Experiences of Students in Recovery on a Rural College Campus: Social Identity and Stigma. (November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scott, Alison; Anderson, Ashton; Harper, Kristen; Alfonso, Moya L.
• Is Part Of: SAGE Open. Volume 6:Number 4(2016:Oct./Dec.)
• Publication Date: 2016-11
• Subjects: qualitative research -- addiction -- undergraduate students -- Collegiate Recovery Program; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 300.5
• DOI: 10.1177/2158244016674762
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2158-2440

Abstract

A growing number of college (postsecondary) students are in recovery from addiction to drugs or alcohol. In this article, we discuss the experiences of students returning to a university campus after long-term addiction treatment. We also explore the role of a Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP) in providing support, and in helping the students develop post-addiction identities that will sustain them. To do so, we draw on Goffman's ideas related to stigma, as well as conceptualizations of identity reconstruction as a practiced, lived experience. Students interviewed faced a double bind; they sought to escape the stigmatized identity of "addict, " but could not identify as typical students because of their abstinence from alcohol and drugs. The CRP helped them manage the transition to student life, provided a safe haven on campus, and provided an alternate and positive identity: a student in recovery.