Experiences of College Students in Addiction Recovery: A Critical Case StudyCase Study

University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations Spring 2020 Experiences of College Students in Addiction Recovery: A Critical Case Study Dory E Hoffman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons Recommended Citation Hoffman, D E.(2020) Experiences of College Students in Addiction Recovery: A Critical Case Study (Doctoral dissertation) Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/5757 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons For more information, please contact digres@mailbox.sc.edu EXPERIENCES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN ADDICTION RECOVERY: A CRITICAL CASE STUDY by Dory E Hoffman Bachelor of Arts Goucher College, 2005 Master of Fine Arts University of Maryland, 2010 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctorate in Education Administration College of Education University of South Carolina 2020 Accepted by: Allison Anders, Committee Member Christian Anderson, Committee Member Susan Bon, Committee Director Spencer Platt, Committee Member Cheryl L Addy, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School © Copyright by Dory E Hoffman All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION For Frances H Goldberg iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research reported in this dissertation was supported by the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I) through a funded research grant The content in this dissertation is solely the responsibility of the researcher and does not reflect the official views of ACUHO-I I extend my sincere gratitude to my dissertation committee members Dr Allison Anders, Dr Christian Anderson, Dr Susan Bon, and Dr Spencer Platt for their ongoing assistance I appreciate the contributions made by study participants and their Collegiate Recovery Program directors Special thanks to Stanley Fish, Elaine Hoffman, J Hoffman, and Stephanie Reaves for their encouragement iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the lived experiences of college students in addiction recovery Critical ethnographic case study was used to challenge existing paradigms and educational practices regarding students in recovery The lived experiences of this population are described to share their stories and work towards better policy solutions to the U.S college drug epidemic v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 17 2.1 UNIVERSITY DRUG CULTURE 23 2.2 NEEDS OF STUDENTS IN RECOVERY 45 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 51 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 96 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 199 REFERENCES 248 APPENDIX A – INVITATION LETTER, PROTOCOL, AND QUESTIONS 264 APPENDIX B – GLOSSARY 269 APPENDIX C – PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS 273 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AA Alcoholics Anonymous ADA Americans with Disabilities Act AOD Alcohol and Other Drugs CCR College and Career Readiness CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention CRC Collegiate Recovery Community CRP Collegiate Recovery Program DSM-V Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Edition MU Middletown University (research site I pseudonym) NA Narcotics Anonymous NIH National Institutes of Health NMPD Nonmedical Prescription Drug(s) SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration WU Walter University (research site II pseudonym) vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION Research Problem and Population It is a well-known phenomenon that college students all over the U.S are exposed to alcohol and other drugs (AOD) in a variety of social and educational settings During this transition to adulthood some view substance use as synonymous with university culture (Schulenberg, 2002) Whether students have used AOD in the past or are trying it for the first time, there are many risks associated with the partying culture in higher education College students are one of the highest risk populations for substance use disorders (SUD) where they become addicted to substances that affect their daily lives (CASA, 2007) Due to factors such as peer pressure, binge drinking, and exposure to other drugs, college students are in danger of developing an addiction (DePue, 2015) to alcohol and other drugs (AOD) Recovery can be defined as a process by which an individual decreases the use of a substance, eventually quits using the substance altogether, and sees noteworthy improvements in terms of healthy functioning and quality of life (SAMSHA, 2011) This research seeks to uncover the day-to-day experiences of students recovering from substance use disorders in hopes of improving policy and practice to better serve this student population While there is an abundance of quantitative research, policy, and practice on alcohol prevention on college campuses, less attention is paid to college students in recovery (DePue, 2015) “Although substance use on campuses and its consequences often grab many headlines, the experiences of students in recovery are often … overlooked (Beeson et al., 2017, p 227) The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges faced by college students in recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs) Critical ethnographic case study was used to challenge existing paradigms and educational practices regarding students in recovery The lived experiences of this population are described to share their experiences and work towards better policy solutions to the U.S college drug epidemic Data collection occurred at two public, four-year, predominantly white intuitions (PWIs) on the east coast, Walter University (WU), a large university and Middletown University (MU), a small liberal arts college The sample size was eight participants, a common size for ethnographic case studies needed to elicit thick description and data saturation (Glesne, 2016) There were four participants from the MU Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP) and four participants from the WU CRP The positionality of the researcher is described in Chapter Methodology Working toward transparency through representing one’s positionality in qualitative research helps build trustworthiness with the reader and allows the researcher the practice of working against oneself (Noblit, 1999) Positionality is the researcher’s perspective in relation to the research (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2016) Some issues of positionality are “the researcher’s relationship with participants, the nature of that involvement, how much of the study’s purpose will be revealed to participants, and how ethical dilemmas will be managed” (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2016, p 155) Substance use in college is a serious issue as it has been correlated with higher instances of death, hospitalization, sexual assault, and withdrawing from school (DePue, ... first-year students attending 4-year institutions graduate within six years (Arria et al., 2013) ? ?In the educational research literature, an important area of investigation is the prediction of academic.. .EXPERIENCES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN ADDICTION RECOVERY: A CRITICAL CASE STUDY by Dory E Hoffman Bachelor of Arts Goucher College, 2005 Master of Fine Arts University of Maryland, 2010... the lived experiences of college students in addiction recovery Critical ethnographic case study was used to challenge existing paradigms and educational practices regarding students in recovery