PSYCHOSOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF RECOVERY FROM DRUG DEPENDENCE AMONG WOMEN IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Services Administration. We also express sincere thanks to the women who were so generous and open with their participation in this study. 1ABSTRACT We present findings from a qualitative pilot study designed to uncover mechanisms in the treatment process that foster recovery from drug dependence among women with felony level criminal involvement. We interviewed eleven women who had successfully completed treatment in one gender-sensitive program. Their extended personal narratives reveal an uncharacteristically intimate and client-centered perspective on how women internalize treatment interventions to promote positive change. Surviving extreme adversity and trauma; identifying and engaging with peers; and healing longstanding emotional wounds played crucial roles in the recovery processes shared by these women. Our findings support the main principles on which gender-specific interventions rest. Recovery is about more than getting off drugs; it is often involves healing from years of abuse, neglect, and shame; as well as the necessity of creating a relationally meaningful, legal, and materially sustaining livelihood in the face of substantial social and economic barriers