Assembling and diversifying social contexts of recovery

Sultan, Aysel; Duff, Cameron

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102979

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Our methodology involves comparison of the Australian texts with the Canadian texts to articulate the two realities of alcohol. Inspired by recent critical research comparing drug policy and practice across countries (e.g., Fraser, 2016; Fraser & Ekendahl, 2018; Moore et al, 2015; Sultan & Duff, 2021), we chose Australian and Canadian texts because they offer several general points of similarity and difference. In Esping-Andersen’s (1990) highly cited typology of “welfare-state regimes,” Australia and Canada’s regimes are both characterized as liberal-welfare.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Part of Culture or Toxic Substance? Realities in Transition in Australian and Canadian Alcohol Policy Documents

Keane

Moore

Graham

2022

Contemporary Drug Problems

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This article analyzes alcohol policy documents through the framework of ontological politics developed by science and technology studies theorists John Law and Annemarie Mol. Specifically, it analyzes seven Australian and Canadian documents from 2006 to 2020, focusing on different enactments of alcohol as a harm-producing substance that requires regulation. The article identifies and discusses two co-existing realities of alcohol enacted in these documents: (1) alcohol as part of culture, with benefits and harms manageable through the promotion of moderation; and (2) alcohol as an inherently harmful and toxic substance whatever its pattern of use. The enactment of alcohol as a toxic substance is supported by recent scientific knowledge, in particular the link between drinking and cancer. This second reality of alcohol as toxic is more prominent in the more recent documents; in particular, a transition from one dominant reality to another is clearly apparent in the changes from the 2006–2009 Australian national alcohol strategy to the 2019–2028 strategy. Changes in the dominant reality of alcohol enable or at least support certain policy initiatives while making others less possible and defensible. Focusing on the single reality of alcohol as inherently harmful to health and wellbeing reduces the options for preventing alcohol-related harms.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Part of Culture or Toxic Substance? Realities in Transition in Australian and Canadian Alcohol Policy Documents

Keane

Moore

Graham

2022

Contemporary Drug Problems

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“…The new social identity guides self-definition and behaviour towards pro-recovery outcomes. However, this view of recovery has been criticised for prioritising individual agency in the recovery process (Fomiatti et al , 2019; Sultan and Duff, 2021). Fomiatti et al (2019) describe this view of recovery as the “improvable self” to highlight how it neglects the role of political, economic and other social forces that shape recovery.…”

Section: The Debate: Stigmatising Language In the Alcohol And Other D...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fomiatti et al (2019) describe this view of recovery as the “improvable self” to highlight how it neglects the role of political, economic and other social forces that shape recovery. Similarly, Sultan and Duff (2021) use assemblage thinking to suggest that the individual is among a complex network of connections that constitute and enable recovery.…”

Section: The Debate: Stigmatising Language In the Alcohol And Other D...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognising the recovering addict with Honneth: an intervention into the stigmatising language debate in the alcohol and other drugs field

Walmsley

2023

DHS

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the recommendation to replace identity-first language with person-first language on people who self-identify as recovering addicts as part of a recovery programme. Narcotics Anonymous (NA) will be used to illustrate the contextualised nature of the recovering addict identity. Design/methodology/approach To demonstrate the value of the recovering addict identity and social relations in NA, this paper draws on Axel Honneth’s theory of mutual recognition and self-formation. Findings Person-first language overlooks the significance of identity-first language to people in 12-step recovery. This oversight is linked to the logic of stigma reduction which excludes all identity-first language by association rather than assessing the impact of such terms on a case-by-case basis. Honneth’s theory is used to show how the recovering addict identity facilitates self-confidence and self-esteem through relations of mutual recognition in NA. Research limitations/implications The argument excludes people who identify as recovering addicts, but do not attend 12-step groups. Further research would be needed to understand how the recommendation to use person-first language instead of identity-first language impacts upon other recovery communities and pathways. Practical implications The recommendation to replace identity-first language with person-first language might result in 12-step fellowships becoming marginalised within the broader academic and policy and practice arena. Language preferences can become a contentious issue when 12-step groups and their members enter the wider recovery arena where their preferred terminology is viewed as stigmatising and dehumanising. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first article to propose an alternative theoretical framework to stigma reduction for judging morally appropriate language in the alcohol and drugs field.

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“…Different iterations of this theoretical perspective have inspired recent substance use research (Bohling, 2015; Dilkes-Frayne, 2014; Sultan & Duff, 2021), but few, if any, studies have applied it to women’s substance use. This approach could facilitate understanding of drug harms among women in Africa, especially when used to unpack the effects of macro-structural factors.…”

Section: Study Context and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuancing Drug Harms: Exploring the Context of Substance Use Among Street-Involved Women in Uyo, Nigeria

Nelson

2022

Contemporary Drug Problems

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Recent studies on women’s substance use have emphasized the role of structural and environmental contexts in shaping substance use patterns and harms, but the dynamics constitutive of specific substance use contexts are seldom unpacked. This study works with Cameron Duff’s elaboration of context as an assemblage of space, embodiment and practice to explore the contextual dynamics that mediate substance use practices among socially marginalized women. In-depth interviews were used to gather data from a purposive sample of street-involved women who use drugs ( n = 16) in Uyo, Nigeria. Data revealed that substance use was mediated by actors, social norms and processes within social networks developed in street environments. The women used substances to achieve particular affective states such as pleasure, stress relief and coping with trauma. Social network dynamics combined with the use of drugs to manage trauma and social stress, within a wider context of social and material deprivations, to foster substance use practices that created risk for harm. Drug harms were not inherent to the substance use experience or incidental to benefits and pleasures. Instead, they were unintended, but inevitable, outcomes of the embodied practices of beneficial substance use. On the other hand, corporeal techniques of controlled drug use served to minimize drug harms. Findings indicate a need to address the contextual dynamics that influence harmful patterns of substance use, and to leverage the harm reducing potentials of controlled use practices.

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Assembling and diversifying social contexts of recovery

Cited by 12 publications

References 41 publications

Part of Culture or Toxic Substance? Realities in Transition in Australian and Canadian Alcohol Policy Documents

Part of Culture or Toxic Substance? Realities in Transition in Australian and Canadian Alcohol Policy Documents

Recognising the recovering addict with Honneth: an intervention into the stigmatising language debate in the alcohol and other drugs field

Nuancing Drug Harms: Exploring the Context of Substance Use Among Street-Involved Women in Uyo, Nigeria

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