From heroin to methadone-social role changes and reinforcement differentials in relation to outcome on methadone....

The life-styles of addicts who are Successful, Marginally Successful, and Failures in a methadone maintenance program are examined by in-depth interviews in five time periods-early family life, the preheroin period, late heroin, premethadone, and methadone maintenance. The hypothesis is confirmed that the more the methadone patient has managed to develop a new and more conventional set of peer group, familial, and occupational roles, the greater the likelihood of his success on methadone maintenance. The in-depth view of the groups over time suggests that the pattern of alternation of positive reinforcements and punishing situations may be associated with outcome.