Conceptualizing Social Recovery: Recovery Routes of Methamphetamine Users

Authors

Miriam Boeri, Bentley University
David Gibson, Kennesaw State University
Paul Boshears Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien (The European Graduate School)

Abstract

"The goal of our qualitative study was to gain a phenomenological understanding of routes to recovery from problematic drug use. In-depth interviews and drug histories were collected from 50 former methamphetamine users recruited from a U.S. metropolitan suburb who identified as having had problematic use of this drug in the past. Transcripts of the audio-recorded interviews were coded for common themes regarding types of recovery strategies or tools employed on the route to recovery. The common strategies used in all routes for recovery from problematic methamphetamine use were social in nature and did not necessarily include the cessation of all substances. Based on our findings, we suggest a conceptualization of social recovery that focuses on reducing the social harms caused by problematic drug use rather than focusing primarily on cessation of all drug use. Social recovery may be employed as both a treatment strategy and analytical tool. More research is needed to advance the concept of social recovery for intervention, drug policy, and criminal justice implications."

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Boeri, Miriam; Gibson, David; and Boshears, Paul Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien (The European Graduate School) (2014) "Conceptualizing Social Recovery: Recovery Routes of Methamphetamine Users," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol2/iss1/2