TY - JOUR
T1 - A Qualitative Case Study on Recovery and Personal Growth in Korean Drug Addicts
AU - Kang, Sun Kyung
AU - Kim, Hun Jin
AU - Shin, Seungnam
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017S1A5B8057479).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2018/5/27
Y1 - 2018/5/27
N2 - In recent years, crimes related to drug smuggling and production have gradually increased in Korea. This qualitative case study explores the experiences of Koreans recovering from drug addiction and identifies specific details and mechanisms of recovery. For this purpose, participants were selected based on criteria such as engaging in social activities after recovery from addiction for 3 years or more. Next, one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with five voluntarily consenting participants. Data were analyzed using the within-/cross-case analysis suggested by Creswell. Substantial personal growth took place in the recovery process for drug addicts. Nineteen themes were identified as manifestations of personal growth through within-case analysis. Four common themes were then derived through cross-case analysis. These four common themes were “reconnection with reality,” “embracing the essence of one's own existence,” “reconstructing oneself in social relations,” and “self-love.” The study's results suggest that a recovery program needs to be developed wherein the program not only enables drug addicts to reflect on their current existence but also allows them to develop their specific coping skills. Future research should be broadened to consider the social support mechanism and viewpoints of people including family and local community members in close contact with drug addicts.
AB - In recent years, crimes related to drug smuggling and production have gradually increased in Korea. This qualitative case study explores the experiences of Koreans recovering from drug addiction and identifies specific details and mechanisms of recovery. For this purpose, participants were selected based on criteria such as engaging in social activities after recovery from addiction for 3 years or more. Next, one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with five voluntarily consenting participants. Data were analyzed using the within-/cross-case analysis suggested by Creswell. Substantial personal growth took place in the recovery process for drug addicts. Nineteen themes were identified as manifestations of personal growth through within-case analysis. Four common themes were then derived through cross-case analysis. These four common themes were “reconnection with reality,” “embracing the essence of one's own existence,” “reconstructing oneself in social relations,” and “self-love.” The study's results suggest that a recovery program needs to be developed wherein the program not only enables drug addicts to reflect on their current existence but also allows them to develop their specific coping skills. Future research should be broadened to consider the social support mechanism and viewpoints of people including family and local community members in close contact with drug addicts.
KW - Drug addiction
KW - personal growth, qualitative case study
KW - recovery process
KW - within/cross-case analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046896769&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01488376.2018.1457593
DO - 10.1080/01488376.2018.1457593
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046896769
SN - 0148-8376
VL - 44
SP - 279
EP - 290
JO - Journal of Social Service Research
JF - Journal of Social Service Research
IS - 3
ER -