The Sober Professor: Reflections on the Sober Paradox, Sober Phobia, and Disclosing an Alcohol Recovery Identity in Academia

Abstract

Fueled by stigma, individuals in, or seeking recovery from addiction struggle with disclosure across personal and professional life domains. Guided by the concepts of stigma and alcogenic environments, this paper explores the risks, benefits, and paradoxes of disclosing an alcohol addiction recovery identity from the perspective of an assistant professor in a Canadian university context. It argues that disclosure can be a promising way to strengthen personal recovery, combat self and public stigma, help build community, model authenticity and transparency in teaching and research roles, shift university drinking culture, and provide a safer environment for others to disclose and/or seek help for addiction. Policy and practice recommendations are provided.

“That's bang out of order, mate!”: Gendered and racialized micro‐practices of disadvantage and privilege in UK business schools

“…Daniel's extract confirms a point frequently made about western universities being alcogenic environments, where alcohol consumption, even excessive, is not only widely accepted and expected, but also encouraged (Burns, 2021).…”

Fault/Lines: New Directions in Critical Drug Scholarship Inspired by the Work of David Moore and Colleagues

“…Here, Revier revisits the diaries, interrogating why he had not written about them before, as well as how the process of studying alcohol and other drug use had shaped the way he understood himself, his habits and his participants. In exploring these questions, Revier is also taking inspiration from recent autoethnographic work (Ettorre, 2017) and other work on drug use, positionality and reflexivity published in Contemporary Drug Problems (e.g., Burns, 2021;Ross et al, 2020). In an important provocation, Revier invites us to explore the centrality of contemplation, uncertainty, ambiguity and flux as it pertains to drug use, the demand for certainty, progress and change, and the relationship between these forces and research, which often demand clean and simplistic findings in which everything is "figured out."…”

“…Here, Revier revisits the diaries, interrogating why he had not written about them before, as well as how the process of studying alcohol and other drug use had shaped the way he understood himself, his habits and his participants. In exploring these questions, Revier is also taking inspiration from recent autoethnographic work (Ettorre, 2017) and other work on drug use, positionality and reflexivity published in Contemporary Drug Problems (e.g., Burns, 2021; Ross et al, 2020). In an important provocation, Revier invites us to explore the centrality of contemplation, uncertainty, ambiguity and flux as it pertains to drug use, the demand for certainty, progress and change, and the relationship between these forces and research, which often demand clean and simplistic findings in which everything is “figured out.” In drawing these ideas together, Revier touches upon a central theme in critical alcohol and other drug scholarship: a concern with simplification, order and rigidity, the “ontopolitics” of drug research (Fraser, 2020) and the role of research methods and other practices in the making of alcohol and other drug realities (e.g., Campbell, 2007; Duff, 2012; Farrugia, 2017; Fitzgerald, 2015; Fraser & Moore, 2011; Vrecko, 2010).…”

Figuring Things Out: Contemplating Drug Addiction and Disclosure In and Out of the Field

“…Risks include potential criminal investigation, academic dismissal, blocked promotion, and the loss of credibility by students, colleagues, and fellow researchers (Ross et al, 2020). Alcohol abstinent scholars experience a kind of double stigma, as having a drinking problem and completely abstaining are deviant in many social contexts (Romo et al, 2016); this is especially pronounced in academic settings (Burns, 2021). Risks are amplified for researchers who use/d illicit drugs, like methamphetamine (meth), heroin, or crack-cocaine (Walker, 2021).…”

“…In being in contemplation, I may have reinforced stereotypes about participants by casting them as monolithic users—as real users who use real drugs (Richards, 2008). I told Megan I had not experienced “full blown addiction,” and I wrote that my drug use “isn’t at the extreme level.” This was despite my regular use of alcohol which is associated with three million deaths each year worldwide (World Health Organization, 2018; see also Burns, 2021). Taking a hit of meth or trying Suboxone would put me at an “extreme level” but periodically taking Adderall, cocaine, or MDMA (orally and intranasally) did not place me on such a level.…”