A collaborative action approach to researching substance abuse recovery

Over the past 12 years, a university research team has been involved in a collaborative action research project with a community-based, self-run, residential substance abuse recovery program called Oxford House. Success of the project has been dependent on the development of trust, respect for the personal experiences of community members and group processes, commitment to serve the community, collaborative development of research and action agendas and techniques, efforts to validate findings with organization members, and accountability. In this article, we review this collaborative effort and examine the distinct opportunities and constraints in adopting this less conventional method of inquiry and action. We highlight a number of practical and theoretical issues that have been raised as we have strived to maintain a mutually beneficial alliance throughout the research endeavor.