Gender relations in addiction and recovery

Abstract

This article adds to the growing but still limited literature on the role of gender relations in women's addiction and recovery. In-depth interviews were conducted with 35 women randomly drawn from a large study of drug-abusing pregnant women who were recruited into an HIV/AIDS prevention program. These interviews explored conditions surrounding initiation and continuation of drug use, past and current sexual/love relationships, and experiences in the HIV/AIDS prevention program. Throughout the interviews, the women participants consistently voiced feelings stressing the importance of relationships in their lives. At the same time, they expressed a sense of disconnection and deprivation in those relationships. Four areas in which relationships with male partners ran counter to women's needs for connection are discussed in this article: initiation into drug use and supply of drugs, disappointment in men for failure to be providers, experience of violence, and opposition to treatment. The implications of these findings for substance abuse treatment are discussed.