In order to capture key personal and social resources individuals are able to access in their efforts to overcome substance misuse, we introduced the construct of recovery capital into the literature. The purpose of this paper is to further explore the construct and include discussions of implications unexplored in our previous writings. In this paper we reveal the relationship between access to large amounts of recovery capital and substance misuse maintenance and introduce the concept of negative recovery capital. In doing so, we examine the relationships between negative recovery capital and gender, age, health, mental health, and incarceration.

This paper explores the social context of "natural recovery" from problems associated with the misuse of intoxicants. Using data collected from in-depth interviews with 46 former alcohol- and drug-dependent persons, this paper examines how the social capital that these respondents had accumulated prior to their addiction and maintained during it aided in their recovery without treatment. We specifically explore how the relations within their lives and the actual and virtual resources available to subjects through their social capital aided in our respondents' "natural recovery" from drug-use related problems. We conclude with a discussion of the implications an analysis of social capital has for the treatment of drug-associated problems as well as for drug policy.

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This paper examines the characteristics of middle-class alcoholics and drug addicts who terminate their addictions without the benefit of treatment. Using what is commonly referred to as “natural recovery” processes, respondents terminated their addictions without formal treatment or self-help group assistance. Data for this study are based on in-depth interviews with 46 alcoholics and drug addicts who were identified through snowball sampling techniques. First, we examine the postaddict identities of our respondents to see how they view themselves in relation to their addictive past. Next, we explore the reasons respondents gave for avoiding treatment and self-help groups. We then examine the factors in our respondents' lives that promoted natural recovery. Finally, this paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance of our findings to clinical treatment and social policy.

This study examines upward mobility among working-class law students. It posits that the experiences of these students can be understood from a perspective of stigma. A triangulated methodology consisting of interviews, participant observation, and questionnaires is used to examine the adjustment of these law students to an elite law school environment, where they experience a class stigma which creates identity problems. Like other individuals who experience stigma, these students learn to hide their class background in order to manage their identity. However, in their efforts to conceal their background they experience identity ambivalence. The accommodation strategies that students use to over come this ambivalence are explored.

Recent data on lawyer participation in pro bono have suggested that such work flows from the intrinsic value one derives from volunteering as well as from workplace characteristics of those who provide pro bono service. This finding would imply that pro bono emerges not merely from individual personality traits but that the workplace environment structures motives and incentives for pro bono work. Such a finding points to a need to disentangle the effects of diverse workplace settings on the construction of different vocabularies of motive for engaging in pro bono work. In this article I employ an institutional framework to examine the impact of the workplace environment on participation in pro bono work among lawyers. Survey data were collected from 474 lawyers who graduated from three law schools that have mandatory pro bono requirements. Results indicate that lawyers' meanings of pro bono as well as their motivations for doing such work and the benefits they attribute to such work vary across workplace settings. These results are discussed in relation to institutional theory.

This paper reports on a retrospective study of the Denver Drug Court that was conducted to assess the court’s impact on court processing, treatment matching, and offender recidivism. A sample of 300 offenders from the Denver Drug Court and drug offenders from two previous years prior to the drug court was obtained. Quasi‐experimental procedures were used to examine differences in measured variables across each offender cohort. Data for this study were collected from court records as well as through on‐line arrest records. This paper begins with an exploration of the organizational framework of the Denver Drug Court and the court’s related treatment options. It also examines the extant literature on the effectiveness of drug courts. Analysis of the data indicates that the Denver Drug Court has reduced case processing time and it has slightly reduced the amount of time offenders spend in presentence confinement. Unlike previous studies of drug courts, this study attempted to examine the court’s ability to match offenders to treatment needs. Analysis of the available data, although limited, suggests that offenders are being matched to appropriate levels of treatment. Finally, data analysis indicates no significant differences in revocation or rearrest rates. This article concludes with a discussion of the controversial nature of drug courts. Directions for future research are offered.

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