Long-Term Recovery from Heroin Use Among Female Ex-Offenders: Marisol's Story

Abstract

Ex-offenders experience various difficulties in successfully reentering communities post-incarceration. For those with a history of opioid misuse, despite various interventions, long-term recovery rates are relatively low. Additionally, the difficulties ex-offenders experience reintegrating with their families and communities are further compounded by the stigma and structural barriers posed by prior criminal and drug use histories. This qualitative study, using in-depth interviews conducted during an 18-month period between mid 2004 and late 2005 examines the process of creating and maintaining abstinence among 25 former heroin users, mostly Latino and African American New York City ex-offenders who have remained abstinent from heroin use for a period of 5 yr or longer. Focusing primarily on the story of one female respondent and in participants' own words, the factors that they found to be most salient in enhancing their recovery efforts (positive peer support, motivational tools, exercise, meditation, skills enhancement) are examined. The study findings suggest that reentry programs and policies can help ex-offenders sustain long-term abstinence and prosocial lifestyles by supporting the various coping strategies that they identify as being particularly valuable.

Desistance in drug-using offenders: A narrative review

“…Eleven studies clearly describe in the methods section that they exclusively include 'drug-using offenders' (Bakken et al, 2014;Colman and Vander Laenen, 2012;Davis, 2012;Griffin and Armstrong, 2003;Landale and Roderick, 2014;Marsh, 2011;Martin et al, 2011;McCray et al, 2011;O'Connell et al, 2007;Ronel et al, 2013;Wooditch et al, 2014). In two contributions the authors do not clearly state if the sample exclusively consists of drug-using offenders (Taylor, 2008;Tiburcio, 2008). However, the way they report their results suggests that this is the case.…”

“…In the included studies, 'drug use' is approached in different ways. Multiplicity in the usage of terms can be observed in the methods section: 'drug use' (Bakken et al, 2014;Colman and Vander Laenen, 2012;O'Connell et al, 2007;Taylor, 2008;Wooditch et al, 2014), 'drug use problems' (Landale and Roderick, 2014), 'dependent use' (Tiburcio, 2008), 'drug abuse' (Davis, 2012;Ronel et al, 2013;Taylor, 2008), 'drug dependence' (Ronel et al, 2013), 'drug abuse problems' (Bahr et al, 2012;Griffin and Armstrong, 2003), 'substance misuse' (Walters, 1996), 'drug involvement' (Martin et al, 2011) and 'drug addiction' (Marsh, 2011;McCray et al, 2011). The majority of the included articles (n = 11) do not specify a particular drug type or types for inclusion in the study, so that it is possible that the sample includes users of a diverse range of substances.…”

“…Additionally, a number of the studies specify other inclusion criteria regarding patterns of drug use: 'at least three times a week for one year' (Colman and Vander Laenen, 2012), 'almost daily basis during their offending careers' (Marsh, 2011), 'prior substance misuse spanning three or more consecutive months' (Walters, 1996), 'an almost daily basis for a period of a year or more' and 'at least one prior arrest or conviction related to such use' ('problematic use') (Tiburcio, 2008). The heterogeneity in the conceptualization and operationalization of 'drug use' causes important potential differences in the severity of drug use across the samples.…”

Substanzabhängigkeit vom Opioidtyp – Behandlung mit oralen retardierten Morphinen

“…Die F ö rderung der Einbettung von opioidabh ä ngigen Patientinnen und Pa tienten in die Main-Stream-Medizin, vor allem durch die Erm ö glichung der Behandlung bei niedergelassenen Ä rztinnen und Ä rzten, stellt die Voraussetzung f ü r eine Verminderung der Stigmatisierung dieser Bev ö lkerungspopulation durch die Gesellschaft dar und erm ö glicht den Abbau von Vorurteilen. Denn noch immer werden Suchterkrankungen, vor allem Abh ä ngigkeiten von illegalen Substanzen, sehr stark moralisierend bewertet [44] .…”

Labyrinth Walking in Corrections

“…Overall, 3 year recidivism rates for males incarcerated in Massachusetts dropped from approximately 44% in 1995 and 1996 to approximately 39% for the subsequent years through 2002 (Kohl, Matthews Hoover, McDonald, & Solomon, 2008). However, a lack of education, marketable skills, and stable support systems confound ex-offenders' success once released from prison, and can lead to increased recidivism (Tiburcio, 2008).…”