AMBIVALENT ATTACHMENT BETWEEN SIBLINGS OF DRUG USERS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

Using drugs is behavior that is not expected because of the bad impact on physical and mental health, especially to addiction. Especially when in a sibling relationship, there is more than one person who is using or addicted. This situation raises paradoxical questions about the role of siblings, who are usually part of a positive support system. When two people who are siblings are drug users, to what extent does this role hinder decisions regarding drug use, or is it the other way around? If there is a reciprocal relationship between siblings in terms of drug use, then what does he mean to his siblings and what does his siblings mean to him? This situation underlies the need to conduct phenomenological research and is the aim of this research, namely to find out the meaning of life of drug users who have siblings who are drug users. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach and uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) data analysis techniques.

This research was conducted on 3 participants who were drug users who had sibling users. The results of the study show that self-definition for users who have siblings among other users is described as an ambivalent sibling attachment. The results showed that self-definition for users who have siblings among other users is described as ambivalent sibling attachment.

There are 6 themes raised: sibling estrangement/alienation, paradoxical modeling, drug dualism in siblings, permissive parenting and non-compliant children, negative social support and social stigma.