Recovery from problem drug use: What can we learn from the sociologist Erving Goffman?

Abstract

In this commentary, we critically review the contribution of the sociologist Erving Goffman to understanding recovery from problem drug use. Previous research has indicated that drug users have a 'spoiled identity' and must restore a 'normal' or 'unspoiled' identity in order to recover. This argument has been linked to Goffman's classic work Stigma: Notes on the management of a spoiled identity [1963, Harmondsworth: Penguin]. Despite its evident appeal, linking recovery to repairing a spoiled identity has a number of problems. These include the derogatory connotations of 'spoiled', and the fact that the 'momentary' spoiled identity that Goffman likely intended is easily lost to a more 'totalizing' spoiled identity, from which it can be difficult for individuals to escape. Given such shortcomings, we consider how Goffman's broader dramaturgical work might contribute to our understanding of recovery processes. Dramaturgy, which focuses on the performative aspects of selfhood and the relational and situational nature of identity, suggests ways that individuals can work on their identity (and recovery) projects without over-prioritizing abstinence. We suggest that dramaturgy is more useful than the notion of repairing a spoiled identity for understanding and facilitating recovery. Nonetheless, it has limitations and other sociological perspectives provide fertile ground for future debate. BACKGROUND

Overcoming alcohol and other drug addiction as a process of social identity transition: the social identity model of recovery (SIMOR)

“…In a critique of this conclusion, Neale, Nettleton and Pickering (2011) contend that the notion of a spoiled identity is pejorative and that it neglects the range of alternative identities available to individuals across different social contexts (e.g., as father, daughter, neighbour, etc.) and overemphasises the salience and primacy of the identity associated with substance misuse.…”

Zombies, Drugs, and Florida Weirdness

“…Though stigma continues to be associated with illegal drug use (Neale, Nettleton, and Pickering 2011), this paper argues that an avoidance of mental illness as explanation reveals how it continues to fail to be a resonant explanation in news.…”

What factors predict the self-identification of drug dependency among criminal justice populations? Prevalence, correlates, and implications for the criminal justice system

“…While understanding the prevalence and dynamics of self-reported dependency is important for improving equity in the criminal justice system, whether an offender self-identifies as drug dependent is also important for another reason. Identity has been shown to be a powerful mediator of antisocial behaviour, including the persistence of both criminal (Asencio, 2013;Asencio & Burke, 2011;Brezina & Topalli, 2012;Little, 1990;Rocque et al, 2016;Veysey & Rivera, 2017) and drug use behaviours separately (Dahl, 2015;Dingle et al, 2015;Mackinem & Higgins, 2008;McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001;Neale et al, 2011;Shinebourne & Smith, 2009;Vryan, Adler, & Adler, 2003), as well as the correlation between the two (DeLisi, Angton, Behnken, & Kusow, 2015;Dingle et al, 2015;Erikson, 1968;Everitt & Robbins, 2016;Howard, 2000;Mackinem & Higgins, 2008;McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001). Criminologists, for example, have long focussed on the principles of interactionism and the evolution of antisocial identities as an explanation for both criminal persistence (H Becker, 1953;HS Becker, 1963;Erikson, 1968;Lemert, 1951;Mead, 1934) and desistance (Hammersley, 2011;Maruna, Lebel, Mitchell, & Naples, 2004;Paternoster, Bachman, Bushway, Kerrison, & O'Connell, 2015;Paternoster & Bushway, 2009;Rocque, Posick, & Paternoster, 2016;Veysey & Rivera, 2017).…”

“…'father' or 'mother'). They argued that the process of desisting from regular drug use was a process by which an individual learns to manage a so-called "spoiled identity" (Neale et al, 2011) -something which is achieved by the restoration of a previous, socially acceptable identity, or the establishment of a new, 'non-addict' identity.…”