Narratives of Identity Reconstruction Among Recovering Drug Dependents

Abstract

This study explored the recovery narratives and identity reconstruction of seven recovering Filipino drug dependents in a rehabilitation center. Extant literature on drug abuse in the country has been limited to etiology and treatment, as well as the difficulties experienced by drug dependents following release from the rehabilitation center. The narratives culled in this study, however, gave depth and continuity to the experiences during rehabilitation and recovery. This study highlighted the role of Filipino values in driving the narrative forward. Using narrative analysis and self-positioning theory, seven main plots of the recovery narrative and the respective self-positions emerged. The plot progressed from etiology, to admission, and to recovery. Meanwhile, the positions showed participants' transition from an addict identity to a non-addict identity, within the rehabilitation process. Findings from this study offer new insights into drug abuse recovery as an attempt to fill the methodological and epistemological gap in addiction studies; moreover, this research shows how the combination of narrative analysis and positioning theory offers researchers a rigorous method that can contribute to studies that focus on identity and change, thus expanding the understanding of drug abuse beyond pathology.