“I Was Raised in Addiction”: Constructions of the Self and the Other in Discourses of Addiction and Recovery

Abstract

The aim of this article is to address how conceptualizations of addiction shape the lived experiences of people who use drugs (PWUDs) during the current opioid epidemic. Using a discourse analytic approach, we examine interview transcripts from 27 PWUDs in rural Appalachian Ohio. We investigate the ways in which participants talk about their substance use, what these linguistic choices reveal about their conceptions of self and other PWUDs, and how participants’ discursive caches might be constrained by or defined within broader social discourses. We highlight three subject positions enacted by participants during the interviews: addict as victim of circumstance, addict as good Samaritan, and addict as motivated for change. We argue participants leverage these positions to contrast themselves with a reified addict-other whose identity carries socially ascribed characteristics of being blameworthy, immoral, callous, and complicit. We implicate these processes in the perpetuation of intragroup stigma and discuss implications for intervention.

“I Didn't See It as a Problem, I Thought It Was Going to Be Taken Away”: Narratives From Family Members of Users in Rehab

“…If this is achieved, they will have the possibility of restoring their links with their relatives and restoring their reputation within the family. In the recovery process, addiction is also constructed as a problem to overcome, and agency is promoted in people with substance use problems to decide if they want to continue substance use (42). This coincides with previous findings about an increase in the locus of internal control according to the duration of treatment given that self-regulation processes are produced (37).…”

How do Past, Present and Future Weigh into Trajectories of Precarity? The Time Perspectives of Young Psychoactive Substance Users Living in Situations of Social Precarity in Montreal

“…In practical terms, this would imply expanding the range of possibilities. Diversifying experience and facilitating immersion in previously inaccessible educational, professional and social milieus is one set of possibilities; facilitating contact with authorities who could work with the youth in question to create a safe framework for exploring new horizons and help them find opportunities for self-fulfilment, is another (Baillergeau, 2019;Baillergeau & Duyvendak, 2019;Sibley et al, 2020).…”

“…Nonetheless, substance use trajectories appear to closely relate to overall life trajectories. For many, substance use had been in the picture since childhood, often adding to the burden they had had to shoulder while growing up (Sibley et al, 2020). From a present-day standpoint, then, psychoactive substance use could represent a way to cope with the rigours of life on the street, temporarily forget about their living conditions and bond with peers (Sibley et al, 2020).…”

“…For many, substance use had been in the picture since childhood, often adding to the burden they had had to shoulder while growing up (Sibley et al, 2020). From a present-day standpoint, then, psychoactive substance use could represent a way to cope with the rigours of life on the street, temporarily forget about their living conditions and bond with peers (Sibley et al, 2020). Consequently, and despite the negative consequences associated with substance use, such interactions could strengthen the links between behaviour and identity, especially during this crucial period of development in which individual values and beliefs are defined (Wagner et al, 2017).…”

Experimental (Re)structuring: The Clinical Trial as Turning Point Among Medical Research Participants

“…Furthermore, PSUD may dedicate significant time and energy to substance use (e.g., drug acquisition and use; intoxication, etc. ), and thus the effective treatment of substance use disorders through the RCT may have far-reaching benefits, as documented in other treatment settings or events that prompt cessation in substance use (Brookfield et al, 2019; Rhodes et al, 2018; Sibley et al, 2020; Teruya & Hser, 2010).…”