Conditions for recovery from alcohol and drug abuse – comparisons between male and female clients of different social position

Abstract

This study adduces an interactive perspective on treatment and relates to research describing change as a process. It focuses on differences in how the importance of internal and social factors for the change process is described among male and female clients of different social position. The concept of recovery capital is used as analytic tool. Female and male clients were interviewed and asked to talk about factors they perceived as important for initiating and maintaining change. The use of a relatively large amount of interviews strengthen the possibilities of drawing generalized conclusions on differences between the groups, making comparisons possible while still keeping the qualitative meaning of the investigated factors. The most important finding in the study is that the implications of different factors during the change process seem to relate to gender stereotypes and that the client’s social position (defined as marginalized or integrated) seems to be important for how gender stereotypes emerge. It is argued that gender stereotypes can serve both as a support and a hinder during recovery. This is discussed using the concept of recovery capital to illuminate qualitative differences regarding the importance of internal and social factors for the process of change for men and women of different social position.

Keywords:

• Recovery
• client perspective
• social position
• social work
• substance abuse

Notes

1. AA = Alcoholics Anonymous, DAA = Drug Addicts Anonymous, NA = Narcotics Anonymous.

2. Being too young do not only refer to their actual age, but also and in particular to them still being a part of their original family i.e. the family they grew up in.

3. The clients in the marginalised groups are younger than the clients in the integrated groups. Social factors such as work and housing and family relations usually stabilise over time, which means that a young person might not yet have amassed any larger recovery capital in this sense. However, the marginalised groups have other factors that are not related to age and that indicate a marginalised position such as prostitution, violence and criminality.