Author(s)

Asbah Binti Razali^1*, Nur Azah Binti Razali², Farimah Dokoushkani³, Aida Mehrad³

¹Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
²Universiti Tun Hussien Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Batu Pahat, Malaysia.
³Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Malaysia.

The recidivism rate in substance abuse is linked to the failure of addicts to wean off their dependency on drugs, especially for addicts that had served their treatment and rehabilitation. This situation occurred because the addicts, after receiving treatment, faced environmental pressure and risky situations that triggered a negative response on their part. Based on previous studies, quality of life could be one factor that helps reduce former addicts’ recidivism rate. A higher quality of life could also provide them with the strength and control necessary to resist reverting to drug abuse. This quality would positively affect the former addicts as it is linked to feelings of happiness, enjoyment, joy, and satisfaction. This paper touches on the definition of quality of life and previous studies regarding the quality of life factor and recidivism. The quality of life factor could hopefully provide a new perspective in rehabilitating former drug addicts and help them fight the urges to use drugs again. It is hoped this study report would be a guideline for recidivisms prevention programmes, especially for authorities responsible for managing problem related to drug abuse. The discussions in this paper hopefully could be useful to all related bodies in formulating a rehabilitation and prevention programme for former addicts to prevent them from lapsing. This situation would then help in reducing government burden in their efforts to tackle the problem.

Recidivism, Quality of Life Could, Former Drug Abuse

Razali, A. , Razali, N. , Dokoushkani, F. and Mehrad, A. (2015) Recidivism and Quality of Life among Former Drug Addicts: A Report Based on Prior Studies. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 3, 44-49. doi: 10.4236/jss.2015.34006.