client, and see each as a target for intervention. Future studies should explore the addiction process in the Ultraorthodox community in relation to other addictions such as gambling, and prevalence and recovery processes in both men and women.

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