“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery

The perception of being abnormal, and a visceral desire to ‘feel normal again’, is a common feature of the literature on drug use and recovery. Normality is constructed, however, in response to context-dependent values and priorities, thereby legitimating certain behaviours as normative and therefor...

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Autores principales:	Samuel Brookfield, Lisa Fitzgerald, Linda Selvey, Lisa Maher
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Methamphetamine Ethnography Recovery Normality Paternalism Qualitative Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Social sciences (General) H1-99
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/324d52c186c643219f8222374807454c
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:324d52c186c643219f8222374807454c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:324d52c186c643219f8222374807454c2021-11-26T04:34:57Z“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery2352-827310.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100969https://doaj.org/article/324d52c186c643219f8222374807454c2021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321002445https://doaj.org/toc/2352-8273The perception of being abnormal, and a visceral desire to ‘feel normal again’, is a common feature of the literature on drug use and recovery. Normality is constructed, however, in response to context-dependent values and priorities, thereby legitimating certain behaviours as normative and therefore the assumed goal of people in recovery. In this paper we draw on an ethnographic study with twelve people attempting to reduce harmful methamphetamine use to explore how they engaged with ‘normality’. Semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations were conducted across a range of settings related to participants’ recovery, including private residences, withdrawal services, doctor’s offices, counselling rooms, and court houses. We used a relational lens to conduct thematic analysis on interview transcripts and fieldnotes collected over six months, following the steps of Iterative Categorisation. Our analysis explores the central organising theme of normality as something that can be ‘preserved’, ‘achieved’, or ‘performed’ by people using methamphetamine. Findings are understood through the original concept of ‘ambient paternalism’, where neoliberal norms and values shape recovery trajectories even outside of engagement with services. Exhibiting normality enabled participants to work against the stigmatisation and moralisation of methamphetamine use by demonstrating their socio-political acceptability. Methamphetamine use could also be strategically used to enable participants to keep up with neoliberal normative standards of independent self-management. Increasing awareness of these complex repertoires of normality, and a more critical understanding of how this ideal is constructed and can impact service interactions, can support a less homogenising or coercive approach towards treatment and policy for people in methamphetamine recovery.Samuel BrookfieldLisa FitzgeraldLinda SelveyLisa MaherElsevierarticleMethamphetamineEthnographyRecoveryNormalityPaternalismQualitativePublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270Social sciences (General)H1-99ENSSM: Population Health, Vol 16, Iss , Pp 100969- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Methamphetamine Ethnography Recovery Normality Paternalism Qualitative Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Social sciences (General) H1-99
spellingShingle	Methamphetamine Ethnography Recovery Normality Paternalism Qualitative Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Social sciences (General) H1-99 Samuel Brookfield Lisa Fitzgerald Linda Selvey Lisa Maher “We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
description	The perception of being abnormal, and a visceral desire to ‘feel normal again’, is a common feature of the literature on drug use and recovery. Normality is constructed, however, in response to context-dependent values and priorities, thereby legitimating certain behaviours as normative and therefore the assumed goal of people in recovery. In this paper we draw on an ethnographic study with twelve people attempting to reduce harmful methamphetamine use to explore how they engaged with ‘normality’. Semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations were conducted across a range of settings related to participants’ recovery, including private residences, withdrawal services, doctor’s offices, counselling rooms, and court houses. We used a relational lens to conduct thematic analysis on interview transcripts and fieldnotes collected over six months, following the steps of Iterative Categorisation. Our analysis explores the central organising theme of normality as something that can be ‘preserved’, ‘achieved’, or ‘performed’ by people using methamphetamine. Findings are understood through the original concept of ‘ambient paternalism’, where neoliberal norms and values shape recovery trajectories even outside of engagement with services. Exhibiting normality enabled participants to work against the stigmatisation and moralisation of methamphetamine use by demonstrating their socio-political acceptability. Methamphetamine use could also be strategically used to enable participants to keep up with neoliberal normative standards of independent self-management. Increasing awareness of these complex repertoires of normality, and a more critical understanding of how this ideal is constructed and can impact service interactions, can support a less homogenising or coercive approach towards treatment and policy for people in methamphetamine recovery.
format	article
author	Samuel Brookfield Lisa Fitzgerald Linda Selvey Lisa Maher
author_facet	Samuel Brookfield Lisa Fitzgerald Linda Selvey Lisa Maher
author_sort	Samuel Brookfield
title	“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
title_short	“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
title_full	“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
title_fullStr	“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
title_full_unstemmed	“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
title_sort	“we’re supposed to be a family here”: an ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/324d52c186c643219f8222374807454c
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“We’re supposed to be a family here”: An ethnography of preserving, achieving, and performing normality within methamphetamine recovery

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