Parent Identity as a Resource for Recovery from Addiction

The predominant aetiological and treatment models for alcohol and other drug (AOD) addiction often take an individualistic approach, however emergent literature emphasises how both AOD addiction and recovery are often socially mediated\ua0(Best et al., 2015). The social identity approach to recovery proposes that recovery is a process of identity change that occurs alongside and through changes in social group membership from those that are supportive of AOD use to those that support recovery\ua0(Best et al., 2015). This thesis was designed to investigate if the changes in an individual’s social identity and social network that occurs during and after residential treatment programs promote long-term recovery from AOD addiction. The particular focus was on parents entering therapeutic community treatment for AOD addiction.\ua0Parents who are addicted experience complex and challenging lives and there can often be a conflict between their parenting social identity and their identity as an addict\ua0(Secco, Letourneau, Campbell, Craig, & Colpitts, 2014).\ua0The research comprised of two studies. Study One involved a quantitative study, using both questionnaire-based and innovative visual mapping methods that assessed participants (N\ua0= 307) at entry to a therapeutic community (Time 1) and at follow up at six months (Time 2). Outcomes of interest were substance use cessation, group membership change, recovery capital, quality of life, personal wellbeing and commitment to sobriety. The results indicated support for the social identity approach to recovery, with a significant number of participants with dependent children reconnecting with their parent identity between Time 1 and Time 2. Parent participants also improved on measures of quality of life and personal wellbeing over time which suggests that changes in social groups and social identities supported positive change. Study Two employed a qualitative research design and involved semi-structured interviews with a subsample of participants (N\ua0= 10) with dependent children and entered into treatment at a TC.\ua0\ua0Results suggested that the reconnection with a parent identity is a motivator for recovery, and reconnection with the parent identity is a potential resource for recovery. Taken together, the findings of these studies show preliminary evidence that parenting identity may be a resource for recovery as changes in social groups to include the family group appears to promote a positive social identity that supports positive outcomes in recovery