“I'm Going to Shut Down All of Your Tricks”: Depictions of Treatment Professionals in Addiction Entertainment

ABSTRACT

Background: Previous research on addiction themed reality television shows has focused on the depiction of addiction and treatment and has concluded that these shows reinforce stigma. Existing research has not investigated the depiction of treatment professionals in these series. Objectives: This study fills the gap in existing research by analyzing the representations of treatment professionals in reality television shows, including the ways that the shows are edited, the statements made by treatment professionals, and interactions between treatment professionals and laypersons. Methods: The data for this study was drawn from two popular reality shows Intervention and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Using a total of 117 episodes, a qualitative content analysis of the representations of treatment professionals in the two series was conducted. Results: The data reveal the ways that depictions of treatment professionals are carefully controlled compared to those of people with substance use issues. In addition, treatment professionals are granted opportunities to interpret, explain, and diagnose the behaviors and experiences of people with substance use problem. Finally, when confronted with resistance treatment professionals assert their authority and demand compliance with their orders. Conclusions/Importance: In strategically presenting treatment professionals in sharp contrast to people with substance use problems, these portrayals of treatment professionals actually reinforce rather than contradict the stigma of addiction.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction
• stigma
• reality television
• media messages
• celebrity
• intervention

Glossary

• Addiction entertainment: A subgenre of reality television show programming that depicts addiction and treatment in a documentary style.

• Content analysis: A method for systematically coding qualitative material to identify themes across the data set.

• Stigmatization: A social process in which a group is labeled as being different, associated with negative stereotypes, and socially devalued. Members of stigmatized groups may experience a loss of social status and discrimination.

Declaration of interest

The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

1 See Kosovski and Smith, 2011 for a detailed description of the format of Intervention episodes.

2 The episode numbers tend to vary depending on source (e.g., IMDB, Wikipedia, A&E's website, etc.). I originally streamed these episodes through Netflix and selected episodes from that site. These episodes are no longer available through Netflix. Because of the inconsistent episode numbering, I provide the name of the featured person with every episode reference in this series.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kimberly M. Baker

Kimberly M. Baker, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology at the University of Northern Iowa. As a sociologist, her research focuses on the social control of substance use. Her earlier work analyzed the decision-making process among officials in drug court. Her current research has turned to addiction-themed reality television shows. In particular, she focuses on the ways that treatment professionals, friends, and families interact with and respond to individuals with substance use problems.