Help seeking among addicted and nonaddicted women of low socioeconomic status

Concern with the provision of health and welfare services to underserved or inappropriately served groups has led to numerous studies of patterns of service utilization. This article focuses on the help-seeking patterns of heroin-addicted and nonaddicted women of lower socioeconomic status. The results suggest addicts generally experience more problems than nonaddicts; those with few problems are less likely to use formal support systems; and black respondents, both addicts and nonaddicts, are less likely to use formal support systems. The evidence indicates that while addicts tend to use natural support systems less frequently than nonaddicts, addiction per se does not explain help seeking when race and number of problems are taken into account. The heavy reliance of both addicts and nonaddicts on informal helpers supports the value of professional efforts designed to facilitate or enhance these networks.