EXPERIENCES OF FOUR RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC WOMEN (ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE).
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1995
Number of pages: 237
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Clinical.; Women's Studies.
Description: This is an ethnographic interview, participant observation study of recovering alcoholic women from AA groups. Each chapter highlights a participant and is devoted to the different aspects of the experiences of recovering women. Thematic analyses are included. Chapter IV concerns the AA group seen as pivotal to the women's recovering. "Humor Saves Us All", "You--You Smelly, Falling Down Drunk--I am the Same as You" and "Getting Sober Like a Man" are some of the emergent themes. Chapter V presents family violence and sexual child abuse in "I kept Secret Some Bad Things That Happen When I Was a Child," "My Childhood Was Chaotic and the Memories are Painful," and "I Wish the Monster Was Dead." In Chapter VI, "I Hate That Face, Hate That Body" and "I Was a Bad Person" depict the struggles of becoming functioning sober women in this society. "I Had to Let Myself Think About My Drinking" is presented as the turning point theme in Chapter VII. Chapter VIII is devoted to the recovering themes. They include: "I Need Some Place to Hang My Hat" which is about the initial introduction to AA; "We Are Comrades United in a Common Therapy" discussing the importance of interactions with those of similar experiences; "Stopping the Drink is Not Enough: The Old Skeletons Are Dancing" expresses participant's amazement at not being problem free women when the alcohol consumption stopped; "I Was Not a Human Being; I Was Just a Human Doing" cites life difficulties as early recovering women; "From Crawling on Bloodied Knees to Standing Tall" presents their need to heal wounds created when drinking; "The God Thing" discusses the difficulty in relating to AA's higher power; "Being Sober is Not Being Recovered," and "I Need Help to Look at the Scary Corners of My Soul" express the need to work the 12 Steps of AA and seek some form of psychotherapy or guidance beyond the AA meetings.

Implications for practice are that in order for these women to successfully travel through recovering they must confront the trauma of childhood experiences.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-10, Section: B, page: 5423.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1995.

School code: 0146.