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Abstract
Past research has demonstrated the utility of on-line support groups for individuals to form relationships and make connections. Additionally, some on-line communities have expanded to provide various types of support, particularly for deviant behavior. These virtual communities may be particularly indispensable to individuals who, out of fear of condemnation, are reluctant to seek traditional forms of social support. For purposes of this study, we examined how members of a substance abuse recovery on-line support group expressed feelings pertaining to their own substance abuse, as well as their processes of attempted or successful recovery. Using an inductive approach for our preliminary analysis, we first assessed which theories were most prevalent throughout the writers’ journals. We then used these theories, both Hirschi’s theory of social control and Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming, as frameworks to explore the differences between those who were in recovery and those who were still using.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank Heith Copes and the anonymous reviewers for their many comments and helpful suggestions.
Notes
1. 1“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other” (Niebuhr Citation1934).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Vanessa H. Woodward
VANESSA H. WOODWARD, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of criminology at the University of West Georgia. Her research interests include drug policy, community crime prevention, and policy evaluation. Her research has been published in American Journal of Criminal Justice, Synergy, and Deviant Behavior.
Marcos Luis Misis
MARCOS LUIS MISIS, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of criminal justice at Northern Kentucky University. His research interests include criminological theory, police stress, theoretical explanations of terrorism, homeland security, human and drug trafficking, and ethnography. His research has been published in the Sage Open Journal.
O. Hayden Griffin
O. HAYDEN GRIFFIN, III, J.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of justice studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research interests are drug policy, corrections, and law & society. His research has been published in International Journal of Drug Policy, Journal of Drug Issues, and Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.