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.
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.
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