Spaces of sobriety/sites of power: examining social model alcohol recovery programs as therapeutic landscapes

Social Science & Medicine
Robert Wilton, Geoffrey Deverteuil

Abstract

While there has been interest in geographical variations in alcohol use and their implications for health, similar attention has not been given to geographies of alcohol treatment and recovery. This paper is concerned with exploring these geographies of alcohol recovery and treatment. Specifically, the paper uses the therapeutic landscape concept coupled with Foucault's concept of governmentality to frame a qualitative case study of a 'social model' recovery community in San Pedro, California. Analysis of the programs operating in San Pedro consisting of observation and interviews, demonstrates the complexity and contradictory character of such recovery landscapes. In particular, the governmentality perspective suggests that spaces created for alcohol recovery and support can be simultaneously understood as sites designed to govern the health-related conduct of individuals. Within programs, clients were provided with support and encouragement from staff and peers, but these same relations also made possible surveillance and the governing of daily routines. In the neighbourhood, program staff intervened to create 'healthy' spaces but these interventions also shaped the conduct of local residents and contributed to the spatial re...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 23, 2010·Health & Place·Jeffrey R Masuda, Alexis Crabtree
Jul 18, 2009·Social Science & Medicine·Joshua D EvansPaul T Kingsbury
Apr 29, 2008·Social Science & Medicine·Jennifer EnglishSue Keller-Olaman
May 4, 2007·Social Science & Medicine·Tim RhodesMarion Lyons
Mar 27, 2007·Health & Place·Vincent J Del Casino
Apr 9, 2010·Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology·Malcolm P CutchinRebecca M Aldrich
Oct 11, 2019·Substance Abuse : Research and Treatment·Beth Collinson, David Best
Jul 29, 2020·Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy·Janet ZwickStephan Arndt
Dec 17, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Salman Majeed, Haywantee Ramkissoon

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