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Title EXPLORING INDIGENOUS FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RECOVERY OF DRUG ADDICTS: A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY

Author(s) Muhammad Yasir Masood Afaq

Abstract Ever increasing prevalence of drug use and addiction has always been a daunting challenge for individuals, societies and states. To mitigate this menace, policy level strategic interventions to curtail the demand and supply networks of drugs prove to have little effect as the statistic of incidence of drug use shows an upward trend over the past decades. Zooming into the state of affairs regarding drug addiction in Pakistan, the picture does not appear any different rather lack of resources, especially for prevention and treatment of drug use, adds to the gravity of the sorry plight. Mostly, run of the mill treatment programs are adopted in the privately run treatment/rehabilitation centers in their residential treatment programs for drug addiction which are unable to improve the relapse rate lying at 90% in Pakistan. Realizing the dearth of directional insights embedded in Pakistani culture and environment for the drug addiction treatment, the current study aims at exploring the indigenous factors associated with the sustainable recovery from the addiction on part of individuals. Digging deep into the phenomenon with a multi-angled approach, formation of a holistic body of insights about drug addiction relapse and recovery is the key objective of this Qualitative Study. Based on a Constructivist Grounded Theory Methodology, a total 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted from 10 recovering persons, 10 relapsed person and 10 chief caregivers of each set of recovering and relapsed persons. Out 20 recovering and relapsed persons, 7 were within age of 18-25, 10 were within 26-35 years of age and 3 respondents were over 35 years of age. Their respective 20 chief caregivers included their parents, siblings, spouses and case managers. Furthermore, 2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted having 4 participants i.e. Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Psychotherapists and Case Manager hailing from Drug Rehab Centers in each group. The digitally recorded interviews were transcribed/translated and further analyzed in Nvivo – Windows. Following the processes of Open, Axial and Selective Coding, five core categories of Familial, Personal, Socio-cultural, Psycho-emotive and Treatment Factors emerged to form the theoretical framework of the substantive grounded theory titled as Perils of and Pathways to Addiction Recovery. The theory connects various dimensions of the causal factors and recovery-assuring remedial measures in a holistic framework. This framework serves as a unique and first of its kind indigenously developed anthology of mutually coherent directional insights for developing or augmenting initiatives ranging from policy interventions to treatment programs. The substantive theory also reveals a number of factors stemming from peculiar characteristics of Pakistani society which can be attributed as protective factors or inhibitors of recovery process. Identification of the contributing factors for the efficacy of different treatment approaches and practices in residential treatment programs is also a distinct outcome of the current study. The assimilated five factor theoretical model is the result of a high-resolution data driven insights collected from all possible stakeholders of the eco system of falling prey to addiction and recovering from this menace. Salient contributions of the emerged grounded theory, implications of the findings, suggestions for the future researches and limitations of the current study have also been discussed at length.

Type Thesis/Dissertation PhD

Faculty Social Sciences

Department Psychology

Language English

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