ALCOHOLIC WOMEN: A STUDY OF THEIR RECOVERY PROCESS.
Contributors: Catholic University of America.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 152
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Women's Studies.; Sociology, General.
Description: While it is generally agreed that the recovery of alcoholic women is an arduous process which requires identity and behavioral changes, specific behavioral and cognitional changes in different phases of the recovery process have not been identified. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the recovery process of alcoholic women. The focus of this study was on the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of alcoholic women as they described the changes that they experienced in their recovery process.

An exploratory field design based on a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis was used. The sample consisted of 17 recovering alcoholic women. In the initial interviews, data were collected by an open-ended interview method. Later interviews were guided by theoretical sampling. Data analysis was ongoing throughout the data collection and was carried out according to the constant comparative method.

The substantive theory generated accounted for the recovery process of alcoholic women and was described across five phases. Within this process of recovery was identified a core variable, Experiencing Vulnerability. The five phases of recovery were identified as: reacting, surrendering, strengthening, internalizing, and transcending. Reacting was a time of preparation for entry into recovery. Surrendering was a time of struggle with resistance concerning the admission of alcoholism. Strengthening was a time of active learning and of experiencing self as sober. Internalizing was a time of incorporating within self what was learned in order to maintain a sober lifestyle. Transcending involved the discovery of meaning and purpose in one's life that extended beyond the limits of immediate experience.

It was concluded that the core variable, Experiencing Vulnerability, was a consistent experience throughout the five phases of recovery; however, the nature of that experience and the recovering woman's response to that experience were key differences at varying points in the recovery process. These key differences in the woman's response seemed to be indicated by the function of: (a) dominance of emotion in the early phases of recovery, (b) ascendance and strengthening of cognition in the middle phases, and (c) integration of cognition and emotion in the later phases of recovery.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-03, Section: B, page: 0995.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, 1986.

School code: 0043.