“Den där bekräftelsen på att jag inte var som andra” En narrativ analys av hur missbruk framställs i självbiografier

The aim of this study was to examine how addiction identity is created and changed and also to examine the link between alcohol and drug addiction, social norms, and stigma by analyzing four autobiographies. A qualitative research method, with a focus on the narrative aspects of the autobiographies, was used to investigate how the authors described their experiences, and how they create understandings and meanings in their lives through their stories. For the analysis, the three theoretical perspectives were applied: Narrative theory about identity, Goffman’s notion of Stigma (2014) and Becker’s notions of norms and outsidership (2006). As a conclusion of this study, it was found that, seen from the narrative theory about identity, that the writers through their stories, gain a better understanding of themselves and their addiction. The stories have also helped the writers to create identities by relating to their past experiences and histories. The study has shown that there is a clear connection between drug addiction, social norms, and stigma. The authors experienced stigma from their surroundings because of their drug addiction. Stigma here occurs when social norms are not followed and normative expectations are set against them. The study has shown that authors in the autobiographies are categorized and seen as deviant or undesirable because they do not live up to what is considered normal by their social environment. The study has also shown that self-stigma occurs when the authors begin to internalize the environment's attitudes towards them as truths. As a result of this, the individual's negative self-image is reinforced and so is the stigma