”Det är nu det vänder” : en kvalitativ litteraturstudie om processen ut ur ett missbruk

Social work has increasingly come under the requirement of evidence-based practice, which might not consider the processes of individual change taking place outside of the field of social work. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the process of turning points and individuals’ desistance from substance abuse. For this study we also looked into the importance of social relationships during the process of turning points. The method that was used for this study was a qualitative textual analysis on six autobiographies, all describing the way out of substance abuse. Our results showed that turning points, and processes of desistance, entailed different events and/or circumstances which in different ways contributed to the persons way out of substance abuse. Of importance was not as much which type of event that occurred, but rather what meaning the individual ascribed to the event. They were differentially affected by similar events during the process, which indicates a uniqueness. The results also showed that social relationships can encourage or inhibit an individual’s desistance from substance abuse. In conclusion, despite differences in individuals own accounts of turning points and processes of desistance there is a general pattern of events which became crucial for the way out of substance abuse