Social Recovery

              Over the years, there has not been a lot of research on how being a member of a group can have positive effects on an addicts overall health, there is very little information that suggest how the socialization aspect of life can ultimately create a new social identity for a person that is going through the recovery process. Studies show that being a member of a group has several positive physical and mental health benefits. Many people that have gone through or are going through Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have had positive outcomes. Some say that it is because of the “protective and positive social influence.”

            There were two studies that were used to determine the relationships between addicts or ex-addicts and the social identity theory. Study one was conducted to examine relationships between evaluative differentiation, identity preference, self-efficacy, and health outcomes. The second study was basically a replicate of the first, but it involved a different population of people. Both of these test confirmed that evaluative differentiation and identity preferences are related to progressive health outcomes. Evaluative differentiation was highly favorable in ex-smokers, and often times led to higher self-worth. When people have a higher self-efficacy, then they are less likely to relapse into their old ways. So the hypothesis of this study was proven to be true.

            The purpose of this study was to shine light on the fact that a person’s social identity plays a vital role in whether or not a person relapses and how successful they will be with remaining clean. So the correlation between self-efficacy and health outcomes is directly related to one another. Also the study also focuses on the fact that the type of recovery program that the person is in, also plays a role in their ability to stay clean.

Abstract

Reference: Buckingham, S. A., Frings, D., & Albery, I. P. (2013). Group Membership and Social Identity in Addiction Recovery. Group Membership and Social Identity in Addiction Recovery, 27(4), 1132-1140.