Negotiating the challenges faced by male substance abusers in the transition from a therapeutic community to society

Abstract

This study will explore the transition of male former heroin abusers from a residential therapeutic community (TC) back into society after the duration of at least a year in the rehabilitative program. It is important to recognise that the transition from being a resident inside a TC to being an active citizen may be difficult to negotiate. Therefore exploring the challenges faced by substance abusers is necessary, in order to enable a coherent understanding of the transition. Through the use of biographic narrative interviews, the substance users’ experiences will accurately be captured, using the single question aimed at inducing narrative, allowing the interviewer to be non-intrusive. Utilising the constant comparative method, themes were drawn out and compared, noting any new insights from the data. From the results that have emerged, important conceptual categories that influence the negotiation of the transition include relationships, the residential program and narcotics anonymous meetings. Leisure activities, employment, religion and the self also emerged as significant in the data. The findings that have emerged indicate that halfway houses and individualised treatment plans both facilitate the transition back to society. Problem substance abuse is as much a social process as it is a biological one. When former users try to place themselves back in conventional society, social challenges become additionally pronounced. The following study has further emphasized this argument