Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2025

Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community
Published on: May 31, 2019
Polyphonic narratives: The mixing of Alcoholics Anonymous and relapse prevention in stories about recovery and
Karin Heimdahl Vepsä1, Mats Ekendahl1, Patrik Karlsson1
1Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
Aim: This exploratory study analyses the interplay between the treatment philosophies of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Relapse Prevention (RP) in personal stories of addiction. While the basic ideas of AA and RP are compatible in many ways, they also carry some fundamental differences. Methods: The data consisted of interviews with 12 individuals recovering from substance use problems, who had experience of both AA and RP. The analysis drew on a dialogical narrative perspective, and the concept polyphony was used to shed light on the interplay between different treatment philosophies in personal stories of relapse. Findings: Although sometimes resulting in incoherence, the treatment philosophies were combined idiosyncratically, in ways that appeared productive for the participants' self-images and recovery journeys. Conclusion: The combination of AA and RP philosophies in narratives of relapse and recovery may reflect a new treatment discourse where individualisation and responsibilisation stand in a complicated relationship with collectivism and surrendering to so-called addicting processes.
More Related Videos
05:12Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
Published on: June 23, 2023
08:05A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
Published on: January 5, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe...
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Drug Dependence
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena