Women with Jagged Edges: Voices from a Culture of Substance Abuse

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Abstract
To illuminate the lives of women who are substance abusers, a life history study was conducted on 26 women in treatment for substance abuse. Data collection for this research, including "life line" exercises, focus groups, interviews with women and treatment counselors, and written segment exercises, was therapeutic. Themes of violence (rape and incest), abuse, male dominance, dependence, motherhood issues, and depression emerged as typical in their lives. The experiential sharing of many aspects of their life stories enabled the participants to reflect on their own patterns of drug dependency and view similarities and contradictions in the lives of other women who had abused drugs. It enabled them to gain insight into their own vulnerability to substance abuse and understand that such vulnerability in women is a synergistic phenomenon.

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