Rehabilitation Centre
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I went to a social work visit at a drug rehabilitation centre. This centre serves as a place for drug addicts to quit their drug addiction and at the same time learn new skills so that they can fit into the society when they are ready.
It was an old school hidden deep inside the estate hence the place was kind of conducive. I think it was a strategy not to let the drug addicts get bad influence from the society. Also, the staff working there are quite young in my opinion. It was interesting as normally people will expect older people to be in-charge of that place. And yet what I observed was a few young people in the office. Also, the relationship between the director of the centre, the staff and the offenders are rather close. This is quite heartwarming as it shows that a rehab centre is not all cold and quiet, instead warm and lively.
After the talk, I asked the director a question. “Will putting all the drug addicts together lead to them influencing each other negatively?” As most drug addicts get easily influenced by their other friends, there might be a chance where they influence each other in the centre. And the answer is no. This is because the residents already have the mindset to quit the habit and they believe strongly in God, as the centre uses faith to help them.
As we were touring around the centre, there were residents around the place. I can see that my course mates are rather afraid to look them in the eye or just look at their direction. I think that this behavior is instilled in us due to our stereotyping of drug addicts. We are afraid that they might harm us. I feel that it is important to educate the society that drug addicts or any other ex-offenders are also human, like us. We can be afraid of them, it is natural, but we should also give them another chance and not condemn them for life. Still, easier said than done. I know it will take a lot of time for the society to slowly accept them. Thanks to the Yellow ribbon project and many other movements now, ex-offenders are getting a new chance in their life.
All in all, I feel that this visit had certainly changed my perception of many things.