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Identity change in a therapeutic community
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Identity change in a therapeutic community
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IDENTITY CHANGE IN A THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY by Barbara Murray Artinian A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Sociology) August 1975 UMI Number: DP31762 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be rerpoved, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI DP31762 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 UNIVERSITY O F S O U T H E R N CALIFO RNIA T H E GRADUATE S C H O O L UNIVERSITY PARK LOS A N G ELE S. C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7 PK. E>, S o ' 7 6 /\79l Thix dixxe.rtatinn, finritten by , BARBARA MURRAY ARTINIAN under the direction of hP.I.... Dissertation Com- T ? mitteej and approved by all its members, has ^ been presented to and accepted by The Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of requirements of the degree of D O C T O R OF P H IL O S O P H Y Dean DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ' Chairman 'y4- A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S I wish to thank my chairperson.. Dr. Carol W arren who pro vided the wisdom, encouragement, and scholarly leadership without i which this study could not have been done. I also wish to thank the individual members of my doctoral committee who contributed their special knowledge and valuable time in support of my efforts. Also, I wish to give special thanks to former committee member. Dr. Daniel Glaser for his help with the quantitative analysis of the data and his excellent editorial suggestions. A special word of appreciation is given to the staff of "New Hope" for their wholehearted cooperation in this study, to "Sally" who helped me understand the transition from the drug world to the world of New Hope and assisted with the interviews and to the girls who participated in this study who shared so freely from their life experiences. This research was made possible through the Special Nurse Research Fellowship program of the Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Resources Development, Public Health Service, U.S. Depart ment of Health, Education, and Welfare. 11 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................ 1 1 LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION............................................................... 1 New H o p e............................................................................. 2 The Hypotheses: Success Rates ............................................................................. 9 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERA TURE: REHABILITATION PROGRAMS......................................... 13 The Traditional Medical Model........................................................................................ 13 The Synanon Model........................................................ 17 Community Based Programs................................... 20 Rational Authority P ro g ra m s ................................ 21 Chemotherapy P ro g ram s........................... 24 Cyclazocine................................................................... 25 Methadone.................................. 25 Religious Inspiration Programs............................ 28 Transcendental Meditation . ......................... 28 Jesus Movement........................................................ 29 Teen Challenge............................................................ 32 CHAPTER III THEORY AND METHODOLOGY............................ 36 Participant Observation.............................................. 38 Triangulation...................................................................... 40 The New Hope S tudy..................................................... 43 Phase I: Participant Observation.................. 43 Negotiation of Research Roles . ................................................................... 45 The Role of L e a rn e r....................................... 48 ill CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI page Phase II: Survey of the Graduates.................. 50 Use of an Informant.......................................... 50 The Evaluation Component............................ 52 Phase III: Analysis of D ata................................ 55 Statistical A nalysis.......................................... 56 Analysis of Qualitative Data......................... 57 THE PHENOMENON OF DRUG U S E .................. 61 Stated Reasons for Drug Use and their Reinterpretation. ....................................... 62 Significant O th e r s ............................................................ 71 Inconsistent Discipline................................................. 75 Extent and Type of Drug U s e ................................... 75 The User Life Style......................................... 78 Program Drop-Outs........................................................ 84 THE PHENOMENON OF ALTERNA TION........................................................................................... 87 Alternation............................................................................. 88 Readiness for Change..................................................... 95 PENTECOSTALISM AND IDENTITY.....................107 Pentecostal Religion............................................................107 Envelopment.............................................................................I ll The Failure of Conversion..........................................116 The Context of Conversion.................................. 121 Institutional Ideology........................................................123 Collective R itual...................................................................129 Speaking in Tongues............................................................133 The Prestige H ierarch y .................................................137 Testimonies.............................................................................140 Formal Controls................................................ 140 Success in the P r o g r a m .................................................147 Change Outcomes...................................................................152 IV p a g e CHAPTER VII IMPEDIMENTS TO CHANGE..................................... 159 Staff-Inmate Relationships ........................ 160 The Problem of Superficial Change . ............................................................................. 167 The Problem of T ru s t................. 173 Tensions among Residents.................... 175 Game Playing................. 177 Inside and Outside: Mis training for Outside P ro b le m s................................................. 180 Negative Self-Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Self-Control.................... 188 Intellectual Impediments.......................................... 192 CHAPTER VIII EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM: PROBLEMS IN DEFINING SUCCESS. .......................................................................... 198 Types of Response to P ro g ra m ............................ 201 Rebellion and F lig h t........................ 201 Unstable Conversions ...................... 204 Identity Change. . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . 209 Cycles of Success and Failure. . . . . . . . . . 213 CHAPTER IX EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM....................... 217 Transition to the Outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Correlates of Success................................................. 228 Hypothesis 1 ............................................................... 228 Hypothesis 2 ................. 237 Hypothesis 3 ........................... 237 Hypothesis 4 ............................... 238 Age of Girls. ............................. 256 CHAPTER X CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEN DATIONS................................................................................. 266 b ib l io g r a p h y ...................................................................................................... 271 APPENDIX................................................................................................................ 279 LIST OF TABLES TABLE page 1 Adjustment by Reason for Using Drugs . . . 70 2 Most Important Person at Time of E n try ......................................................................... 72 3 Drug History.......................................................................................... 77 4 Type of Admission by Denominational Background........................................................................................... 84 5 Response to P ro g ra m ..................................................................... 153 6 Response to Program by Reason Given for Entering Program..................................................... 153 7 Type of Response by Admission to Program ........................................................................................... 155 8 Type of Admission by Christian Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 9 Type of Admission by Opinion about Help Received from Program ................................................. 156 10 Type of Admission by Source of Information........................................................................................... 200 11 Adjustment by Source of Information................................. 200 12 Adjustment by Response to Program ................ 218 13 Adjustment by Type of Admission........................................ 229 14 Type of Admission by Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 15 Type of Admission by Family Composition........................................................................................ 231 16 Type of Admission by Preferred D r u g ......................................................................... 232 17 Type of Admission by Attendance in a Previous Program . .. .. .. . .. ... .. ... . 232 vi T A B L E p ag e 18 Type of Admission by Life Plan v^be n nt e n n g # #.###################### 233 19 Type of Admission by Accepted Christ before Entering P r o g r a m ....................................... 234 20 Type of Admission by Reason Given before Entering ........................ 234 21 Type of Admission by Manner of Leaving the P ro g ra m ............................................................ 235 22 Type of Admission by First Place of Residence after Leaving P ro gram.................................. 236 23 Type of Admission by Maintenance of Christian Contacts ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. 236 24 Adjustment by Place of Residence . . . . . . . . . . . 238 25 Adjustment by Maintenance of Christian C ontact............................... 239 26 Months Elapsed since Program by Adjustment.................................................................................... 241 27 Months Elapsed since Program by Age........................................................... 243 28 Months Elapsed Since Program by Denominational Background..................................................... 243 29 Months Elapsed Since Program by Length of Time in Program........................... 244 30 Months Elapsed since Program by Type of Admission.......................................................................... 244 31 Months Elapsed since Program by Marital Status.................................................................................... 245 32 Adjustment by Marital Status on Entering P rogram .......................................................................... 246 33 Months Elapsed since Program by Family Composition...................................................................... 247 v ii T A B L E p ag e 34 Adjustment by Family Compo sition............................................................................ 247 35 Months Elapsed since Program by Preferred Drug.................................................................. 248 36 Months Elapsed since Program by Person with whom Drugs were First U sed................................................ 248 37 Months Elapsed since Program by Response to Program ................................................................... 250 38 Months Elapsed since Program by Christian Experience................................................................... 250 39 Months Elapsed since Program by Source of Information................................................................... 251 40 Hypothetical Table: Months Elapsed since Program by Adjustment Cor rected for Non-response............................................................ 251 41 Adjustment by Age...................... 258 42 Length of Time in Program by Age..................................... 258 43 Response to Program by Age......................... 259 44 Adjustment by Education at Time of Entering Program . ........................... 260 45 Opinion at Leaving about Help Received by A g e .............................................................................. 260 46 Adjustment by Race .................................................. 262 47 Adjustment by Attendance in Previous P r o g r a m ............................................................................................... 262 48 Adjustment by Preferred D ru g ............................................. 263 49 Adjustment by Length of Time in P r o g r a m ............................................................................................... 264 V l l l CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Our nation, is a drug oriented society (Brecher, 1972). Drugs are seen as the answer to a great host of problems: from sleepless ness to lack of self confidence, from headache to weight control, from depression or fatigue to hyperactivity, from depression or boredom to overwhelming anxiety. Drugs can be obtained legally through prescriptions; in the case of alcohol and nicotine they can be obtained by being of legal age; they can also be obtained on the streets illegally. In many cases, it is the manner in which drugs are obtained and used rather than the drug itself that labels the drug as illicit and its user as a criminal. Many teen-agers experiment with various drugs in the context of their peer groups, out of curiosity or the search for group accep tance. For some, the use of drugs and "partying" becomes a way of life which leads to increased drug use and repeated conflict with the law. At some point in this escalation of drug use, the teen-ager may decide that he or she doesn't like what is happening to his or her life and may decide to quit using drugs. In other cases, a judge may decide that the teen-ager needs to quit. In either case, the p er son becomes a candidate for one of the many types of rehabilitation programs available for illicit drug users. The experiences of girls, who entered a religious drug reha bilitation program. New Hope} are the focus of this investigation. The stability of attitudinal and behavioral changes which oc curred during residence in the program were assessed for 118 girls who participated in the program for 16 days or more over a three year period. The responses of the girls to methods used by the organization to induce change were studied by participant observa tion of the activities of the program over a nine month period, by semi-structured interviews with the residents and staff and by an alysis of existing institutional records for the girls. Information r e lating to the transition from program to society was collected after the initial observation of the program by interviews in the homes of the girls, telephone interviews with girls or family members, mailed questionnaires, reports from program staff and participation in alumni activities. The focus of the analysis was to relate the changes in identity that occurred while the girl participated in the program to her transitional life style. New Hope New Hope is a Christiandrug rehabilitation program with cen ters in many cities of the United States and in other parts of the world. Some teen-agers have heard about it through reading a book which described the beginnings of the program or by seeing the The name of the organization as well as all the names of staff mem bers and residents have been changed. Staff members can be iden tified by names beginning with "s" and residents with "r. " 3 movie version of the book. New Hope has as its goal "the replace ment of drags by a more powerful God. " (Fieldnotes) Although New Hope programs vary in different areas depending on the facilities available, this New Hope Center is a representative model of a complete program. Two adjacent buildings provide the facilities for separate residential programs for boys and girls. A six month rehabilitation program was offered which deals with the physical and spiritual problems seen as related to drug use, but not with psychological or sociological factors. Those girls who have not completed high school were given the opportunity to earn the general equivalency diploma which enabled them to enter college or a tech nical school after they completed the program. Boys were provided with this same opportunity at another center to which they were transferred after remaining at this center for about a month. Meals, classes and chapel services for both boys and girls were held in the girls' residence. However, group meetings and counseling sessions were usually provided separately. The daily schedule at the New Hope Center was very structured and allowed for a minimal amount of free time. There was a defin ite progression over the three years from flexibility of scheduling to rigidity. A typical daily schedule during the third year of the program was as follows; 7:00 Breakfast 8:00 Clean up of own area and general household chores 9:00- 9:30 Prayer and share time in the chapel 9:30-10:30 Bible class 10:45-12:00 Chapel 12:00 Lunch and clean up 1:30- 4:00 School or assigned duties for non-high school students 5:00 Supper 6:30 Work assignments 7:00 Evening activity 10:00 Lights out On the two afternoons when there were no formal classes the girls went for recreation to the beach, a park, a pool, a museum and to a senior citizens' home to witness. Evening activities in cluded such things as church attendance twice a week, religious concerts, and the Thursday Praise-In which was the high point of the week. Many visitors came to this meeting including relatives and friends, and the girls usually wore long dresses for this event and fixed their hair in special ways. In the brief periods in between scheduled events, the girls usually sat on the beautiful, wide stairs in the hallway of the residence and did nothing. It is possible to consider such a schedule as just a schedule. Chappie says that: the ordering or sequencing of human activities and inter actions is so inevitable that it is likely to be dismissed without considering its profound implications.(Chappie, 1970:200) A closer examination of this schedule makes it clear that the entire day was planned and accounted for. Girls who had been accustomed to deciding for themselves how they would spend their time, and with whom, now found their day planned so that little decision mak ing about what to do was required of them. The constant scheduling of activity served as a means of involving new residents in the pro gram immediately since attendance was required at each event. Some girls were unable to adjust to the regimentation and couldn't eat or sleep properly. In fact, one girl decided to leave because she became physically ill. Chappie says : Each individual needs to interact for so much time, with so many people, as well as to experience intervals when he is by himself and not interacting. When prevented, physiological (emotional) disturbances occur.(Chappie, 1970:48) Another consequence of such a rigid schedule was that there was little time for counseling or talking with individual girls since the staff was as much caught up in the schedule as the girls. Only Saturday and Sunday when many of the girls were away for visits were more relaxed. This New Hope Rehabilitation Center for girls has been in op eration for just over four years although the program for boys has been at the same location for a longer period of time. For three of those four years the program was under the direction of essentially 6 the same leadership. The general director, the director of women, the chaplain, and the school teacher remained the same although there were many changes in the counseling staff. During the first three years, 151 girls were admitted to the program. Most came to it from the local area, but some were r e ferred from other New Hope Centers that do not have a residential program. The length of time the girls stayed in the program ranged from one day to over one year. The study group for this investiga tion was those 151 girls who entered during the first three years of the program's existence and experienced the leadership of essen tially the same people. For statistical analysis this number was reduced to the 118 girls who remained in the program for sixteen days or more. Even though the directors of the program remained the same for the three years, it is apparent that no program can remain un changed during a span of three years. Cohorts entering at different times experienced the program differently. This fact makes eval uation of the total program difficult. Therefore, success statistics and comments about the program were analyzed separately for the various cohorts as well as for the total group. The girls who have been out of the program 31 to 47 months constitute Group I; those out of the program 16 to 30 months are Group II, and the most re cent participants who have been out one to 15 months are Group III. New Hope is a total institution in the sense described by Goff man (1961). The Pentecostal church leadership exercises con 7 trol over the content and practices of the program. Every aspect of physical, social, mental, and emotional life is brought under the control of the organization. If a girl is not able to accept the Pente costal form of religion as relevant for herself, her only course of action is to leave or "split" from the program. As long as she re mains in it, the rules of the organization control her behavior, the other residents provide or withhold the emotional support she needs, and attendance at chapel services and Bible study are required. For the girls who remain in the program for six months or more. New Hope becomes a way of life, and many actually fear leaving the com fort and security it provides. The period of time immediately after an ex-drug user leaves a rehabilitation program is believed by many to be the most critical in the total rehabilitation process. As Chapter Two will indicate, rates of relapse to drugs are highest in the immediate post-release period. It is also the part of the program about which least is known. Studies of drug programs indicate that a transformation of thought and behavior can occur as a result of taking part in a therapeutic program (Yablonsky, 1965; Wilkerson, 1963). However, there have been few studies which have attempted to assess the stability of those attitudinal and behavioral changes that occurred while the re si dent was in the program. Few drug programs maintain contact with their graduates after they re-enter society, and fewer attempt to learn what has happened to those who participated in the program for a shorter length of time. There are many reasons for this, but the 8 main one is the problem of contacting ex-addicts. Since addicts are a very mobile group, it is difficult to locate them by mail; further more few programs have the available staff to provide in-person follow-up contact. Therefore the experiences of the resident as he or she attempts to re-enter society are largely unknown. The expressed goal of most drug rehabilitation programs is to 2 return the resident to society as a productive, drug-free member. For example. New Hope claims a success rate of 65 to 80 percent for those who have completed the program. Success is defined as not using drugs of any kind and actively living for Christ which in volves attendance at church meetings, daily prayer and Bible read ing and Christian Service. However, it is difficult to know how New Hope or any other therapeutic community program can arrive at any reliable estimate of success. Information about residents is gathered through informal sources when girls happen to come back to the Center, call someone at the Center, or write a letter. Information about the unsuccessful graduates comes through requests for infor mation from probation officers or other rehabilitation or maintenance programs. New Hope staff members have made some attempt to follow-up on the girls who have left the program. In 1972, information was collected about the status of the girls who had left during the first two years, but the report was not published, and a copy could not be located. However, I had access to the data sheets from which the 2 Synanon-type programs are organized to provide a life-long com munity setting for their members. 9 summary was made, and this was helpful in verifying such informa tion as the length of time a girl was there, the circumstances under which she left the program, and her present degree of success as ascertained by the staff through their informal sources of informa- tionl For that report, no questionnaire information was obtained or interviews held, and so success or failutre was judged on the basis of informal reports. The information probably would be most ac curate for those who were active in Christian groups and maintained their contact with the group — in other words, for the successes. The Hypotheses: Success Rates No attempt was made at that time or later to analyze the ex periences of the girls or boys as they made their transition to the world outside the institution. It was the plan of this study to exam ine the events of this transitional period in order to comprehend the impact of the program on the life pattern of the girls. The following hypotheses emerged from my observations of the New Hope program over the year in which I observed the process by which girls ex perienced a change in identity by participating in the program, and as I compared reports of the activities of the girls after leaving the program with their behavior while in the program: 1. The success rate for girls who have chosen to enter New Hope will be greater than for similar female addicts committed by the courts. 10 2. The success rate for girls who have received "the baptism 3 of the Holy Spirit" will be greater than for those who did not. 3. The success rate for girls who enter a Christian environ ment after leaving the program will be greater than for those who did not. 4. The success rate for girls who maintain contact with New Hope personnel or a church group will be greater than for those who do not. In addition, the following broad questions were explored: 1. To what extent has the positive labeling of the program "You are a new creature in Christ" become an actual reality as evidenced by changed behavior when the girls leaves the protective setting of the Center? 2. To what extent does the improved behavior observed while the girls is in the program represent an externally imposed standard rather than one internally adopted by the girl? 3. In retrospect, what aspects of the program or which change agents do the girls see as contributing to their success or failure in the program and in their long-term rehabilitation? Answers to questions such as these can only be made on the basis of assessments of attitudinal and behavioral changes that oc curred while the girl was in the program and the assessment of the 3 This phenomenon is described in Chapter Six. 11 stability of those changes after a girl has entered a new social situ ation. Therefore, the present study used information available in the New Hope records as well as interviews and observations done while the girls were in the program and after they left. The focus of the analysis was to relate the changes in identity that occurred while in the program to their present life style. The understandings gained through participant observation were used as the basis for the questionnaire and interview schedules for the total sample. In this way, the distinctive advantages of both fieldwork and survey research were combined in one study. Quantitative data were analyzed using frequency distributions and contingency tables, and qualitative data was analyzed by the development of conceptual categories from the field notes and taped interviews. The qualitative analysis revealed the central purpose of the rehabilitation program: to provide a life changing experience for girls so that they could never view life from just the old perspec tive again — the experience of "alternation" as described by Berger (Berger, 1963:54). The organization attempted to do this by insist ing that a girl live up to the label "Christian" which was applied to her when she first accepted the ideology of the group. The interac tions of the girls with the organization are described in Chapters Five through Seven. Three patterns of response to the program were found: 1) rebellion and flight, 2) unstable conversions, and 3) successful identity change. These patterns are discussed in Chapter Eight. 12 The organization defined success as abstaining from unpre scribed drugs and actively living for Christ. However, for my evaluation of the graduates of the program, success was defined only as abstaining from unprescribed drugs. It was found that 66. 7% of the graduates were drug-free at the time the data were collected. Although the group of girls judged to be cooperative in the program were more successful than those who were judged to be not com mitted or rebellious, the difference was not statistically significant. The following factors were correlated with success in the transition period: voluntary admission to the program, residence in the pro gram during the first period when the organization was relatively informal and ex-addicts served as counselors, discharge to a Christian institution or non-drug using home, maintaining contact with a Christian organization or friend, age between 16 and 21 at the time of admission, and the use of drugs other than heroin. These findings are analyzed in Chapter Nine. A cyclical pattern of success and failure was noted for many girls so that long-term success can only be confirmed by a longitudinal study of these subjects. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: REHABILITATION PROGRAMS Since the passage of the Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914, public response to the problem of addiction has focused on eradicating sources of illegal drugs and on rehabilitating addicts so that they no longer needed the drugs. The assumptions on which the public response was based was that "any addict could stop taking an ad dicting drug if he wanted to and if he tried hard enough" (Brecher, 1972:64). The flourishing black market for drugs points to the lack of success in eradicating illegal drugs; the evaluative studies of various types of drug rehabilitation programs also indicate a lack of success. The Traditional Medical Model The traditional form of drug rehabilitation program, often called the medical model, was first developed by the U. S. Public Health Service in its hospitals at Lexington, Kentucky and Fort Worth, Texas. It provides gradual detoxification of the addict, re building of physical health, and some counseling. These programs are generally geared to the heroin addict since heroin is "the dom inant form of illegal opiate use today" (Brecher, 1972:46). Tradi tional rehabilitation is based on the theory that if the pattern of physical dependence on a drug could be broken, the addict would be 13 14 cured. Thousands of addicts have gone through the federal hospitals as well as through state and local rehabilitation programs largely- patterned after them; nevertheless, the overall "cure" rate has been very low. Several follow-up studies of dischargees from the U. S. Public Health Service hospital at Lexington have been done. Pescor (1943) reported that only 13. 5 percent of 4, 766 patients were abstinent six to seventy-two months after discharge and a later study (Hunt, 1962) presented an even more pessimistic picture. Hunt found that only 6. 6 percent of 1,912 discharged patients were abstinent during the follow-up period of from one to four years. A detailed study of a stratified sample of 453 of the dischargees included in Hunt's 1962 study was done by Duvall in 1963. She continued the study of the dischargees for the full five years of the study period rather than following a dischargee only until he became readdicted as had been done in the earlier studies. In this way, she was able to learn more about the life patterns of the dischargee and to identify periods of abstinence following periods of drug use. She found that fifty-two deaths occurred among the 453 patients during the five years, and that only twelve dischargees or less than three percent of the study group were voluntarily abstinent for the full five years. However, about forty percent of the dischargees were voluntarily abstinent for three consecutive months during the five years. An estimated forty-one percent of the total group of 1, 359 dischargees from whom the stratified sample was drawn was readmitted within the five year 15 period, to Lexington or the hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Seventy- percent of the study population has one or more arrest, most of which were narcotic violations or crime resotred to by addicts to support their habit, A more recent follow-up of 100 patients released from Lexing ton in 1952 was reported by Vaillant (1965). For several years after the patients were discharged, they and their families were contac ted by a social agency about every three months. In spite of this intensive aftercare, within two years, all but ten of the one hundred patients became addicted — at least temporarily. Of the ten who did not, three died in less than four years after dis charge, two turned to alcohol, three had never used nar cotics more than once a day, and one used drugs inter mittently after discharge. In other words, virtually all patients who had been physically addicted and did not die, relapsed. (Vaillant, 1965:729-30). However, Vaillant reported that at the end of twelve years, in 1964, only twenty of the 100 addicts were still addicted. This statement has been used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program, but in actuality, only twenty-three were classified as "stably employed and not at the, moment addicted" (Vaillant, 1965:730), The other fifty-seven subjects were not all voluntarily abstinent — some were dead, some used alcohol, some were in prisons or hospitals, and some could not be located. This demonatrates the fact that a follow- up study of addicts must be longitudinal, because at any point in time, a certain percentage of the graduates of a program may ap pear to be abstinent, nonalcoholic, employed, and not in trouble 16 with the law. The true "cure" rate can only be demonstrated by observing the same person over a number of years. When this is done, the medical model "cure" is shown to be, rather, a repetitive process of cure, readdiction, and reimprisonment. Evaluative studies of programs for teenagers show similar findings to those for adults. A model program designed for teenage addicts was set up in 1952 at Riverside Hospital in New York City. Emphasis was on providing psychological treatment and expert edu cational and rehabilitational guidance. After five years, Trussell conducted an evaluation of the program based on adolescents ad mitted to the program in 1955. It was found that only eight of the 247 addicts located were drug free and not in jail or in hospitals. In addition, when these eight were questioned, all eight said that they had never been addicted, but that they had been caught possessing drugs and therefore had served time in the program (Trussell, 1969). In order to assess the long term consequences of addiction to heroin. De Fleur (1969) interviewed fifty-three male Puerto Rican addicts who had been involuntarily admitted to the hospital in Lex ington between 1935 and 1962 and had returned to Puerto Rico. She found that more than three-fourths of the subjects remained more or less continuously addicted over an average sixteen year period since the onset of drug use. From an analysis of eleven follow-up studies of drug addicts completed before 1963, O’Donnell made two summary statements: 1) There is almost universal agreement that the relapse rate among 17 addicts is high, and 2) When relapse occurs, it tends to occur quickly, usually within six months and almost always before two years. He also noted that six of the seven highest relapse rates were reported in studies one in the New York City area, and he at tributed this to the fact that New York City has a high density of ad dicts. He hypothesized that the greater the number of addicts in the community to which the subject returns, the greater the prob ability of relapse. Because of the demonstrated failure of rehabilitation programs conducted in either a punitive or medical-psychiatric setting, new types of programs have been established, each with its own assump tions of how best to cure addiction. Lieberman has identified five different themes of rehabilitation that have emerged in the last dec ade or so: 1) communal or therapeutic community residential pro grams, 2) community based programs or outpatient treatment, 3) rational authority, 4) chemotherapy, and 5) religious programs (Lieberman, 1967:53-60). The Synanon Model One of the earliest and perhaps the best known of the communal or therapeutic community programs is Synanon, which was estab lished in 1958 by Charles Dederich. Lieberman describes the in stitution this way: The addict who enters Synanon enters, in effect, a totally new world — a world in which his former pat terns of behavior, values, and expectations are, for 18 the most part rejected vehemently (Lieberman, 1967:55). The treatment personnel at Synanon are other addicts who have re mained abstinent in that community; the concept of sharing day by day experiences between leaders and members serves to socialize the new resident to the standards of the community. The treatment program is based both on the psychological assumption that there is an addictive personality pattern that needs to be changed, and the sociological assumption that addiction arises out of the social con text. Although Synanon has been successful in building a drug free community for those who could take the rigorous treatment process and then chose to remain in that community, it has for the most part, failed to turn out abstinent alumni. Brecher says that in 1971, Dederich estimated that relapse among Synanon graduates was in the neighborhood of ninety percent (Brecher, 1972:78). In fact. Dede rich has said that if addicts go out of Synanon, they are dead (Brecher, 1972). There have been numerous programs based on the Synanon model. Among them are Daytop, Phoenix House, Oddyssey House, and Liberty Park Village. These programs often appear to be suc cessful to the casual observer because in each program there are former addicts that are no longer using drugs and appear to be doing well. Long-term residents speak at high schools and other educa tional institutions and carry the message that heroin addiction is curable. The message of success is often misleading because 19 although it may be true for the individual at that time, it might not be true for him if he split from the program or even graduated and it certainly would not be likely to be true for those who entered the program but split before reaching even that much success. In re porting the success rate for these programs, early dropouts are not included in the statistical analysis. Of more concern is the fact that the meaning of success after leaving the program is rarely specified in depth. Brecher says that it is the rare program that attempts to find out what has happened to its graduates in terms of readdiction and therefore the success -failure rate is not known (Brecher, 1972:81). One of the few follow-up studies of a therapeutic community was done by George Nash in 1971. Of 157 residents in two Phoenix House units in August and September of 1968, Nash found that two years later, forty of them were still affiliated with the Phoenix House program as employees, elders, or residents. One hundred and seventeen had left the program. Of these, one hundred had split without, graduating. Of the seventeen who graduated, seven were employed in other narcotic programs, two had returned to heroin within a year, and eight were living on the outside, apparently drug free (Nash, 1971). Brecher (1972) attributes the high relapse rate when treated addicts return to the community to the fact that the leaving of a community which has sheltered and supported the person often leads to a recurrence of anxiety, depression, and drug craving followed 20 by a relapse ot heroin. Ther person is able to manage anxiety and thus prevent drug seeking behavior while he or she remains in the therapeutic community but the community does not teach the person to manage his or her own anxiety and depression outside the com munity (Brecher, 1972). Because of the difficulty therapeutic community residential treatment programs have had in returning addicts to their own communities as cured, an alternate approach is to attempt to re habilitate the addict while he or she is living in his or her own com munity. This approach recognizes that the addict already has group ties within a neighborhood, and treatment must alter those ties in such a way that drug use is no longer a necessity. Community Based Programs It is not possible to know how many community based drug abuse programs are in existence because they are often a part of a larger agency, and few studies have been done to assess their ef fectiveness. An example of such a community drug program is the Los Angeles Model Neighborhood Drug Abuse Clinic located in a health department clinic. A evaluation model for the clinic was prepared by a team from the University of Southern California in 1971. The clinic had as its objectives: 1) to restore drug depen dent persons to normal functioning in the community, and 2) to de velop drug abuse prevention techniques to aid the community in controlling the drug problem. The clinic had been in existence only 21 one year when it was evaluated, and because of staffing problems and failure to recruit community workers who had real experience with the local drug problem, it was largely ineffective (Dennis, Dubose, and Horton, 1971). Rational Authority Program s Both residential therapeutic community and non-residential community-based program s take advantage of the probationary or parolee status of an addict, whenever this is possible, to insure that he will rem ain in the program . This use of rational authority to keep an addict in a program long enough to perm it changes to take place grew out of the experience of both federal and voluntary program s. Studies have found that most addicts are unwilling or unable to stay in a program if the option of leaving is made avail able to them. A program based entirely on rational authority is the California Rehabilitation Center Program . In this program an addict who has committed a crim e and is not sent to prison is either sent to a pris on-like treatm ent center from which he is placed under the direct control of a probation officer, or placed directly on afte r care which resem bles parole without entering the treatm ent center. The assumption is that the addict has failed to learn personal d is cipline and lim it-setting, and the probation officer is to socialize him into these patterns. California established the first "civil commitment" treatm ent program for narcotic addicts in 1961, designed as a non-punitive 22 treatm ent program . The addict or potential addict was committed to the California Rehabilitation Center by a civil procedure for a minimum of six months within the facility followed by release to outpatient status under close supervision. Outpatients who remained abstinent for three consecutive years were eligible for discharge from the program . A follow-up study of persons first released from the Center during 1963-1966 was reported by K ram er and Bass (1969). They found that most of the patients discharged from the program did not succeed in outpatient status. Two-thirds of those released to p ro bation officers for supervision returned to the institution at least once within the three years following the first release. In this group of subjects, of those considered to be successful, K ram er and Bass classified nine of the twenty-one successful men and four of the eight successful women as being atypical. For example, they denied ad diction, had been medically addicted to drugs such as percodan, or had used nonopiate drugs. Although supporters of the California Rehabilitation Center P rogram acknowledge that the success rate is not high, they point to the fact that control as well as treatm ent is provided. K ram er and Bass question whether "the degree of success achieved by the California program justifies the prolonged period of incarceration for the many who do not respond to it" (Kramer and Bass, 1969: 2301). They also wonder whether other programs which do not sub ject people to such a loss of personal freedom might be equally or 23 m ore successful. Other investigators report a more favorable outcome for supervised parole. Baganz and Maddux (1965) studied the employ ment status of narcotic addicts one year after discharge from the Public Health Hospital at P ort Worth, Texas. All the addicts inclu ded in the study group were under the compulsory supervision of probation officers for at least one year. During this year of super vision, they found that seventy-four percent of the treated addicts were employed and six of these patients were in skilled occupations which they had learned in the hospital. They contrasted this high rate of employment with the thirty-seven percent employment rate reported by Duvall (1963) for patients who were discharged from Lexington who had no compulsory supervision, and they suggested that long-term supervision may be the factor leading to the success of these subjects. In a sim ilar survey of ninety-nine male parolees having a history of drug dependence who were released from New York State correctional institutions to the New York City area in the month of December, 1968, Stanton found that by August 31, 1970, fifty-eight percent were suspected of having reverted. When he compared this rate of readdiction with the reported readdiction rates of un supervised dischargees from the Lexington hospital, he concluded: Many practitioners would agree that the ’authoritarian* approach used by the Division of Parole in its case work treatm ent of drug dependent parolees probably works more effectively with most drug dependent in dividuals than other methods and that lower rates of 24 reversion should be anticipated among supervised parolees than, for example, among unsupervised, drug dependent individuals who were discharged from other rehabilitative facilities. One authority. Cole, states that the overwhelm ing consensus is that enforced parole leads to less readdic tion than minimal or no aftercare treatm ent (Stanton, 1970: 11). Chemotherapy Program s The treatm ent approaches discussed this far have relied on changing the social-psychological milieu of the addict in some way, since it was assumed that problems in these areas produced drug abuse. Those who advocate the use of chemotherapy in the tre a t ment of drug addiction acknowledge that psycho-social problems exist in the lives of the addicts, but they also insist that in addition to those problem s, the use of drugs itself has produced another problem — addiction — which has physiological effects on the person. According to Seevers, addiction is characterized by: 1) an overpowering desire to continue to take the drug, 2) a tendency to increase the dosage, 3) psychological and physiological dependence on the drug, and 4) d e tri mental effects both to society and the individual (Seever, 1962:93). Martin and his associates at the Lexington Hospital in Kentucky have shown that: following withdrawal of patients dependent on morphine and methadone, there is a long-lasting syndrome of phys iological abnormalities which has been called protracted abstinence which appears to be characterized by hyper sensitivity to stressful stimuli and which is associated with lapse to the drug of dependence (Martin, 1971:34). 25 Cyclazocine Recognizing the physiological nature of the craving that causes addicts to return to drugs in spite of their intense desire to stop using drugs, an eûtiarêly diffearent approach to treatm ent Is to give the addict drugs that counteract the effect of heroin. Jaffe and Brill (1966) report the use of cyclazocine, a narcotic antagonist, as an aid to therapy. They find the process or rehabilitation is more ef fective since the patient can concentrate on therapy rather than looking for funds to buy heroin. The problem with the use of cycla zocine is in persudaing the addict to continue using it since it does not give him the pleasure heroin does. Methadone Dole and Nyswander, in New York City program s, pioneered and have reported excellent success with the use of methadone, a synthetic opiate that can be taken orally and has an effect that lasts thirty to thirty-six hours. They supplied it in conjunction with other services such as counseling and legal aid in a total rehabilitation program . Since methadone reduces the craving for heroin and is itself addicting, the drop out rate from the program has been low (twenty percent) and the number of persons successfully employed or attending school has been high. An evaluation of the Dole- Nyswander methadone program was done by an independent evalua tion unit at the School of Public Health, Columbia University, under Frances Gearing, with an advisory evaluation committee that in 26 eluded several doctors who were opponents of methadone m ainten ance program s. Reports and data collection continued from 1968 to 1970. In addition. Dole and Nyswander sponsored several large conferences on the use of methadone which promoted the use of methadone maintenance throughout the United States and Canada. These New York studies by Gearing concluded that less than one percent of the addicts on methadone were using heroin regularly, and that about fifteen percent used heroin on weekends with friends. Dole reported that prio r to methadone treatm ent, ninety-one percent of the patients had been in jail, and all of them had been involved in crim inal activities. However, after entering the program , eighty- eight percent of the patients had a rre st-fre e records. Gearing (1968) found that those who remained on the maintenance program for twenty-four months had an a rre s t rate close to zero. In addition, within three months of starting the program , more than half of the male addicts were employed or attending school; this proportion rose to two-thirds after a year in the program (Gearing, 1968:5). Dole attributed this success not only to methadone, which only blocks drug hunger by relieving withdrawal symptoms as any other opiate would, but to the staff of physicians, nurses, patients in the p ro gram, counselors, and social w orkers who initiated the patients into the expectations of the program — that addicts can lead reason ably law-abiding lives and get jobs or return to school. Another reason for the success of the program was that addicts were a c cepted into the program only at their own request: patients who 27 were expelled from the program or left it voluntarily were allowed to return, and often did well the second or third time around. In addition to the economic advantages of employment and not needing to find money to buy heroin, B recher reported that methadone users had social benefits as well: general improvement in health, reconciliation with parents, restoration of m arriages, and a sense of self-achievement and secure feeling that he is no longer a hunted crim inal (Brecher, 1972:152). Unfortunately, not all methadone maintenance program s have been as successful as the Dole-Nyswander program . For example, a program in New Orleans adm inistered by Sister David was closed after three years because she found that most of the addicts in the methadone program were also using heroin. In this program , methadone was adm inistered daily, but no other therapy was offered (personal communication). The other method of using metiiadone that has made it seem undesirable to addicts is the practice of diminishing doses to aid in withdrawal from heroin. In the Dole-Nyswander program no attempt is made to wean addicts off heroin because it is felt that only the regular use of metiiadone keeps the addict from desiring heroin. The emphasis is on keeping addicts on a dosage of methadone so high that they appear not to feel additional dosages of it or other opiates are necessary. Most of the addicts on methadone eventually experimented with heroin and found that they could feel no effect from it, or they occasionally took heroin or other drugs in social 28 settings where such use was expected. Religious Inspiration Program s Although the emphasis of each of the treatm ent program s d is cussed has been different, certain elements are common to all of them such as the use of a group to provide emotional support and a model for behavior, and the deliberate attempt to change the person's attitudes about him self and his form er way of life. . Program s with a religious emphasis also have these elements, but rather than rely ing on strength of character or a drug-substitute to keep the addict off drugs, the religious program offers the addict a power outside him self to enable him to stay off drugs. Many of the new youth movements have religious belief as their guiding force and they a t tract both drug-users and non-users into their groups. Transcendental Meditation A quasi-religious practice that is used by some as a means of getting off drugs is Transcendental Meditation. Schwartz (1974) w rites that Transcendental Meditation is an easily learned m édita- tional technique which alters the state of consciousness. Its benefit in curing drug abuse was discovered indirectly. In 1969, while using meditation in a study of blood pressure, Benson noted that nineteen of his twenty volunteers had given up the use of drugs. They claimed that changes in consciouness due to marijuana, LSD, and heroin had become distasteful since their discovery of Transcendental 29 Meditation (Schwartz, 1974:40). Whether meditation is actually an alternative to drug use rem ains open to question for a variety of reasons. In the first place, in order to learn Transcendental Medi tation the person m ust voluntarily give up drugs for two weeks, which means that the commitment to meditation rather than m edita tion itself may produce the abstinence; those truly addicted might be unable to do this. In addition, there are strong group p ressu res to conform to the model c£ the successful meditator who has been able to transcend drugs. It is hard to evaluate the effectiveness of the method for the general population because organizational re c ords are not kept of people who quit Transcendental Meditation. Without knowing how many quit and for what reason, it can only be said that Transcendental Meditation is effective for some of those who chose to use it. Otis found that those more deeply committed to the movement, such as the teacher-trainees, were m ore likely to give up drugs than those nominally committed or those who had dropped out. He found that those who quit meditating seemed to fall into two categories: "people with problems too serious to respond to a technique as mild as Transcendental Meditation and people whose personalities are already too well integrated" (Otis, 1974:46). Jesus Movement Like Transcendental Meditation, the rapidly growing Jesus Movement has attracted many form er drug users to its communes. 30 At a commune studied by Harder, Richardson, and Simmonds, ninety percent of the m em bers reported that they had had previous exper ience with drugs, but no one reported using drugs at the time of the interview. Of the seventy-nine form er users, twenty-one had taken opiates or cocaine and another forty-three said they used hallucino gens. Sixty-five reported that most of their friends on the outside were drug u sers. However, at the commune there is no place for drugs because all of life centers on God: They read their Bibles during brief breaks from work and talk among themselves about the marvelous things that God, through Christ, had done for them. There is no talk of football games, dating, and sex, politics, drugs, school, or other topics common among twenty- one year olds. The talk is of God.(Harder, Richardson, and Simmonds, 1972:50) Other investigators of the Jesus Movement (Adams and Fox, 1972) report that for a part of the group who had been in the drug scene, "the Jesus Movement constitutes a ritual of re-entry into the system " in that they begin to participate in the work force (Adams, 1972:50). However, certain drug culture metaphors have been r e tained in the new setting. Adams and Fox quote one hip young man who was describing his experience in turning on to Jesus as saying, "It's the greatest rush I've ever had." Bumper stickers displaying the words "Get Hooked" are also used by the group. Life in the communes is ruled by two norms: the Bible and direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking tongues is encouraged. Adams and Fox compare the "Jesus Trip" with the use of drugs because they see both as: 31 used in such a way as to avoid coming to terms with the anxieties related to the identity crisis,,, Instead of pro gressing toward adult ethics, the Jesus person clutches tenaciously to childhood morality, with its simplistic black and white, right and wrong judgments. Rather than developing behavior oriented towards reality, he flies into ideational, ideological abstractions to numb his awareness of his newly arisen needs.(Adams, 1972; 53) Adams.and Fox view the quest for drugs as more healthy emotionally than the Jesus trip because the individual is at least attempting to discover truth rather than relying on the cure-all of leaving every thing up to the Lord. They also see the free-lance drug culture as nonauthoritarian whereas the Jesus culture is bound by an authori tarian either/or view of the world in which experiences are defined as either being of God or of the Devil. One advantage of the Jesus movement is that it allows middle- class youth an opportunity to return to middle-class values while retaining peer approval, whereas the drug scene does not. It allows the gradual re-entry into society because few changes in life style are required in the move from dope to Jesus. Adams and Fox see both the use of drugs and membership in the Jesus movement as a kind of escape from the social realities of present day America; instead of mainlining heroin the kinds are now mainlining Jesus, and confusing Jesus with the withdrawal from the world and its prob lems. Adams and Fox speculate on the permanence of the changes that have occurred; Although they have kicked the drug habit, their absti nence has been too brief to predict how successful 32 they will be at giving up drugs permanently. We may wonder what will happen if and when they are no longer high on Jesus. The potential psychological difficulties could be enormous, for in large m easure they have channeled their anxieties about their problems into displays of religious fervor rather than coming to term s with the realities of the identity cris is. (Adams and Fox, 1972:56) Teen Challenge Another religious program seeking to deal with the problem of drug addiction is Teen Challenge. Although Teen Challenge has no form al connection with the Jesus movement, many of its beliefs and value system s are the same. The same anti-intellectual and author itarian view of the world is present, and its m em bers follow the same pattern of avoiding problem solving by leaving everything to God. They also view addiction in a sim ilar way. Addiction is seen as a symptom of the sinfulness of a person who has not accepted C hrist as his savior, and the treatm ent for it is for the person to commit his life to Christ in an intense religious experience. Although Teen Challenge adm inistrators consider that their program is the only successful program for truly rehabilitating ad dicts, the same paucity of evaluative studies prevails as for other therapeutic community program s. One study has been reported in which heroin addicts who were selectively admitted to treatm ent program s were randomly assigned to Teen Challenge, a federal program using transactional analysis, or put on a waiting list (Johnston, 1973). The three groups were compared for initial change 33 of attitudes and long term outcome. By "selectively admitted" Johnston meant that the individual addict wanted and asked for tre a t ment and the court and program director were convinced he could benefit from the treatm ent. Between the sixth and twelfth month of participation in the program or being on the waiting list, in the case of the control group, each subject was asked to complete a drug ad diction questionnaire from which a score was computed to rate each person on addiction involvement. This score and the rate of recidi vism after twenty-nine months were compared for the three groups. Johns ton found that participants in the Teen Challenge program had the lowest ranked means on the addiction questionnaire (2. 18) as compared with 8. 82 for those in Transactional Analysis and 14. 53 for those in the no treatm ent group. However, the Teen Challenge subjects had a significantly higher recidivism rate (32%) as com pared with sixteen percent for the Transactional Analysis group. Johnston suggests that the higher recidivism rate for the Teen Challenge subjects may be due to the fact that the Teen Challenge approach: deals with heroin and other addictions in a repressive manner, i. e. the motivation of the addict has been changed because of his conversion to Christ whom he accepts as his Lord and M aster and accordingly views drug taking as a sin. It appears that dealing with h e r oin addiction in this m anner masks the symptoms and etiology, and in doing so does not get at the real causes which led up to the addict becoming addicted to heroin or other drugs. Thus, the addict's belief in Christ, even though sincere and real, becomes a drug substi tution which often never grows beyond that little spark of embryonic faith,(Johnston, 1973:110) 34 From the recidivism rates over the 29 months and the fact that these men on the TA program are successful even after parole, it would suggest that TA operates at a deeper level of the basic personality structure, permitting greater adjustment without drugs as it changes the addiction concept of the self-im age more thoroughly and at a slower pace, perhaps accounting for the lower recidivism rates (Johnston, 1973:110), He goes on to describe the process of change that occurs in Teen Challenge. The addict rapidly changes the concept of himself as a addict based on his faith in Christ which makes him a new creature in Christ. Johnston points out the problem with this approach: However, this suggest too that if the addict does not fervently keep active in the TC program or a church, he may encounter a personal loss of faith — even m o m entarily — which could result in his returning to drug usage. It seems possible, at least for part of the 32% counted in the TC recidivism rate, that the cure is en cased in the legal contractual language — a prom ise for a prom ise, "if you will — then I will, " i. e . , if the addict will be good in responding to the wishes of his heavenly Father, then his cure from addiction is con tinued (Johnston, 1973:110). Based on his study of these groups, Johnston suggest that there is a real danger in Teen Challenge's belief in the individual loss of sal vation and the great emphasis on works in lieu of psychotherapy. From a review of the various approaches to the rehabilitation of addicts, it is clear that most have been unsuccessful, and even those that have been successful for some are not successful for others. There is a real need to examine in depth the total process of rehabilitation and discharge to the community so that success or failure statistics can take on real meaning. Since long-term reha bilitation (the ability to live a productive, drug-free life in the 35 community) rather than tem porary abstinence is the goal of most therapeutic p ro g ra m s/ it is amazing that so little concern is given to finding out what happens to graduate of a program . B recher writes: In the entire history of therapeutic communities no study has ever been published of what happens to alumni who complete the program and leave the therapeutic setting. Their success rate remains unknown (Brecher, 1972:81). The present study was undertaken to attem pt to answer this question for one therapeutic community: New Hope. The methods used and the rationale underlying the methods will be discussed in Chapter Three and the findings of the study will be presented in Chapters Four through Ten. ^Synanon is one of the few program s that has as its goal the provid ing of a home for the addict for his entire life (Brecher, 1972:78). CHAPTEK Hi THEORY AND METHODOLOGY This study began as part of a larger study designed to inves tigate the effect of labeling on the process of identity change from a deviant identity to that of a norm al identity (Warren, 1974). During the first phase of the study unobtrusive observation of the program was done for four months. This was followed by a five month p e r iod in which the research activity of the investigator was m ore evi dent as participant observation was supplemented with taped in ter views with the program participants and staff. The second phase of the study focused on the problems asso ci ated with transition to society, and was started in June 1973 when questionnaires were sent to form er residents who lived out of the local area and appointments were made for interviews with girls who remained in the area. By March 1974, 55 girls had been con tacted personally, 39 by interview and 16 through the mailed ques tionnaire, and information had been obtained about an additional 58 girls from reports from family, friends, or New Hope staff. At that time analysis of the data began. Although new information was received about some of the subjects during the period of analysis, success statistics were tabulated on the basis of reports received by March 1974. 36 37 The data analysis was framed in the context of labeling theory. Labeling theory as form alized by Becker (1963) defines deviance as the product of stigmatization by society. Lem ert (1967) elaborates on this definition, subdividing the process into two distinct steps. The negative labeling which is tiie societal reaction to deviant acts (prim ary deviance) causes the persons thus stigmatized to escalate the deviant acts to further deviant behavior, which leads to a deviant way of life and a deviant identity (secondary deviance). The focus of the larg er investigation was to study in depth the actual effect of negative labeling on a person's identity and behavior, since recent studies have indicated that there is not a simple rela tionship between the application of the label and the outcome (Lofland, 1969; McHugh, 1969; Schur, 1971; H arris, 1975). In each organi zation included in the la rg e r investigation, the stated goal was to change the deviant label and/or deviant behavior of the m em ber de siring rehabilitation. One task of the study was to observe the m eth ods used by the organization to "cure" or on the other hand, to escalate the deviance of their clients. The focus of observation for the original study was on the meanings created by the participants in the rehabilitation program s to account for the changes taking place in the "cured" individual's identity as "norm al" or "deviant. " The goals of the larg er study were also the goals of the first phase of this investigation, but the additional task of correlating identity change during the rehabilitation period with life-style change in the transitional period was added. 38 Participant Observation Participant observation was chosen as the method for carrying out the study because it is the m ost efficient way to come to under stand the way in which a program operates from the perspective of the group m em ber. It allows the research er to observe subjects as they move through their daily activities and interactions. The method facilitates understanding the reality and meaning of a given situation from the perspective of the participants interacting in the situation. Blum er states that the only way to gain assurance that "prem ises, problem s, data, relations, concepts, and interpreta tions are em pirically valid" is to directly examine the em pirical social world (Blumer, 1969:32). There, through observation and questioning the research er can identify the world as taken-for- gr anted by the group m em bers — the inter subjective world of every day life within which people act together to create meanings in the situated present (Schutz, 1970). By viewing as problematic what m em bers take for granted, the research er can understand the group interaction as socially constructed in a m anner not possible for group m em bers who accept their world in a taken-for-granted way (Schutz, 1970; B erger and Luchmann, 1966). Findings from form al and informal interviews, observations and conversations combine with the observers' experience and evaluations to form a unified explanation of the meaning of interactions. M erton has succinctly described the problem of the "outsider" who wishes to understand a group of which he or she is not a m em - 39 ber. Since the outsider has not "been socialized in the group nor has engaged in the run of experience tiiat makes up its life, " he cannot have "the direct intuitive sensitivity that alone makes em pa thie understanding possible" (Merton, 1972). Merton offers this solution to the problem: Only through continued socialization in the life of a group can one become fully aware of its symbolisms and social ly shared realities; only so can one understand the fine grained meanings of behavior, feelings, and values; only so can one decipher the unwritten gram m ar of conduct and nuance of cultural idiom. (Merton, 1972:15) The approach of participant observation also serves to counter act another problem which results from being an outsider: that of having a significantly different focus of interest. By allowing the research questions to evolve from a participation in the life of a group, the tendency for an outsider to inquire into problems re le vant only to the values and interest of his own peer group can be restrained, and the investigation can be directed at concerns which are relevant to the group. This helps to overcome the problem d es cribed by Merton, "one must not only be one in order to understand one; one must be one in order to understand what is m ost worth un derstanding" (Merton, 1972:17). The problem of being an outsider is not confined to the r e searcher alone. Even in one group, every m em ber has had different experiences and related to different reference groups so that each comes to the group with a different perspective. However, the r e searcher has available the same tools that are used by m em bers to 40 understand each other — feelings and responses. The number of linkages in common between the observer and those observed will determine to some extent the amout of participation in the life of the group that m ust be done before the observer can have any confidence in making interpretations. By locating areas in which the investiga tor and group m em bers have experienced common socialization, it is possible for the research er to use his or her own feelings and responses as an aid in understanding areas in which the group has shared different experiences. F or example, in this investigation, I was able to use shared experiences such as gender, religious belief, failure, doubt, need for companionship, love, and accep tance, and desire for m aterial goods to understand experiences that were unfamiliar. This enabled me to acquire to some extent an authentic aw areness or acquaintance with what was happening in the program rather than m erely knowledge about it. This is the first step in understanding the situations and processes the group m em bers are im m ersed in so that data can be collected and assessed from close but detached stance that is impossible for either an in sider or an outsider. T r iangulation The advantages of using a variety of techniques to collect in formation about a setting are discussed by both Sieber and Denzin. Sieber (1973) argues that through the integration of methods, each method can be greatly strengthened. Denzin also agrees that the use 41 of several methods is useful in understanding phenomenon: These three strategies (experimental method, m ultivariate analysis, analytic induction) represent the m ajor means the sociologist has for examining causal propositions. They also represent the principle strategies of handling rival causal factors. The experimental model controls them, the survey method infers them, and analytic in duction follows their occurrence over time.(Denzin, 1970:26) In this way, the advantage of participant observation which has as its main strength the careful recording of a limited number of situations and interactions, can be combined with a more general knowledge of the characteristics of the total group, Denzin says that "participant observation is best seen as a method that combines survey data, descriptive statistical analysis, quasi-experim ental variation, docu ment analysis, and direct observation" (Denzin, 1970). While it is never possible to insure validity, that is, to state with certainty that descriptions of a phenomenon have absolute c o r respondence with that phenomenon, the method of field research allows the research er to validate his observations both with the m em bers of the group and with his own experience of the group. Validity can also be achieved by recording field notes immediately after leaving the setting rather than relying on m em ory so that each day's observations can be studied as they were interpreted at that tim e. The fact that a research er is constantly recording what tra n s pires in a setting makes his experience of a setting different from that of a m em ber who is participating in the setting but who is making no attempt to system atically record and analyze what is occurring. 42 For the mem ber, one experience tends to m erge into another and is reinterpreted in the light of the ongoing experience. The m ain advantage of field research in promoting validity is that observations and in tera ctio n s take p la ce o v e r tim e . The r e searcher is allowed to understand progressively deeper layers of knowledge about the phenomenon as his understanding of the group and his rapport with group m em bers increases. What he or she learned at the beginning was valid for that level of acquaintance with the group, but it is not a description of the "real" world as p e r ceived by the m em bers. There may be many m ore layers of "truth" before a deep understanding of the group is acquired. One staff m em ber recognized the importance of time in gaining an understand ing of a group. At the time I was negotiating a change in research approach when I decided to begin interviewing the girls, she said, "Anyone else would have been in and out of here months ago with their questionnaires, and you still are here" (Fieldnotes). By in ter viewing m em bers at each level of the organization and recording each interaction for com parison with other interactions, it is pos sible for the research er to understand m ore layers of knowledge than any one group m em ber and with the discovery of each new layer, the perception of the whole is changed (Berger, 1963:23). In the strict sense of the word, it is not possible to reliably replicate any research. The problem is even m ore difficult for the field researcher, whose observations are the result of the in terac tion between herself and the group m em bers and are therefore unique. 43 A form of replication that can be used in a field setting is for sev eral researchers to simultaneously study the same setting in a team approach. This provides a blend of several perspectives of the same phenomenon based on the unique interactions and in L e rp re Ca tions of the setting of each researcher. This was not done in this study, but a research er involved in the larg er study did visit the setting several times so that two sets of independent field notes could be compared for reliability and depth of data. Because it is not possible to replicate a field study, it does not mean that generalizations are impossible. When m ore and m ore studies of the same phenomenon are done, and the same patterns em erge in different settings, then it is possible to generalize from one setting to another. G laser and Strauss (1967) have described the method of "grounded theory" in which hypotheses are developed d ur ing the study of a field setting which are then tested in other settings for alteration or confirmation. In this way, generalizations can be made about a characteristic of the setting such as Coffman's concept of the "total institution" (Coffman, 1961) and other settings be com pared in term s of that characteristic. The New Hope Study Phase I: Participant Observation I secured perm ission from the director of the New Hope Center to study the process of identity change by which an addict entering the girl's side of New Hope comes to view herself as an ex-addict. 44 My plan was to use the methods of observation, interviews, and taped recordings of group meetings and activities. In order to introduce me and my study to the New Hope staff, the director asked me to w rite a one page description of my background experiences. To facilitate my initial acceptance by the girls, I agreed to give piano lessons to any girl who wished to learn. This provided me an opportunity to get acquainted with the girls individually as well as in the group context. The girls were accustomed to having people from the community come to the Center to teach various classes such as photography or handicrafts, and so they accepted me readily as someone who wanted to help them. They were also accustomed to "giving their testim onies" to people who were interested in the work of New Hope, so my questions about their experiences in the p ro gram and events which had brought them to the program were not considered to be out of the ordinary. Therefore, it was not neces sary for me to give any detailed account of why I was there or why I was interested in the girls — I was assum ed to be m erely "the piano teacher. " I began my observations at New Hope on October 16, 1972. My weekly schedule was to give piano lessons on Monday afternoon to the girls who were not in high school classes and to attend any house meetings that were scheduled. On Tuesday I ate the evening meal with the group, gave some lessons, and attended the group meeting. I also talked with the girls as they did their work or participated in leisure activities. Several tim es a month I attended the Thursday 45 "P raise In, " an open meeting for the public at which the girls gave testimonies and a speaker delivered a sermon. After observing the program for three months, I spent several entire days at the Center participating in the classes, chapel services, and meetings so that I could feel the tempo of the entire day. Negotiation of Research Roles About this time the Tuesday group meeting was discontinued because the director felt that it was ineffective. The amount of free time available for the girls was also curtailed because of increased work assignm ents and an e arlier bedtime which was strictly enforced. Therefore I realized that if I were to expand my role of piano teacher and unobtrusive participant to the m ore public role of interview er. I again consulted the director; I asked for perm ission to make ap pointments with the girls and staff for interviews, and showed him the questions I had prepared (see Appendix). He agreed to cooperate with this new approach. I discussed my new plan with each staff m em ber so that all would be aware of what I was doing, since the girls would have to be excused from scheduled activities if interview time was to be provided. To illustrate the extent to which this changed my role at the Center, one staff m em ber said: "It seem s funny to talk about this because all of a sudden you have changed from being B arbara, one of us, to B arbara, the research er" (Fieldnotes). Later when my research focus changed from direct observa tion of the on-going program to a detailed study of the records in 46 order to secure addresses for each participant in the program as wel as information contained in the records, my role again had to be r e negotiated. Many of the girls thought I was the secretary, but I ex plained that I was planning to contact all the girls who had been in the program to find out what they were doing and how the program had helped them. When I cast m yself in this role, the girls in the program often turned the conversation to a discussion of the program itself and their reactions to it rather than discussing their past ex periences as they had form erly done. Still later when I stopped in at the Center about once a week to schedule interviews with girls who were about to graduate from the program and to find out from the stff if they had received any reports of form er residents, the girls who were new to the program thought I was a probation officer. Even though I explained what my purpose for being there was, I did not experience the same rapport with the girls as I had in my role of piano teacher. Since I am also a registered nurse, when I was introduced to a girl who was having a medical problem, another area of the girl's life was opened up to me. When I identified m yself as the m other of two children to girls who also had children, still another area of experience could be the focus of interaction. These examples serve to illustrate the fact that the information available to the participant observer in any situation varies accord ing to the role in which he or she is cast for the particular Interac tion, The role the research er presents is interpreted by the m em bers and the interaction is limited by that interpretation. This 47 means that some areas of the m em ber's experience are excluded from the observer. For example, as an outside teacher I was never able to participate in the "dorm talk" and had to rely on g irl's r e ports of how they used street talk or gaming in their daily en^ counters in the dorm . However, if I had chosen to do my observa tion as a m em ber of the community, many other types of interactions would have been closed to me including my freedom to interview staff and leave the Center at will. One way to overcome this problem is for two research ers to collaborate — one taking the role of m em ber and one of the outside observer who can maintain channels of com- 2 munication with the adm inistrative staff. Since I did not attempt this dual type of participation in the life of the community, I was not able to view the organization as a complete insider. I attempted to compensate for this by exploiting fully all the roles available to me. For example, I participated in the weekend guest program by inviting girls to spend the weekend at my home. This helped to develop Game playing can be defined as "faked motivational display for some ulterior motive" (Warren, 1973), 2 This type of collaboration was reported by F ry (1973) for an evalua tive study of a therapeutic drug community. F ry adopted the role of m em ber with the perm ission of the leaders of the community as a means of overcoming the distrust of outsiders which is ch arac teris tic of a closed community. He was allowed access to any data which was appropriate to the peer-group status at which he was. He en tered the program as an initiate and gradually went through the phases. As he progressed through the program m ore and different types of information were available to him because in the program , information is withheld from lower phase m em bers and is concen trated in the hands of the senior m em bers. In order to study the group with a minimum of disruption, the research er discarded all status symbols and he accepted the discipline of the group as a mem ber. 48 friendships that were of a deeper nature than could be developed at the Center alone. The Role of L earner I began my observations at New Hope naive to both rehabilita tion program s and the world of the addict. I will illustrate this na ivete^ with two examples of my initial acceptance at face value of both the assurances of the rehabilitated addict that she would never use drugs again and the "success statistics" published by New Hope/ This is an excerpt of an interview taped on the evening before a girl graduated from the program : Int. : In what ways has the program helped you? Girl: Well — it’s kept me off drugs. It made me see the no good value in them — how they can really hurt you. And it has opened my eyes to see what life is really about. . . Int. : How do you know you are ready to leave the p ro gram? Girl: Being here six months, we got a chance to go home once a m onth.. . and I know when I can go back to my own town and not want to get loaded, and when I start looking for new things to do and start taking new steps to get ahead, then I feel I’m ready to take those steps. .. I know I will never use heroin again. If I thought I would go back to it. I’d stay here. This g irl’s plans for schooling and living arrangem ents were well thought out, and I believed that she was cured of addiction. In fact, I accepted h er definition of the future situation that she was less likely to take drugs again than another person who had not exper ienced how bad drugs w ere. However, several months later I was 49 told by a New Hope staff m em ber that she had left school and that the police were looking for her for the use and sale of heroin. My second example of naiveté' is a paragraph I wrote three months after beginning my observations which paraphrased the out come expected by staff m em bers for those who successfully com pleted the program : ’Once an addict — always an addict. ’ Since the founding of New Hope by a Pentecostal m inister. New Hope Cen ters in this country and internationally are dem onstrat ing that this does not have to be true. Drug addicts who successfully complete the program are able to re-en ter society as completely changed individuals who depend on the Lord rather than on drugs to m eet their needs. (Artinian, 1973) Subsequent observations and interviews, the study of literature from other program s, and in-depth conversations with an ex-heroin ad dict have forced me to change my thinking radically about the prob lem of drug addiction and rehabilitation program s. I must stress the fact that my observations and initial interviews preceded my review of the literature available on the success or failure of other drug r e habilitation program s so that my expectations for the New Hope p ro gram were developed within the ideological fram ework of the New Hope program . For example, I accepted the assumption of New Hope staff residents that methadone maintenance program s are harmful and should be avoided at all costs until later reading and conversations with girls who had entered those program s after leav ing the Center caused me to alter my views. 50 Phase II; Survey of Graduates The Initial participant observational study of the iNew Hope program provided background information about the methods used by the organization to "rehabilitate" the girls who participated in the program and the response of the girls to the methods used. As time went on, it became apparent that m ost of the girls who remained in the program longer than a week made public professions of faith in Christ if they had not done so before entering the program . How ever, this profession of faith did not necessarily prevent them from splitting from the program , or, even if they completed the program , did not prevent them from reverting to drug use. Conversations with the director of women, who is an ex-addict, helped to focus on the problems inherent in the transition from a therapeutic program with its built-in controls to life in society with the need for independent decision making. Use of an Informant The director of women was my key informant, since she m ain tained contact with m ost of the girls who had left the program . Since she was about to resign from her position in the organization in o r der to give m ore time to her family, she welcomed the opportunity to work with me in locating and interviewing the form er graduates. The use of an informant in this way makes it possible to extend the range of observations available to the research er who has a different relationship with the subjects. 51 However, there are disadvantages as well as advantages to the use of an informant. Since the informant had been in a position of authority in the New Hope Center, there were some girls who would not allow them selves to be interviewed by her. Therefore there was a need for frequent contact and good rapport between the research er and informant so that interviews could be reassigned if one person was unsuccessful in scheduling an interview. There was also the danger that the behaviors of the girls would be interpreted from the point of view of the informant rather than from the perspective of the girl. In addition, the informant could elicit information according to her biases so that girls would respond to her in a way they felt she expected them to. An attem pt was made to control for this by having both the research er and the informant use the same interview guide and introduce other issues only after the basic information had been obtained. The advantages of using a m em ber informant far outweigh the disadvantages. Without the use of an informant, it would have been impossible to locate and interview many of the subjects and much of the information dealing with the present use of drugs and attitudes toward them by the subjects would not be known. The informant was also of great help to the research er for validating ideas and in ex plaining phenomena associated with the drug culture and the religious ideology of the group. 52 The Evaluation Component The present study grew out of the original study of identity change and is the logical extension of it. The goal of the organiza tion as expressed by both staff m em bers and participants, if for the girls to be able to complete the program and re-en ter society as non drug using m em bers who are actively living for Christ. As has been dem onstrated above, not all graduates were able to make this suc cessful transition. In addition, the possibility exists that some girls could make a successful transition with only a minimal amount of time at New Hope. F or example, one staff m em ber reported to me that one girl only stayed a few hours at New Hope, but during that time decided she w asn't like the girls there and didn't want to b e come like them. She decided to quit experimenting with drugs and now doesn't want anyone to know that she had ever entered New Hope. Since so little is known about the problems experiences by the person who leaves a rehabilitation program and the factors that con tribute to long-term successful or unsuccessful adjustment to so ciety, it was decided to contact each girl who had been admitted to the New Hope program in the three year period from its beginning in June of 1970 to the June graduation in 1973. The main focus of the investigation would be to find out what each girl considered to be the crucial elements accounting for her present adjustment to soci ety. Each girl who had been admitted to the program was included in the study even though the length of time the girls remained in the 53 program ranged from one to 409 days. In June 1973, 64 question naires and a cover letter were sent to all form er participants in the New Hope program who now lived outside the local area. The same le tte r and a req u est for a cu rren t phone num ber so that an in terv iew could be scheduled w ere sent to the 62 girls living in the area. At that time 15 of those included in the study were still in the program . However, after they left the program the same letter with a question naire or information request was mailed to them. No addresses were available for 10 of the girls and therefore it was not possible to contact them. Since it was anticipated that it would not be possible to contact all of the girls because of the high mobility of those in the drug cul ture, and that not all those contacted would respond, use was made of the records available at the Center so that the group that did respond could be compared with the non-responding group on such characteristics as age, race, m arital status, length of time in the program , probation or voluntary adm ission, and response to the program . In addition to questionnaire and interview information, direct observation of the problem s associated with the transition from a therapeutic community to the outside world were made possible by visits at frequent intervals to those girls who w ere known personally by me or the form er director of women and observations of the effect of the naturally occurring placement of subjects in different social settings after leaving the program were made. F or example, com- 54 pa ris on of success and non-success was made for those who r e turned to their homes and for those who went into some type of C hristian institution. By December 18, 1973, 30 interviews had been completed and 14 questionnaires had been returned. In addition, information had been received from parents, relatives, friends, or New Hope staff m em bers on about 36 m ore of the girls. The number for whom no addresses were known increased to 23 with the return of letters for which no forwarding address was available. In the hope of in c re as ing the number of returns, a second mailing was done in December. A new letter was w ritten which had a tear-off which could be r e turned if the person wished to acknowledge receipt of the letter but did not wish to participate in the study. Two additional question naires and several requests for interviews resulted from this m a il ing. In the hope of locating m ore of the girls, I spent several weeks telephoning those who had not responded. I found that the best time to do this was between 5:00 and 8:00 P. M. when people were having dinner. This was very helpful in scheduling interviews, conducting telephone interviews, or in talking with relatives when the girl could not be located. Many girls who have gone back to drugs were willing to talk to me on the phone whereas they would not commit them selves to a w ritten questionnaire or a face-to-face interview. Their responses were quite lengthy after they were convinced that I was as interested in understanding the experiences of those who had 55 not profited from or liked the program as from those who did, and that I had no connection with the Center as a staff m em ber. With the perm ission of the girl, I took notes as we talked, recording as much of the conversation as I could. Immediately following the in terview I filled in the gaps in the record. The telephone interviews were also helpful in locating girls for whom addresses and telephone numbers were no longer current. I routinely asked how the girl had learned about the program and if she had maintained contact with friends from the program . This often led to information about girls I had not been able to locate. Phase III: Analysis of Data When all the interviews were completed, I sum m arized the in formation available in the New Hope records and from the interviews in the form of a codebook so that IBM cards could be punched and statistical analysis done. This codebook differs from the usual code book constructed for survey research in that the items in the code book came directly from the data rather than being set up in advance as a means for collecting data. This is an im portant difference be cause it allows the interests and concerns of the group being studied to be reflected in the items included in the codebook. By making use of existing records, questionnaires, interviews, and direct observa- sation through visits to girls who had left the program , it is possible to combine the benefits of both field research and survey research in the same study. The few individuals who are observed in greater 56 detail provide a base for interpreting the less complete information contained in the questionnaires or in reports. Also the fact that I was personally acquainted with about one-half the girls included in the study made their responses m ore complete and gave me an ad ditional base for assessing the reliability of their statem ents as data. Statistical Analysis During the first statistical analysis of the data, it became ap parent that the group of girls who had remained in the program less than ten days accounted for the largest portion of the nonrespondents. Although only 32 of the 151 girls included in the study remained in the program ten days or less, they accounted for 22 of the 38 nonrespon dents. Of the 10 girls in this less than ten day group who responded, five were reported as using drugs, and five stated that they were no longer using drugs. However, since no information was available for the remaining 22 (69% of the group), it was decided to exclude this entire group of 32 girls from the final statistical analysis. In addition, one girl who died from an overdose has been excluded from the analysis. Therefore the population has been divided into 32 who were in the program less than ten days and one who died of an over dose, who were not included in the statistical analysis and 118 who remained in the program over 15 days, who are the subjects for the statistical analysis. There were no subjects who remained in the program m ore than ten days but less than 16 days. Even though the group who remained in the program less than ten days were not in 57 eluded in the statistical evaluation of the program , information on them from interviews and questionnaires was used in the qualitative analysis of the program . This is justified because the girls in this group who rem ained less than ten days who were willing to discuss their brief experience at New Hope and the events which followed their leaving, offered valuable insight into first im pressions of the program , and the effect of being placed in a program for which she was not psychologically prepared. Analysis of Qualitative Data Although some analysis of the data appears in the field notes in the form of sum m ary statem ents, theoretical notes, formulation of questions, and identification of categories, the task of making sense out of the large amount of data available from the field notes, taped interviews, questionnaires, institutional record, and personal correspondence had to be done after the data collection had stopped. Even though the initial attempts at data analysis are useful in d ire c ting the gathering of data, they cannot serve to give meaning to the whole investigation. What is necessary is a complete im m ersion in the data so that a general design of how the information fits together can evolve. In the case of this investigation, the understanding of the theory underlying the process of identity change came through re-reading and outlining the field notes and listening to m ost of the tape recorded interviews within a two week period. During that tim e, I also talked 58 with other persons involved in the larg er identity change study who described aspects of their findings, and I re-read several books dealing with the phenomenon of identity change. The reflection on all this m aterial focused for me the central purpose of the rehabilitation program — to provide a life changing experience for girls so that they could never view life from the old perspective again — the ex perience of "alternation" as described by B erger (see Chapter V). The organization attempted to do this by insisting that a girl live up to the label "Christian" which was applied to her when she first a c cepted the ideology of the group. From this theoretical perspective, chapters were designed to show the way girls responded to the r e ligious milieu so that alternation occurred or did not occur. The final chapters were used to analyze factors that stabilized the a lte r nation that had occurred or caused the girl to seek a new perspective for ordering her life during her transition from the program back to norm al society. When the overall structure of the written report was decided upon, the data in the field notes, interviews, questionnaires, and other records were reviewed and those m aterials which contributed to the outline which had been developed were selected. Many im por tant topics were omitted in this selection process if they did not contribute to an understanding of how alternation occurred in this setting. Those sets of data that fit together for each section of the outline w ere grouped together and the final report was w ritten sec tion by section. 59 In the rewriting phase, m aterial that seemed to fit in one se c tion b etter than another was shifted as the overall argum ent became m ore definite. For example, the discussion of "success in the p ro gram " was shifted from the s e c tio n on " su c c e s s in society" as it became clear that the two phenomena are different and that their significance for the theory of alternation necessitates looking at them separately as well as noting the relationships between them. Lofland (1971) describes this process of rethinking one's general design d u r ing the writing phase as the text becomes an external object that can be examined for ambiguities and om issions. Lofland says, "The process of thinking while writing means that one's outline for writing will likely not be identical to the completed text" (Lofland, 1971:127). The final writing was done several months after the first draft was completed so that a total review of the argum ent had to be done. This was helpful in gaining a new perspective on the mate rial *and r e thinking the logical ordering of the contents of the chapters. Although it would not be possible to replicate this study since the data collected are a product of the interaction of research er and subjects at a particular period of time, when the data are analyzed and its theoretical core is perceived, it is possible to design another study to test the theory that was developed or applied to the setting. For example, it would be possible to study the phenomenon of a lte r nation in any institution which attempts to socialize leraners into a new role to find out if the institutional experience had enough impact on the individual so that the socialization was a life changing event 60 that altered beliefs and values in such a way that the individual would view the world through a new perspective. In studying a new setting in order to develop and refine a theory, one is generating grounded theory as described by G laser and Strauss (1967). In this way, qual itative research can add to theoretical knowledge; as G laser and Strauss w rite, "Theory based on data can usually not be completely refuted by m ore data or replaced by another theory. Since it is too intimately linked to data, it is destined to last despite its inevitable modification and reform ulation" (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). CHAPTER IV THE PHENOMENON OF DRUG USE Attention has focused on the use of illicit drugs since teenagers and som etim es pre-teens in every economic strata have started using them. As long as these drugs were used prim arily in ethnic ghettos in a few large cities, the problem could be minimized and overlooked. Now that middle and upper class teenagers are being "turned on, " rehabilitation centers for addicts have been established in all the m ajor cities (Wilkerson, 1968). As teenage addicts are counseled at these centers, information is being accumulated about how they got started using drugs and why. The director of one large religious rehabilitation program has sum m arized his observations in this way: What the 'experts* who think they know all the answers don't know is this : 90 percent of all drug addicts we have ever treated began with m arijuana and then gradu ated to something harder. . . When a college kid comes to me and says he is smoking m arijuana but that he doesn't intend to go on to other drugs, I know that he's not telling the truth. He has started on m arijuana b e cause he is not satisfied with life, and he will go the whole route (Wilkerson, 1968:36, 39). The questions, "Why did you sta rt using drugs?" and "What drugs did you use?" are also of great interest to those at the New Hope Center. The first question is of concern to staff m em bers in volved in the rehabilitation program , and the second is of interest to 61 62 the participants. Because of the difference in perspective of the staff m em bers and the participants, the initial answ ers given to the first question may be vague and superficial. On the other hand, the sharing of the how much, what, how, and when of the drug use of participants in the program may be so dram atic and descriptive that treatm ent plans a re hindered and therefore "street talk" m ust be prohibited. Stated Reasons for Drug Use and their Reinterpretation It is believed by many who conduct treatm ent program s that behind every instance of drug use is a problem . For example, in the excerpt quoted above, Wilkerson equates the decision to use m arijuana with a dissatisfaction with life. He also says, that for these u sers, "The only route they know to a feeling of well-being, security and pleasure is through drugs" (Wilkerson, 1968:54). Granier-Doyeux w rites : Only a few years ago, the cause of drug addiction was viewed from two basic standpoints: 1) the personality of the drug addict; and 2) the way in which he came into contact with the drug and his means of obtaining it. In 1971, H arris Isbell stated: 'Habituation is caused by human weakness — not by the drug — and it is a sym p tom of a m aladjustm ent of the personality rather than an illness as such. ' (Granier-Doyeux, 1973:3) However, the "why" of addiction is extrem ely complex. G ranier- Doyeux sum m arizes seven causes of addiction which have appeared in the literature: 63 Therapeutic (or medical) origin. Occupational origin. Imitation and proselytism . Special aXIective states. Influence exerted by other addictions. Congenital origin. Tradition and rites of certain people. As new patterns of drug use have emerged, ideas about the etiology of drug addiction have been revised. In 1970, the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Drug Dependence presented its conclusions: 1) Drug dependence may be a m anifestation of an under lying character disorder in which immediate gratification is sought in spite of the possibility of long-term adverse consequences and at the price of immediate surrender of adult responsibilities; 2) It may be a m anifestation of delinquent-deviant behavior in which there is pursuit of personal pleasure in disregard of social convention, so that to some this is prim arily a m oral problem; 3) It may be an attem pt at self-treatm ent by persons suf fering from a) psychic distress either of the norm al v a r iety seen, for instance, in adolescence or as a reaction to social an d /or economic stress, frustration, or blocked op portunity; or the m ore persistent problem of depressive illness, chronic in anxiety, or other psychiatric d iso rd ers; b) physical d istress — hunger, chronic fatigue or d is ease; c) a belief that the drug has special powers to p r e vent disease or to increase sexual capacity; 4) It may provide a means of achieving social acceptance in a social subculture, particularly for the socially inade quate; 64 5) It may be a m anifestation of a perm anent or reversible metabolic lesion brought about by the repeated use of high doses of drugs; 6) It may be p art of a rebellion against conventional social values relating to pleasure, tradition, success, and status ; 7) Even in the absence of pre-existing psychopathology, drug dependence may result from the acquisition of a complex set of instrum ental and classically conditioned responses and may therefore be a form of learned behavior; 8) Even in the absence of underlying psychopathology, it may result from socio-cultural p ressu res leading to heavy use of drugs, for example, alcohol; 9) Any or all of these factors may play a role in the causa tion of drug dependence in a given individual,(Granier- Doyeux, 1973:5) Granier-Doyeux sum m arizes A. Boudreau's argum ent about the "why" of drug abuse. He w rites that Boudreau believes drug consumption and abuse among young people is encouraged by: 1) The lack of models: young people constantly seek to identify them selves with models capable of satisfying their desire to transcend the self. In the absence of any models with whom they can identify, young people seek to find in chem ical products a means of transcending them selves for a few hours; 2) The spiritual void: resulting from a lack of faith, then from the preceding generation's deification of m aterial values, the spiritual void necessitates a 'psychedelic' compensation — a liberation of the spirit, ecstasy — with its meditation sessions and its 'high p riests'; 3) The search for an artificial safety valve that will help to ease the state of tension in which we live, in view of the difficulties we have in using natural means of relaxation. (Granier-Doyeux, 1973:5) In the same review article, Granier-Doyeux reports that the French Health and Social Education Committee listed some of these same 65 causes as contributing to increase in drug abuse: 1) Weakening of the family unit; 2) Disappearance of restraints on curiosity; 3) Rebellion of the social group of the young against an adult world judged to be absurd; 4) An increasing desire to imitate idols; 5) A desire to escape from the anguish of the m odern world; 6) Infection within the group; 7) Ignorance of the real dangers of drugs; 8) Relative ease of supply as a result of the persistence of the pushers, particularly where they them selves are addicts; 9) Publicity given to drug cases and to the various d i vergent views on the problem .(Granier-Doyeux, 1973: 6 ) However, the typical response to the question of "why? " which was asked each girl at the time she was admitted to the program , gave no clue to the complexity of the problem . Of the 118 girls in the study, only four attributed their use of drugs to a need for r e venge or an expression of hatred: I really don't know — I guess because I couldn't. I hate all people. Revenge on my parents. Rebellion. The m ost frequent response was "Curiosity" which was given by 51 of the girls. The element of excitement was given as a reason by 14 66 of the girls. For fun. I just wanted to. For kicks. I just had to try anything once. In 88 of the responses, girls reported that their initial use of drugs was stimulated by peer involvement in drugs: I was curious after seeing everyone else try them. I started running with the wrong crowd. I didn't like drugs, but I w asn't accepted by the good kids. My sisters had parties and I didn't want to be left out. Everyone else did it. To be part of the group. Because a friend convinced me to. I wanted to be like my brother. I was around people who had them, so I tried them. I liked them at that tim e, and all my friends did it. This same reason was repeated in some of the interviews: I started doing sm all drugs because of him. He didn't intentionally try to change my life — he knew I was a nice girl, but I was young and I just didn't care. It's just now I'm trying to get m yself back together again, and that was four or five years ago. (Interview) In spite of the fact that m ost of the girls had brothers and s is te rs who used drugs, and in some cases their parents did also, m ost of them reported that they w ere introduced to drug use by friends 67 rather than family m em bers (82%), However, many w ere aware that their drug use could not be wholly explained on the basis of peer group p ressu re. In an interview, one girl said, "You have to have some kind of a problem to sta rt in drugs" (Interview). In response to the question, "Why did you start using drugs?" which was asked at the time of adm ission, 19 of the 118 girls gave answ ers that im plied they had problems they were trying to forget, such as; Because I liked them — they made me forget. F irs t for fun — then when I started glue at 15, I was trying to escape. I craved peace and calm ness. Escape. Because of my home life — escape. A crutch — to get away from problem s. Lonely. Problem s of all kinds. I didn't want to face my problem s. F a m ily p r o b le m s. Even though the reasons for starting to use drugs which were given by the girls at the time of adm ission to the program fall into two distinct categories — peer p ressu re or p ressu re from psycho logical problems — it may be that these different responses were m ore a function of their inability to think analytically and causally than any real difference in the actual reason for starting. This could be seen when the initial reason was compared with reasons 68 given by the girls when they were interviewed in depth after they had completed the program . The following are representative sam ples: Reason Given at Admission Curiosity Curiosity F or fun Reason Given at Time of Interview My mother had always been superior and so has my father, and then all of a sudden they come to me and said, "Go score for m e. " That blew it then and there, and then I didn't want anything to do with them because that blew my image of them, and it has never been rebuilt. I left and ran away and I was always picked up and sent back and I told them, "You'll see me again because I'm not staying. " (Interview) I just did m arijuana and acid to forget about the pain I was having — the insults passed at me, (Interview) When I was fifteen, I started taking diet pills with my girlfriend, and we would p a r ty all night — just take them on Friday night. I would usually stay clean all week and eat as much as I could and then I would lose it all on the weekend. And then I got to be that I would take them to m eet people and rap with them and then it got to be a dependence on them, and then I got into drugs really heavy when I was sixteen. At first I really liked them — I could clean up the house in two hours and smoke 15 cig arettes. My girlfriend and her mom took them and so I didn't see anything wrong with them. But I always went to extrem es. Since I have been saved, I have gone back several times to rap with those friends, and they said several tim es that they w ere w orried because I took a lot of pills. It was just a thing for them and it would last two or three months — it was a fad at that time and they did and got tired of it and quit it. But I can say from their viewpoint, that I did it because I liked it. I also used it as a crutch. I drank a lot — I went to parties every weekend, and I had to drink in order to have any fun,(Interview) 69 Reason Given at Admission Reason Given at Time of Interview To experiment When I came, I saw m yself as a really mixed-up kid* I knew I had a problem — but I saw drugs as m ore of a symptom of my problem , I hurt inside so much, I cried all the time. I needed love and I went to drugs, (Interview) My siste r When I started getting loaded, I was ele ven and I really didn't know that much. I liked getting loaded on reds because I could have m ore fun. I could be relaxed and wouldn't have to be self-conscious thinking someone was looking at m e. I would just take reds or drink so I could relax and talk to people. I liked the way they made me feel because when I was loaded I was m ore like my real self. When I w asn't loaded, I was real shy, and I wouldn't know what to say. When you are loaded on reds, you can sta rt a conversa tion with anybody. (Interview) This analysis in no way implies that the girl was untruthful when making her response at the time of adm ission. Rather, it indicates that for many a re interpretation of their biographies gave them a new understanding of them selves and their relationships with their parents and how these related to their use of drugs. One g irl who is happily m arried and thrilled with the responsibility of her own baby, said, "I understand now some of the reasons why I turned to drugs — to escape the p ressu re from my p aren ts" (Interview). Another girl began to realize why she had used drugs several years after leaving the program : What the Lord is doing in my life now — what He is showing me now, is why I took drugs. He is causing me to go through situations now — these trials that I went through 70 before I was a Christian, but the Lord has so much m ercy on me showing me 'I know why you took drugs and you are going through these trials so you can see. ' And that is why I get tempted. I don't know what it is but I can see how I did fit when I was taking drugs — I did fit with the kids. I felt like I fitted into part of the group. I had a place and I felt I was lo v ed . S o m e tim e s I fe e l I am loved m o r e by worldly people than I am by Christians — and so the Lord is showing me why I took drugs because I am going through these trials over, but He is giving me His strength. I'm not taking drugs, but I'm thinking about drugs lately, though; and when I think about it, I think that I felt comfortable with myself. Now I don't feel comfortable som etim es. But the Lord is showing me how to be comfortable with Him. But when you sin, you don't feel comfortable, (Interview) I had anticipated that those who went into drugs just for fun or b e cause all their friends w ere doing it would be able to give up drugs m ore easily and return to norm al living after leaving the program than those who identified deep psychological problem s as their re a son for drug use. When this com parison was made, the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant as shown in Table 1. ADJUSTMENT TABLE ONE BY REASON FOR USING DRUGS Adj P eer Psychological Row P ressu re P re ssu re Total Not using drugs 54 12 66 66. 7 63. 2 66. 0 Using drugs 27 7 34 33. 3 36.8 34.0 Column Total 81 19 100 81.0 19.0 100. 0 Missing Observations — 18 sig. at . 98 level 71 Therefore, if intensive interviews could have been held with each of the 81 girls who gave as their reason for using drugs the fun or ex citem ent of drugs or peer p ressu re to use drugs, the desire to e s cape from problems would probably be revealed as the underlying reason as it has been in the examples given above. Significant Others Home and family w ere very im portant to m ost of the girls at the time they entered the program . Each g irl had lived out her unique choldhood in her particular family and its influence was still strongly felt. Indeed, some theories of drug use cite the family as a causal variable (Granier-Doyeux, 1973). Skolnick w rites, "These early experiences are never fully outgrown and they condition many of our beliefs and ideas" (Skolnick, 1973:3). In our society we have an idealized model of the family: "that parents and children consti tute a self-contained unit in which all the significant emotional needs of each family m em ber are satisfied within the inner family circle" (Skolnick, 1973:13). Since each person has firsth a n d information only about his own family, it is easy for him or her to feel that all other fam ilies except his or her own correspond to the myth. T here fore, since emotional needs are supposed to be m et by family m em bers, it follows that family m em bers m ust be very im portant p e r sons. This type of thinking was seen in the responses girls gave to the question, "Who is the m ost im portant person to you?" Mother, parents, and siblings and especially younger brothers or sisters 72 were mentioned frequently. In addition, girls often mentioned their own children as being the persons m ost im portant to them. This in formation is sum m arized in Table Two: TABLE TWO MOST IMPORTANT PERSON TO GIRL AT TIME OF ENTRY Important P erson Number of Responses Jesus 6 ( 6.9%) Relative 33 (37.9%) Own Child 24 (27. 6%) Friend 16 (18.4%) No One 8 ( 9.2%) 87 Missing cases — 31 This does not negate the fact that the relationships with family m em b ers were often not satisfactory and that many of the girls had run away from home. Goode w rites, "It is also part of the myth of the idealized family that if one's family life is unpleasant, one has the right to change it" (Goode, 1963:19). For many, the unhappiness of their homes was their biggest disappointment in life and they saw their family life as the source of their m ajor problem s. In some cases, a step-parent was blamed for the trouble, but just as often the natural parents w ere seen as the source of the problem . Fifty percent of the girls came from homes with only one natural parent and 46% had two natural parents. Only 4% came from foster home 73 placem ents. Many girls described how unloved and desparate they felt in their homes feeling that no one cared for them. When I started using drugs, nothing m attered — I felt so un- happy. My father didn't love me like he did my siste r — he said I w asn't as pretty or as sm art.(Fieldnotes) My dad was a big disappointment to me. He never loved or nothing and he just thought he could buy love. I never cared for him. The older I grew the m ore I disliked him. We never had a family. I would go to other kids' houses and they would eat together and do things together, and my fam ily never was like that. Once in a while we ate together, but m ost of the time we all ate separate. That seem s like a little thing, but I thought that was awful,(Interview) I hadn't lived at home for many years. I left home when I was 17. Our relationship was so bad it was unbelievable — we just didn't talk and when we did, it was fighting, b ick er ing, and scream ing. Now it is better because I learned to accept my parents just the way they were and to stop con- deming them and make them change into the kind of parents I thought they should be. Since then my mom has talked to me about things I never thought she would. Like last month, she sat down and talked with me about my drug past. Before they always blamed me and said it was because I was so crazy ever since I was a child. She talked about how when I was born, it was a terrifying thing and that she always had to keep my father away from me and consequently, I hardly ever saw my father. My m other had a lot of really sad things happen to her. It affected me in that I couldn't have gotten any sadder. I had to get happier or kill m y self. It has affected my emotional growth. I didn't want to become like either of them. I hardly ever saw my father — he was never around. They always worked d u r ing the day and went out together during the evening. They never wanted to share each other with another person around. (Interview) F rom the time I was three years old, my parents were a l ways separating. My m other would bring other men over, and then they would go back together, and the kids were always happy as long as they gave us a bag of candy, they thought. My sister and brother say the same thing — we didn^t want the candy, we didn't want clothes, we wanted someone to love us, (Interview) 74 Other girls reported the constant fighting they experienced at home: Mother is m other — I try to help her. She needs help m ore than me. I really don't love my dad. He is a total stranger to me. He used to beat me and my mother. (Interview) I don't speak to my dad unless I have to. He's a retired Navy man. He drinks and yells and scream s. I get along O.K. with my mother, (Admission interview) I never did anything I wanted to do. I was getting tired of being stubborn and just running around. And I didn't have any place to stay. I couldn't live at home because my m other and I didn't get along at all and we just fought and fought. We couldn't talk five minutes without a fight. She always said I could come back — 'Y ou're just being stubborn' — but I knew it would be the same old thing a gai n. ( Inte rview) We fought like cats and dogs. My step-father smokes pot and has really long hair now and he rides a chopper and thinks he is cool. Well, I never could really get along with him. I would come home and get loaded and tell them how I hated their guts. One disappointment in my life was when I would go to my mom with a problem and she would sta rt scream ing or something. You ex pected to get love and someone to care about your prob lems and my mom only cared about herself and how her feelings were getting hurt because you were saying som e thing. (Interview) The interview ee's report of home som etim es differed from o b ser v e r's reports. In response to the question in the adm ission in ter view, "What is your relationship with your parents? " one girl wrote; "Beautiful — my parents and I get along wonderfully. " The counse lo r's report is a sharp contrast to hers: "The family has frequent physical battles — the m other appears alcoholic. The parents don't set realistic lim its" (Agency record). 75 Inconsistent Discipline Some parents were concerned about their children but were not able to find an acceptable way to discipline them. Either too little or too much discipline was seen as a problem . My m other was concerned about m e, but she didn't know how to discipline m e. She was m ore like a siste r than a parent. I never had anything that I had to do. (Inverview) My parents w ere divorced when I was a baby. My mother loved me but she spoiled m e. I always wanted to be dif ferent — to stand out. (Inverview) My dad was real strict. And then my mom and dad got a divorce. That's when my mom started working day and night and I didn't have any authority at all. I was 12 or 13 and I was staying out until at least 3:00 in the morning out with older people. And then my mom got m arried again last year and that's when the authority came when she had to sta rt telling me what to do. It was like no freedom at all to all freedom and then no freedom again. And my stepdad used to get so angry with me and say, "Talking to you is like talking to a wall. " I would always resent it because I felt he w asn't my dad and so he didn't have a right to tell m e to do nothing. I was really a snot — I was like running my house. Now that I think of it, it was pretty bad — what I was doing to my mom.(Interview) My father was too stric t and he wouldn't let us do any thing. I once got a D on my report card and got put on restriction for a year. If we had a problem and would say, "I have this problem . Dad" he would push me away as if to say "Go away — I can't help you now. Your problems are little — mine are giant. " The only thing my dad was concerned with was how good we could be — in sports, in school, in front of other people.(Interview) Extent and Type of Drug Use These then, are some of the accounts given by the girls to ex plain why they had started to use drugs. These accounts w ere not the usual topic of conversation among the girls but w ere given in 76 response to specific questions or occasionally as p art of a public testimony. Of m ore interest to the girls and of m ore consequence for status in the organization were their responses to the question, "What did you use?" On adm ission to the program , the girls were asked to fill out a questionnaire relative to their use of drugs. They w ere asked what drugs they had used first and the dates and frequen cy of all drugs used p rio r to adm ission. No attem pt was made by the staff to validate the information given, but the responses they gave suggest that they were not hesitant in describing fully their ex perience with drugs. Most girls checked a number of drugs and their comments suggested that they tended to experim ent freely with different types of drugs and used them in any combination they could get. The only exception to this wide experimentation with drugs was when a girl really liked heroin or acid. They indicated that they used their preferred drug alone although alcohol was used so freely that some failed to even mention it in their drug history possibly because they didn't count it as a drug. The information reported by the girls as to when they had first used the various drugs is sum m arized in Table Three. F or example, 51 girls stated that they had used alcohol before they w ere 13, Twenty-nine had used it between the ages of 14 and 16, and four had used it when they were 17 or older. Since there were 118 in the sample and 619 drugs w ere checked on the adm ission questionnaire as having been used, this means that an average of 5. 24 drugs were used by each person. These figures can only give some idea of the 77 vo ro i o I — « CO CO OO o o in CO LO CO o to CO I> - C50 c - r— I CO CO O CO o o sO 00 CO CO CO o o o o I — « CO CO o CO o I> - CO CO CO 00 II 4 - > I— « 78 scope of drug use because there was no attem pt to check on the val idity of the responses made by each girl and each could have p r e sented herself as using m ore or fewer drugs than she actually used depnding on the image she was trying to create. Also, these figures do not reflect the number of tim es a particular drug was tried. 31 of the girls identified them selves as "heroin addicts" and a few called them selves "acid heads" but m ost of them said they got load ed on.whatever was available. Marijuana was the first drug used by 62 of the girls, barbiturates by 23, amphetamines by 11, and heroin by 2 (see Table Three). Surprisingly, only 3 stated that a l cohol was the first drug they used although it was given as an option that could be checked. As noted above 51 stated that they had used alcohol before the age of 13 but since it was legally obtained by their parents and readily available they did not consider it to be a drug. Therefore the pattern of drug use reported by this group is sim ilar to that of the national pattern where alcohol, m arijuana, and tobacco form a cluster of the m ost frequently and first used drugs (Official Report on M ariajuana Use, 1972). The U ser Lifestyle Although the experiences of the girls varied according to the depth of their involvement in the drug world and the type of drugs they used m ost frequently, for the m ost part, their early experiences with drugs w ere rewarding. Girls described their experiences in these ways: 79 I started out using drugs out of curiosity but I found that I really dug them. The drug life is exciting — not the way you turn out at the end — but the parties all night and the thrills. (Interview) Before I always wanted to party and stuff, but not I r e alize you can't always be having fun. Now I know life is m ore than just having fun.(Interview) Being a dope addict is an easy life. You can get loaded and get rid of all the garbage that is going through your head, (Interview) One staff m em ber commented on how hard it is to rehabilitate a girl who is still experiencing drugs as exciting: The life of an addict is exciting and this is what makes girls want to go back. That is why young kids are hard to convert from drugs — they haven't lived out the excite ment of it. But older ones are hard to convert also b e cause they are hardened from jail.(Fieldnotes) Other investigators have also reported this exciting aspect of drug life. Preble wrote: The quest for heroin is the quest for a meaningful life, not an escape from' life- And the meaning does not lie, prim arily, in the effects of the drug on their minds and bodies ; it lies in the gratification of accomplishing a series of challenging, exciting tasks every day of the w eek.(Preble, 1969:3) Agar points out the implications of the addict's desire to m aintain his involvement in his own subculture for treatm ent program s. Since the addict is able to participate in a system of knowledge that "en ables him to function and attain social success in the street context" (Agar, 1973:27), it is im perative that the addict feels some need to change his or her behavior. It is also im portant that the treatm ent program offers a system of knowledge to replace the addict know 80 ledge so that the person can learn to function and attain social suc cess in a new context if change is to be considered as a viable option by the addict. Burroughs contrasted the peripheral effect on life style caused by using alcohol or m arijuana with the total involvement demanded by heroin use: I have learned the junk equation. Junk is not, like alcohol or weed, a m eans to increased enjoyment of life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life. (Burroughs, 1953:11) The contrast between heroin and alcohol or m arijuana use was also noted in girls who participated in the program . When a g irl had dropped out of everyday life and had entered into the life style of the addict, she was different in many respects from the casual user. One program participant said that she could tell the difference right away: There is quite a bit of difference between kids who used drugs a lot and those who just dabbled in it. Somehow, drugs have a way of m arking you. You can spot som e one away off a lot of tim es who has used a lot of drugs. Drugs have a way of opening your mind. When you talk to someone who has used a lot of drugs, they have a whole different language and attitude, (Interview) Some of the girls were not aware of how deeply they had b e come involved in drugs and how their lives had changed until they entered the program and began to experience norm al day to day in teractions without the numbing effect of drugs: one girl recounted her first im p r e s s io n s of the program : I would sit back and watch something and then think, 'Did it really happen or did I just think that it happened? ' (In terview) 81 One girls could hardly recognize a girl with whom she had lived be fore entering the program : While using a lot of LSD Rhonda lived in the home of a couple for several months before she entered the p ro gram . About a year after she had lived with the couple, the wife entered the program but she did not recognize her — she only thought she looked fam iliar. It w asn't until after they exchanged names that they realized Rhonda had been their guest.(Fieldnotes) Another girl described the radical change in her aw arness of the physical world since "kicking" heroin: I talked briefly with Rosie. She was sitting on a counter in the kitchen watching the girls do dishes and she was smiling. It has been a week now since she has been with out heroin. I asked her how it had been. She said she had no aches or pains, but she w ansn't able to sleep yet. She explained how she feels: 'It is as if all my nerves and senses a re coming alive again — that they a re waking up.' She said she is smiling a lot now and experiencing things. She said that when she was on drugs no emotion was ever very strong — ' You never get sad or happy or anything — just non-feeling. It is so exciting to be so aware of anything. ' She said that before if she ever got this aw are of the world she would know it was time for a fix. She said that before others couldn't tell how she was feeling - that she would look the sam e to others but she would know that she was in another state of aw are ness. She said before she could sit in a room by h e r self for 8 hours and hardly realize she was alone or that she had been there so long. Now she wants to have a c tivity — before she never would have thought of playing volleyball. Now she goes out and plays. She explained that the state of non-feeling or non-aw areness becomes habitual — a way of life and she couldn't imagine any other way — that it is the only way to live. Now that she is without heroin she realizes that it doesn't have to be that way — that there is another way to live.(Field- note s ) Although there were girls at both extrem es — total disillusion m ent or total indifference — for the m ost p art the girls who entered 82 the program were beginning to be dissatisfied with the kind of life they were leading but had not dropped out of society so that their school caree rs were interrupted. I was stealing, not working, had bad friends. I wanted to be good, but I couldn't.(Interview) Many of the girls had started using drugs before they were in junior high school and m ost of them used a variety of drugs. F or example, as noted above, a large number of them reported that they had started using drugs before they were 12 or 13, and they also used multiple drugs. Of the 118 girls, 37 reported that they had used m arijuana before they were 13, 51 had used alcohol, 30 had used barbituates, 31 had used am phetam ines, and 17 had used acid before 13 years of age. This does not m ean that the entire group had used drugs at this early age, but those who did usually used several drugs concurrently. In spite of this early use of drugs, for 78 of the girls, place m ent in the New Hope program was their first contact with a tre a t ment program , which usually occurred after the age of 16. This is partially a function of the adm issions policies of the Center which attem pts to re s tric t adm issions to those over 16, but it is also r e lated to the fact that many did not see the need for adm ission before that age because they reported their early drug experiences as fun, and only later experienced the difficulties which made them want to quit using drugs. As a whole, the group was not composed of school dropouts. 83 Only 34 percent of the girls had had ten years of education or less when they entered the program , and about ten of the girls w ere able to earn their general equivalency diploma in the New Hope high school because they needed only a sm all number of units to complete their requirem ents for graduation. This does not imply that educa tion was not a problem for many of the girls. Even girls who r e ceived their diplomas realized that their educations had been defi cient. One girl commented, "Now that I'm out, I wish that I had learned something in school. " At the other extrem e were girls who never learned to read although they had attended school regularly. The great m ajority of the girls were Caucasian (82%). Chi canas accounted for 9% and Blacks for 6%, and there were several of Jewish or Oriental background. Although the Center was located in a Black community and attem pts were made to interest the people in the neighborhood in the program , few Black girls applied for ad m ission, and only two stayed to complete the program . The staff felt that Chicana girls appeard to make a better adjustm ent to the program than the Blacks in term s of integrating them selves into the program and completing it successfully. Most of the girls had had some type of religious training. Only 17 girls stated that they had no religious affiliation (see Table Four). Eight y-two percent reported that they had attended church regularly as a child, and many of them reported religious experiences which occurred just p rio r to the adm ission which made them especially sensitive to the goals of the program . 84 TABLE FOUR Type of Admission by Denominational Background Adm Pentecost P rotestant Catholic Jewish None Row Total Voluntary 12 21 4 3 8 48 70. 6 47. 7 22. 2 100. 0 47. 1 48. 5 Probation 5 23 14 0 9 51 29.4 52. 3 77.8 0 52.9 51. 5 Column 17 44 18 3 17 99 Total Missing 17. 2 Observations 44.4 - 19 18. 2 3.0 17. 2 100. 0 P rog ram Drop-Outs C ertain ch aracteristics and experiences of the group who r e mained less than ten days are of interest. Twenty-six of the 32 girls split from the program or were expelled. Some of them had used the pretext of entering the program as a way of getting out of juvenile hall but had no intention of participating in the program . The d ire c tor of women reported that one girl had arranged with h er boyfriend to pick h er up the morning after her a rriv a l. Another girl stayed only long enough to change h er clothes before she split. In addition, 42 percent of the girls who stated they had been forced to enter New Hope w ere in this group. The sources of alleged p ressu re to enter the program were alm ost equally divided between parents and p ro bation officers, since 44 percent of the "forced" adm issions for this 85 group were voluntary in the sense that they w ere not probation place m ents. Only 15 percent of this less than ten day group had been in a program prio r to this one. The m ajor charac Leris Lie on which the girls who remained in the program less than ten days differed from the total group was in their refusal to participate in the program . Seventy-nine percent were judged to be rebellious by the staff and to have had no C hristian experience. None of them went to a C hristian institution when they left New Hope. The group who remained in the program less than ten days r e sembled the total group in objective ch aracteristics, however, such as age, education, m arital status, race, type of family, number of siblings, age at which the various drugs were first used, preference for heroin, denominational background, and church attendance. The phenomenon of drug use has been considered within the fram ework of three questions: "Why? What? and Who?" In spite of the differences in ages and economic, educational, religious and r a cial backgrounds of the girls in this study, their experience of drug use was very much the sam e. Most of them had experimented with a variety of drugs, but m ost w ere able to attend school. They also had experienced many problem s and disappointments in life prio r to and during their experience with drugs, but very few initially linked up their problem s in living with their use of drugs. Most of the girls had never participated in a residential drug rehabilitation p ro gram before and came to New Hope anxious to get rid of their drug habit and begin living a different type of life. CHAPTER V THE PHENOMENON OF ALTERNATION Believing you need to change, desiring to change, and choosing how you want to change are not the same things. The need to change m ust be recognized first, because unless a person has begun to ques tion his taken-for-granted style of life, he is not in a state of mind in which he can accept new ideas and points of view. Participation in the New Hope program was an experience that challenged the taken for granted routines of life for m ost of the girls in such a way that their form er world was transform ed into one that was open to question. This experience of viewing one's form er world in the light of a new set of values so that a new perspective on society is acquired is called by B erger, "the precarious vision" (Berger, I 9 6 I). B erger says that this sense of the precarious ness of social existence is achieved "by an experience or series of experiences revealing society to be something radically different from what had been previously taken for granted" (Berger, 1961:10). He uses the example of the w artim e bombing of a fam iliar stre e t so that houses which before were known only from the outside were then open to public view. Even if the ruins were then rebuilt the person would know what lay behind the facades of the structures so that the stre e t would never have the same aura of perm anence and mystique for him. In a sim ilar m anner, the taken-for-grantedness of the 87 88 values of the drug world are exposed to com parison with the values of the Pentecostal world system so that their facades are apparent and they can never again offer the identical meanings that they had once provided. Alternation B erger defines this general proneness to be uncertain of one’s position and be ready to change as "alternation" (Berger, 1961:17). Adolescence is typically an age of uncertainty and of change. Clark says that all of the new powers accompanying the early bloom of m aturity, such as the new perceptions of intelligence, the sensitivities arising from surging emotions, the chafing urge to be up and about the work of grown-ups, the strangely new form and texture of the body with its assurance of new strength and powers, and the strange clearness of sight about things m oral and spiritual that som etim es comes to these adventurers into a new land (Clark, 1958:208) contribute to the "storm and s tre s s " that is often characteristic of this period. In their quest for self knowledge and their desire to reform the world in which they live, childhood ideas a re re-exam ined and alternative ways of viewing the world are considered. T here fore the experience of alternation is one that is readily associated with adolescence, especially in the context of the adolescent’s re la tionship with h er family. This relationship often takes the form of struggle and som etim es of rebellion. On the other hand, adolescents are seen as conforming in r e lation to their peer groups. If the g irls ’ relationships in their drug 89 using peer groups were providing a satisfying, cohesive world sy s- te rm for them, adm ission to the program would probably do little to challenge their world view. They would simply not feel the need to choose between their system of meaning and that of the P entecos tal system presented in the program . However, if a girl was becom ing disillusioned with her own system of m eaning,her own personal identity would also have become probam atic to h er since according to B erger "identity is not something ’given' but is bestowed in acts of social recognition" (Berger, 1963:99). Klapp defines an "identity problem " in this way: A serious dissatisfaction with the kind of person one is rather than a m istake that can be rectified without chang ing one’s self (Klapp, 1969:6). This dissatisfaction may result in a feeling of alienation — the feeling of being a stranger to her own self — and she m ay feel that h er grounds for self-assurance are no longer tenable. Such alienation may lead to despair or suicide, or it may motivate her to leave h er old life to seek experiences by which to change herself, usually by attaching herself to a group which was not p art of h er old life. If girls a re forced to enter a program before alternation has been ex perienced or if they a re not open to its experience, it is doubtful if the program can be of any value to them. The staff did not antici pate good progress to be made if girls gave as their reasons for entering the program such responses as the following: I had to choose something. I had my choice between New Hope and another placement. There was no particular 90 reason. My parents made m e. My P .O . wanted me to come here. P re ssu re from the family is why I really went. I didn’t I was as bad off as I was when I went. Everyting was falling apart at home. I was taking a lot of dope — reds or whites to keep m yself from looking at my life. (Inter view) G irls who had this type of attitude were often accepted as a favor to a probation officer or a parent who was very concerned about the girl, but no one anticipated success unless something caused a d ra s tic change to take place in the attitude of the girl. In many cases these girls left as soon as they got there: I was m arried when I entered New Hope. It was mainly my husband’s idea. '' When I went I w asn’t ready. I wanted to quit — but not that bad. As soon as I got there, I want ed to get out and fix. I didn’t give the program a chance. (Interview) I didn’t have my mind made up about whether I wanted to change and when Joe called, I just left. I was here two weeks (at home) and got busted again. No one on the staff helped me — but they couldn’t keep me because I didn’t want it.(Interview) If they did rem ain in the program they participated in a m arginal way^ putting in time rather than getting involved; I had many things I wanted to finish because I had begun a lot of things and I hadn’t really satisfied my curiosity. . . I just w asn’t finished trying things out because when I went in I hadn’t come to a high point in anything and every thing was just like it was when I had left it except that I was m ore curious now that I had been gone after hearing all those wild sto ries. Heroin was the first thing I went to when I got home, (Interview) 91 I couldn't take all that praying. Maybe at that time I w asn't ready to change — maybe I hadn't hit my bottom. . . I w asn't looking for the sincerity in people. I wanted to get loaded so I was looking for the insincere ones. I was looking for a magic pill that would take away the desire for fixing. I wanted to see the light and yet have a needle in the arm . (Interview) On the other hand, if alternation had been experienced, the first hurdle was passed — that of realizing that a choice was possible between varying and contradictory system s of meaning. In some cases, a dram atic incident brought the girls to this realization. Roberta said 'I had to come. ' She then described the fire that had gotten social w orkers involved with them. Both she and h er husband had taken barbiturates and his cig ar ette started a fire. Although drowsy, she sm elled the smoke and managed to get h er two year old baby out and arouse her husband. She was treated at a hospital for overdose and smoke inhalation. The baby was also h os pitalized. The husband entered the New Hope Center and the baby was released to the director, (Fieldnotes) You know, the Lord has to take some people so far before He can sta rt to reach them. I had never been in a re li gious background before — I didn't know who Jesus C hrist was. And I was laying in the hospital kicking heroin and being treated for a gunshot wound. . .and friends came to the hospital and witnessed to me and told me my life could change. And seeing it through them, I became interested. I don't like to explain my past because I get all confused — I'm kind of asham ed of m yself for letting m yself go so far. (Interview) I used to pray and tell God, I'll serve you when I get m a r ried and when I am old, but not yet. I knew there was some good in serving God and once in awhile praying, but it really didn't help me that much then. I was living in San Francisco with my cousin who is just like me — she was 20 and she got shot in the head in a bar when she came out and she died and so my m om was really getting w orried about me, and this made h er m ore aware of what could happen to m e, and she started praying and had my grandm other and the whole church praying for m e. And this is what happened — we got into a car — and this is really 92 stupid, and we ripped off a lot of things — television sets and stuff — and this is the m istake we made because the d river of the car was really getting sick because he was a heroin addict and he needed a fix. And so we stopped off at a junior college and after we came out into the d riv e way, this patrol car came along — and I really think this was the Lord getting His first hand on my life and really pulling me back in. Wow! God can really change a life if we really commit our lives to Him and let Him take over. I am not the person I was when I came in — in any way. (Testimony) Well, it was all coming down at the same tim e. I was getting tired of being loaded, and I was getting into a lot of fights, and you know, really everything was just falling down on me. I was losing my apartm ent. We didn't come up with enough money for rent. The only thought I had was to sta rt living off of other people. I've known a lot of people who've done that. I thought that would be my next step. (Interview) One of my friends set up this scene for me to go out with this old man, and I couldn't think of a reason why I shouldn't do it, although it was the one thing in my life that I said I would never do. If som eone else wanted to do it, it was fine for them, I guess, but for me that was the m ost d e grading thing in the world to do. But I ran out of reasons why not to and I was so depressed and I really needed the money really bad and I went out with this old man, and it was really a horrible experience. I think it was about my breaking point before I came to New Hope.(Interview) However, it is not necessary for the experience of alternation to be completed at one point in tim e. A dissatisfaction with the drug life style could develop over a long period of tim e. I knew I had better change because I was in m ore trouble than I every expected m yself to be in and I couldn't b e lieve it of m yself even though I had gotten m yself into all that and I thought if I don't change now heaven only knows what I will get into from here on. I knew a change had to come right then and I committed m yself to change — all the way. Question: Were you committed to changing your life when you entered? Heck no! But I was tired of the struggle over everything. _______ (Interview) ___________________________________________________ 93 I told my friends that I was going to New Hope, They told me that they a re n 't going to give yon nothing and you're going to be sick. But I knew I had to get m yself together. I was really at the end of m yself. My P.O. was going to test me and all the doors were closing out there — my connections — and I was just feeling tired so when I gut here at N. H. I ended up talking to Sally and she said, "It's up to the Lord" and I ended up staying from that day on.(Interview) My reason for living was to party and vacation as much as I could while I w asn't working and to get loaded as much as I could. . . I never got anywhere though. I was always so loaded I was afraid to go anywhere. . . My mind was getting so I just couldn't think at all. I was pretty spaced out. Question; Did that scare you? No, I didn't even notice, I mean, I did know because everybody was telling me I was pretty spaced out and I just ate m ore reds to cover it up. A fter a while the reds didn't do anything — nothing did anything. Then I'd fix and I still w asn't satisfied. And I was going crazy inside because I had gotten m yself in a m ess with all my friends because I talked a lot with reds. (Interview) A girl was m ore likely to experience alternation if she had had r e ligious or anti-drug training as a child. It was then easier for her to recognize that her present life style was not inevitable, and that there was a religious alternative for her. One girls explained why she hadn't m arried until she became a Christian: I always have tried to get love from guys because I felt I didn't get nearly enough in my own home. So the first thing I thought of was gettirg m arried when I became a C hristian because it was something I had always dream ed of doing. The reason I didn't get m arried before I was saved is that I always knew that someday I would be a C hristian and m a rry one even though I didn't know what that was. I always knew in the back of my mind that this is only tem porary and better is to come. That's why I got fed up with the whole drug scene so fast. This feel ing could have come from how close I was to the Lord 94 when I was little. I prayed a lot when I was younger. Being around so many rotten guys all my life, I knew better than to want to be stuck with one of them all my life. So I always had this dream — and here I am. (Interview) Another girl explained why it was easy for her to accept the New Hope way of life as an alternative to her drug life style: When I was little I used to go to Baptist church with neighbors — my mom never took us. So I did know a little — the stories about how Jesus walked on the w ater and the little songs. I rem em bered and it really planted a seed in my mind about Jesus and I think it was helpful. (Interview) Other girls recognized that their use of drugs was only symptomatic of an underlying problem so their identity in the drug world had never been taken for granted: When I came, I saw m yself as a really mixed-up kid. I knew I had a problem — but I saw drugs as m ore of a sym p tom of my problem . I hurt inside so much, I cried all the tim e. I needed love and I went to drugs. I needed people and I went to drugs. And suicide was another problem — I tried it a lot. And so I saw m yself as just a crazy p e r son who liked to get loaded. This was different from some of the kids who see them selves as righteous dope fiends — they see that there is no other way to living. They couldn't live a day without using drugs. I never saw m yself like that. I knew that I had to have drugs, but I never saw m y self as not going a day without drugs — I wanted to live without drugs, (Interview) A lternation can also come as a form of "culture shock" when a g irl enters the program as a probation placem ent and then sees h erself in a totally new way in the m irro r of the religious culture of the Center. By seeing that a very different type of life is possible, the realization follows that what seemed to be a norm al way of life 95 from the point of view of the peer group is actually only one possible way of life and therefore can be changed for another. This can be a frightening experience. One girl entered the Center for a week to see if she would like it before she was actually probated there. She was afraid to return after h er week's trial: At first I didn't want to come here because I knew if I did I would get changed and I didn't want to change. I came for a tria l to see if I would like it. I did while I was here, but when I went home I said, 'I'm not going back there b e cause they're going to change me — I know they are. ' I was going to split, but something brought me back here. (Inter view) One graduate of the program explained how the process of alternation comes about for some of those probated to the Center; But you really have to want to help yourself. These kids coming out of Juvenile Hall find that there is something in other people that they want and then they begin to change and then they want to change. They have to look at you and see a change in your life or they are not going to have a thing to do with it. You have to want to let Jesus work in your life, (Interview) Readiness for Change Unless a girl makes an emotional com m itm ent to change, it is unlikely that change will occur. The m ere realization or intellec tual acceptance of the need for change is not enough. The girls r e c ognize this dis satisfaction with their old life or alientation which produces a readiness for change as a necessary condition if anything is to be gained from being in the program . If they are not ready and are forced or persuaded by others to enter the program , their re s is - 96 tance to change prevents them from changing. The term "ready" was used by the girls to account both for the failure of some girls to apply for adm ission to the program and the inability of others to rem ain in the program . Although the te rm was never defined, they all appeared to use it in an agreed upon way. To be ready meant that one was thoroughly fed up with the drug life and no longer wanted to make that her way of life. This was illustrated in the following conversation. One girl said her father was helping at a drug center and they were trying to get a 15 year old girl to attend the program . Both Roberta and Rita said 'Unless a person is ready for the program it won't do any good.'(Field- notes) Many of the girls indicated that they were ready for the program either in their responses to the question asked at adm ission, "Why do you want to enter the program ?" or in retrospective, at the time of the interview: To put down on drugs. To be helped. I heard that it was a really good program to get off drugs and make it on the streets. I couldn't put down — especially with the p ressu re at school. To keep from drugs and also to attend school. Because I w asn't happy. Because I want to change — I'm tired of living the way I have been. 97 Because I need help on my drug problem . I'm tired of the life I am living and don't know quite what to do about changing it. To find a new strength to sta rt a new life. A friend recommended the program . She was there and her old man was there. I was in jail. My parents didn't want me at home. My sentence was up and I didn't have any place to go and I really wanted to stop using. I wanted something else. (Interview) In addition to the recognition that change m ust occur, and the desire to allow it to occur, each girl m ust also decide that the p ro gram for change offered by New Hope will allow her to change in a way she wants to change. It is a requirem ent for entrance into the program that each girl.express her willingness to try a religious approach for the solving of her drug problem . A staff m em ber d e s cribed the adm ission interview in this way: Every g irl has an interview before being accepted into the program . During the interview they m ust indicate that they have a problem , that they want to change, and believe that God can help them. She said that some of the girls are so strung out on speed or some other drugs they really can't give coherent answ ers and they usually don't rem em ber what they are told, but all are informed it is a religious program and if they don't want to begin it, they don't have to.(Fieldnotes) This type of religious readiness was revealed in many of the adm ission reasons given by the girls for entering the program : To get off drugs — I knew girls who were here, I really want help. I came because this is a religious place. I got involved with my religion in the Hall. 98 I had used everything — but I was m ore fortunate than m ost because as I got older I stopped using everyting and just went to m arijuana which is just as bad a problem. I asked the Lord to take it away and I was off it for four months, but I w asn't strong enough and I started again. And that is when I went into New Hope because I couldn't do it alone. I needed the association with other ChrisLiaiis. (IiiLerview) I entered the program because my probation officer r e c ommended it. I had heard about it through reading about it. I wanted to get out of jail and I had hopes that when I quit using drugs it would be through Jesus. Because I decided to give God a change in my life again. To become a decent person — to face life without drugs or sex and to gain a personal relationship with God. Because I wanted to find a real and im portant reason for living, and I want to be able to live without drugs. Because I need spiritual help. To be around C hristian fellowship and to get straight with the Lord and grow strong in Him. To get clean and be with the Lord. F or help and to get back with the Lord. To let the Lord change me as He wants. To get grounded m ore in my faith. Many of the girls reported some type of spiritual awakening before entering the program that had completely changed their out look on life making them realize that drugs could never satisfy them completely. I was in Juvenile Hall and I went and talked to the Chaplain and she explained all you had to do was ask C hrist into your heart and believe He died on the cross and mean it in your heart. And so I did this — I went into my room and I read this piece of paper like a tract, and I really meant it, and it's like a two-hundred watt light bulb was plugged in and like the whole room lit up and I felt this peace — 99 and I know something had happened. I just knew C hrist was there and that I was saved. A fter that experience I would always talk to God, but you know, I was still doing my own thing too. . .but I still had the aw areness that C hrist was alive. So when I went to New Hope, I was open to it because I knew it was true because I had had that experience. (Interview) I had an experience that got me interested in going to a religious program . One day I had O.D.'d (white — a whole bag of them). I was sitting by the ocean waiting to die, but nothing was happening. I was getting angry and started ad res sing God. Then I heard a voice I knew w asn't mine. The words w ere something like ' You have suffered enough and now I want you to be with m e' — som e thing like that. I sat and waited to see if I was to pass out, but I got excited and felt this extrem e closeness. I got in the car and started driving and realized I w asn't going to die, but something was happening. Then I drove to a m in ister's house and stayed overnight. That put my head in that direction.(Interview) A C hristian lady visited m e. I thought it was a raid b e cause I was a seller but she said that she had taken two of my friends to church the night before. I asked if I could go too. I went several tim es but I was still using. Then I started seeing visions with Satan holding my leg and God pulling my hand and the syringe would become a snake circling around my leg. My m other thought I was going crazy and put me in the hospital. A fter a week I conned the doctor into discharging me. I was making a phone call and a man tapped at the glass. I asked him if he wanted to use the phone. He said, 'No, I want to talk to you. ' I didn't know him but he kept tapping so I agreed to talk to him. He told me that God had told him to talk to me and had given him a vision about me. He knew my name and it was an alias b e cause I didn't want my P.O. to be able to check on me, and he knew I had a child and where I lived. I asked him if I was supposed to stop using heroin. He said I would have to decide that for m yself but God had told him to warn me of coming d isaster. I went home and fixed and alm ost died of an overdose. Then I went to the church again with the C hristian lady and accepted Christ. (Interview) On the other hand, if a g irl had had a previous religious exper ience that had been disappointing, it was m ore difficult for her to 100 accept the program . She had experienced the reality of both the drug world and the religious world, and therefore she had a h arder time to accept the total way of life at the Center in an unquestioning m an ner: When I went there and saw it was a C hristian thing — I didn't know it was that heavy — reading the Bible all the time and going to meetings — I w asn't ready for that because of my experience with the other church. I'm not against C h ris tian things because I am one. I'd like to be really re lig ious because many people are happy that way but its got to be real — you can't force it.(Interview) She grew up in a p reach er's house and was very r e s is tant and antagonistic. (Counseling note) . The expectations of the girls of what the program could do for them were closely related to the reasons they gave for entering the program . Those who said they came because they wanted to change had expectations for them selves such as: At least — to stop taking drugs. I expect my life to shape up. I want to change my attitude about life. To make it on my own. I expect to grow up a little bit. Hope I can change my whole life — get new friends. Become happy with myself. Those who stated they were coerced into entering, expected nothing to happen: Nothing — my parents made me come. 101 I'm not sure — a little purification. Those who had already "accepted the Lord" but who were still having trouble with drugs came to get them selves established in the C h ris tian life: Whatever will — it will be all for the best. To find peace with m yself. To be used by God. To get straight with m yself and God. To find my Lord Jesus and have Him grow in me and make me a new person not living to get loaded. To grow in the Lord and be able to live on the streets without getting loaded. Just as the girls came from a variety of different backgrounds and levels of involvement with drugs, they came for a variety of dif ferent reasons and with different expectations of what the program could do for them. What they had in common was that each one had reported problem s of some kind that had caused her pain and each verbally agreed to try a new, intensely religious way of life under the discipline and control of a total institution with some aw areness that this religious way of life represented a system of meaning that might be totally contradictory to her form er system of meaning. By entering the New Hope program , she had put h erself in the position of being confronted with an alternative world view about which she would have to make a choice. Some girls entered the program a l ready aware of the alternative world view it represented whereas 102 others came to this understanding over a period of time as they were exposed to the "foreign" culture of the program . If a girl allowed herself to stay long enough to grasp the implications of this new meaning system , h er form er goals and values no longer served to provide adequate meaning for her. This would often lead to an unrest because of the sense of incompleteness she experienced. This is the first stage of the conversion process as described by Clark, The second stage is the conversion crisis itself when the girl confesses her sin and unworthiness and su rrenders to God. This crisis is often accompanied by a "sense of sudden and great illumination, a feeling that one’s problem s have been solved" (Clark, 1958:194), The third stage of conversion grows out of the second: "As the em o tion of the clim ax dies away, it leaves the convert with a sense of peace, release, and inner harmony. He feels at one with God, his sins forgiven, his problem s solved, and his m iseries fled away" (Clark, 1958:195), Jam es w rites that "To say a man is converted m e a n s ... that religious ideas, previously peripheral in. his con sciousness, now take a central place, and the religious aims form the habitual centre of his energy" (Jam es, 1902:162). Most of the girls had had little religious instruction before entering the program . Therefore m ost had not experienced a deep sense of sin and were not deeply troubled with a sense of guilt. How ever, when they did recognize their need for physical healing from withdrawal symptoms or help in getting off drugs and they prayed, "Help me Jesus, " they reported receiving help and experiencing that 103 God was real and that He loved them. They referred to such an experience as "meeting Jesus, " "getting saved, " or "finding the Truth. " This corresponds to the second stage of the conversion p ro c e s s as d escrib ed by Clark. It was usually much later that the girls became sensitive to sinful acts as their consciences were trained to recognize them through Biblical instruction. Then they realized that there was m ore to being a C hristian than they had originally thought. At this point they realized that they could no longer make decisions for their lives from the standpoint of their own wishes, but that decisions m ust be made in term s of what God wanted them to do. To be a C hristian m eant not only receiving forgiveness from God but also giving som e thing to God: obedience. This phenomenon of "accepting the L ord ship of C hrist" was descirbed in many ways by the girls. Some of the phrases used by the girls in their testim onies and interviews are as follows: I came to grips with the Lord. You need to get your life centered on the Lord. I had to turn my life over to the Lord. I really gave my heart to the Lord. I knew I had to live for the Lord. I decided to go all the way with the Lord. I want to put C hrist first in everything. I made a clear-cu t decision for C hrist. Giving m yself to C hrist. 104 • Living for Jesus C hrist, They used another set of expressions to describe the learning process of incorporating precepts into their daily living such as "to get s p ir itually established, " "to develop a sense of the Lord, " "to p ress in," "to seek freedom in tongues. " When they realized they had failed to live up to a decision they had made, they would say, "I have to get right with the Lord, " The experssion "making it out there" was often used and could have two meanings : to stay clean from drugs or be successful as a Christian. Just as they saw their old life as associated with dependence on drugs and their peer group, they interpreted the C hristian life style to be dependence on C hrist and participation in Christian fellowship groups. The staff and other girls recognized that a g irl was "accepting the Lordship of C hrist" when she became m ore interested in Bible study and prayer, when she would pr*ay m ore freely in tongues, when she would say, "The Lord has been talking to be about. . ., " when she would give up sinful habits such as smoking or com plain ing, when she becam e m ore interested intthe spiritual problem s of the other girls. More piety such as raising hands in pray er or even speaking in tongues was not recognized by the group as "going all the way with the Lord, " although those are behaviors that could accompany this state. B erger p refers to use the m ore neutral te rm of "alternation" to describe the phenomenon of a life transform ing change since the 105 te rm "conversion" has religiously charged connotations. By doing this, he places the phenomenon of transform ation oh one's system of meaning which is experienced in religious conversion into the la rg e r context of transform ation from any meaning system to another. B erger says that when a person enters a new meaning system through alternation, that system "provides him an interpretation of his ex istence and of his world, including in the interpretation of an explan ation of the meaning system he has abandoned (Berger, 1963:52). B erger w rites, "Conversion (alternation) is an act in which the past is dram atically transform ed — it is seeing things with new eyes (Berger, 1963:62). ^ What had been proper behavior before becomes Travisano attem pts to interpret alternation as a weaker phenomenon, as an identity change that causes little disruption in the lives of those involved. He classified three types of identity changes: iden tity sequences, cumulative identity sequences, and non-cumulative identity sequences. He defines alternations as "transitions to iden tities which are presceibed or at least perm itted within the person's established universe of discourse" (Travisano, 1975:97). His c la s- sificatory system of possible identity change sequences is useful, but his use of the te rm "alternation" in contrast to "conversion" is un fortunate because he does not define the te rm as B erger has done. The example B erger used to dem onstrate present day social m obil ity, Travisano has used as B erg er's example of alternation. How ever the example B erger gives of alternation is that of "brainw ash ing" in which "A m erican prisoners of w ar 'brainw ashed' by the Chinese Communists completely changed their viewpoints on social and political m a tters. To those who returned to A m erica, this change represented a sort of illness brought on by outward p ressu re, as a convalescent may look back on a delirious dream . But to their form er captors, this changed consciousness represents a brief glim m er of true understanding between long periods of ignorance. And to those priso ners who decided not to return, their conversion m ay still appear as the decisive passage from darkness to light" (B erger, 1963:51). This interpretation of alternation as a world transform ing change is the one accepted for this investigation since it usefully describes the life-changing im pact of the rehabilitation program on the successful graduates as well as the interpretation of the "conversions" experienced by others who later viewed their p ro fession of conversion as just a youthful phantasy. 106 im proper, and of course, the reverse is true. The methods used by the New Hope program to bring about this life-changing tran sfo rm a tion are the subject for consideration in Chapter Six. CHAPTER VI PENTECOSTALISM AND IDENTITY Each g irl who entered the New Hope program was likely to be experiencing an identity problem of some kind. B erger says that "identity is socially bestowed, socially sustained, and socially tra n s form ed" (B erger, 1963:98). However, the social world which had reinforced and supported h er identity was either no longer possible, as in the case when a girl had been picked up and sentenced for drug use, or was no longer seen to be fulfilling. This disorganization of self produced by the identity problem is an im portant factor in m ak ing the new resident open to the new patterns of thought and life at the Center since she is uncertain of her old values and is looking for a new meaning in life. What the New Hope program hopes to a c com plish is for the addict who enters to experience a change in iden tity so that she sees herself as an ex-addict and then for her to further change so that she sees herself only as a Christian. New Hope offers Pentecostalism as a means for bringing about this iden tity change, but in order to take advantage of the remedy, the new resident m ust agree to place h erself under its control and accept its discipline. Pentecostal Religion P entecostalism is a vital movement within P rotestantism that is growing rapidly. Sam arin lists five key factors for the revolution- 107 108 ary effectiveness of the Pentecostal movement: 1) a decentralized organization, 2) a face-to-face (that is, personal) recruitm ent, 3) personal com m ittm ent resulting from an identity- altering experience and a bridge-burning act, 4) an answ er-giving ideology, and 5) opposition.(Samarin, 1972:18-22) The m ain ch aracteristic that distinguishes Pentecostal religious groups from m ain line P rotestant denominations is the Pentecostal practice of "speaking in tongues. " By this is m eant the practice of praying, singing, or speaking in ecstatic utterances whose meaning is not known to the speaker. In contem porary tongues-speaking the speaker usually utters words which belong to no language known to his audience. If there is a desire in the church that the people understand what has been said, then a person with 'the gift of interpretation' interprets the 'tongue' into the language of those present, (Parnell, 1973:30) This experience is usually called "the baptism in the Spirit" which is a spiritual experience subsequent to conversion (repentance of sins and acceptance of C hrist as Savior from sins). The outward evidence that a C hristian has received "the Bap tism " is that he or she speaks in an unknown tongue. Hitt says that "to the casual w itness, this often sounds like a to rren t of meaning less gibberish" (Hitt, 1973:5). An emotional experience usually a c companies the speaking in tongues: 109 I have talked to many Christians who have had this ex perience. Without exception, they testify to a great emotional experience that sweeps through their very being. This gives them, all say, a greater love for Jesus C hrist, for fellow C hristians, for the Word of God, and a great d esire to dem onstrate this all- pervading love to others. (Hitt, 1973j7) Although speaking in tongues is p rim arily an act of private worship, when it is used in public m eetings, the services are m arked by m ore w arm th and em otionalism than is commonly found in mainline P rotes- tand churches. Healing by p ray er with the laying on of hands is also practiced by Pentecostal groups. In addition, w orshippers often raise their hands to God as a sign of worship while singing or praying. Klapp describes this kind of worship service as "the zenith of mystique and of m an's search for identity" (Klapp, 1969:146). In Pentecostal w o r ship, people use the gift of tongues, the laying on of hands for heal ing, and the raising of hands in worship to bind them selves together in common devotion to God. The m ain characteristic of such a group is that its m em bers feel that this activity is serious enough to b e come the center of their life in terest — that it is the very meaning of life. There are several basic functions enum erated by Klapp that the Pentecostal religious experience can provide for the seeker: 1) It reform s and redeem s the individual from a form erly un satisfactory life by centering him completely on the highest good, through ritual and consecrated work, to find the perfect life. 2) It reorients the life of the individual by the finding of "it" 110 (i, e, ultimate truth). There is a sense of a turning point and r e newal — deliberate turning from the old way that was wrong to a new way which is right. This is accompanied by a feeling of elation, peace, joy, and relief from sin. 3) The religious experience centers their worship experience through rituals which make m em bers feel m ore involved with one an other, m ore in contact with "an emotional reality transcending o rd inary life and so. . . transcending their old selv es" (Klapp, 1969:160). 4) It provides the role of devotee or le arn er which Klapp says is "the efficient method which the cult has discovered for tran sfo rm ing the identities of its m em bers. It uses a m ore or less organized path of training and role models which lead to perfection of the new life. The conversion experience brings a person within the 'it' circle but he still has a long way to go before he perfects him self as a new man" (Klapp, 1969:161). The person enters the full devotee status through the rite of passage of baptism . Both im m ediately before and after this experience, the devotee is expected to witness to proclaim his new identity. 5) It provides m o ral support and acceptance within a fellow ship in which all encourage each other on the sam e path. In all these ways, the Pentecostal fellowship group is able to give its m em bers a sense of significant alternation: of participation in something special that they are unable to get in the la rg e r society. Through the teaching and training provided by the group, the new I l l believer is reinforced in the new identity he took on when he was con verted. Envelopment New Hope has as its goal the changing of girls so that they are certain of th eir new position in C hrist, Therefore it m ust present itself in such a way that it is a complete world with its own world view and style of life — the summum bonum or ultimate truth d e s cribed by Klapp, It is the goal of the program to present values which the g irl can live for and to establish her in those values. One of the directors stated the goal in this way: "Get them saved and filled with the Spirit. " A m em ber of the board of directors also confirm s that this is the m ain goal of the Center. He said "The goal of the program is to develop C hristian character — not drug rehabil itation" (Fieldnotes). When a g irl enters the program , she brings with h er a set of values and behaviors derived from h er "home world. " Now in the insecure position of knowing that change is demanded and som e tim es desiring to change, she m ust decide how to change. The New Hope program is designed to give her the opportunity to find out if a religious change is what she wants. In order to assu re a complete break with the past so that the new resident can completely im m erse herself in the new way of life, all contact with the past is forbidden for a two week period. During this tim e, the girls may not receive phone calls or m ail from home 112 or friends nor m ay she make phone calls. The explanation given for this separation from family and friends is so that the new resident can "center on fellowship with the Lord and other C hristians" (Field notes). Coffman describes this process of breaking with past roles as "role dispossession" (Coffman, 1961:14). One graduate of the program said it this way: "You have to change every old pattern to make it new" (Interview). Many drug program s extend the period of isolation to one or two months, but this is not done at New Hope b e cause the first contacts outside the institution a re carefully selected so that the new way of life is maintained on weekend visits. F or example, girls m ay spend the weekend at C hristian homes in the community several weeks before they are perm itted to visit at home. In addition to not being allowed to come and go freely, the new resident m ust submit to other types of humiliation. Coffman has coined the te rm "identity stripping" to describe the m ortification that occurs when a person is stripped of "identity kit" — "the supplies and tools needed for the m anagem ent of his personal front" (Coffman, 1961:20). When a girl first enters the Center, a thorough search of h er purse and belongings is done and any drugs or cigarettes found are confiscated and destroyed. A counselor explained to a new girl why this is done; Desiring to smoke is a temptation, but smoke is something that puts a wall to being filled with the Lord- We don't do it because the Lord says 'Don't do it. ' It comes between the Lord and the person. Here we elim inate the things of the world for you through rules so you can learn to put them down with the help of Jesus. (Fieldnotes) 113 Identity stripping decisively removes an im portant tool used by girls for managing their im pressions on others and for controlling their own nervousness in a problem atic situation. To further undermine social support the new resident may derive from h er past life, such as her ability to d ress to "catch the eye of a guy, " girls appearing in public with d resses that a re too short or too revealing are sent back upstairs to change into something m ore appropriate. The purpose of this disciplinary action is explained by a graduate of the program ; There are some people who can't handle or don't need this program . You see — there are some people who need to be broken down. When you come, your pride is broken. Out in the world when you're not a Christian, if someone tells you your d ress is too short, you'll just say, 'F orget you— I'll w ear what I want to w ear. ' Here if someone comes up and tells you that you have to change or if they tell you that that are a is yours to clean — some people don't need this because they are responsible enough. Then there a re a group of people who need some type of restriction, but not a whole lot — they need attention and counseling. They need a helf-way house, not New Hope (Interview). F o r the sam e reason, s tre e t talk and discussions of the previous life in drugs is strongly discouraged except when done in the institution ally prescrib ed way of witnessing or giving a testimony. In addition, the new resident is expected to follow the rigid schedule of events which include housecleaning duties, Bible study classes, chapel, m eals, recreation, m eetings, and devotional tim e. Even girls in the program recognize the need for the schedule: "There is a need for structure — New Hope has to sta rt new habits" (Fieldnotes). The staff then attem pts initially to create a totally new environ- 114 ment for the new resident and envelope h er in it, so that change can take place. What is the reaction of the new g irl to all these things? It can vary from complete subm ission and acceptance to total disgust with many stages of fear, bewilderm ent, and su rp rise in between: I rem em ber when I first walked in — this was my first im pression. I had just been tran sferred down, and this one girl said, 'P ra is e the Lord' and I felt this very good feeling like these are C hristian people. I felt very safe and I felt this warmth,(Interview) I just really thought the people w ere freaked out when I came here, but I knew they all had something because they w ere happy, and I rem em ber when I first came here I felt really out of place because I was getting loaded still. (Interview) How did it strike me at first? Weird — I thought it was a weird place and the people w ere weird because they were a ll walking around and saying 'P ra is e the Lord' — they don't do that too much now. (Interview) That first morning when I got there, there was a chapel service and everyone was speaking in tongues, but I thought they all knew foreign languages so I didn't know what was going on. I thought, 'Isn 't it strange how edu cated everyone is.' (Interview) I was scared at first because everyone was talking about the Lord, and I didn't understand very much about being a C hristian or anyting, but I also w asn't sure I wanted to turn m y whole life over to being a C hristian so I was pretty scared — and also just being in a new place and getting used to new people scared me.(Interview). I was so rt of nervous and upset when I got there because I was having a lot of troubles at home. At first I was very lonely. It was like a sum m er church camp — get ting up and having serv ices. I liked that p art of it. But I felt strange there because the girls had been there so long and had been on drugs really bad and I felt 'I'm not that bad — I don't belong. ' But actually, I was on drugs — whites, bennies, am phetam ines, and I had done other things. But going there was really like an escape from my parents. (Interview) 115 F o r girls who w ere addicted at the time of entry into the p ro gram , the next hurdle to cro ss after the shock of finding them selves in a place where there is constant talk about God, was withdrawal from the drug itself. If a girl was heavily addicted to barbituates she was sent to a hospital for detoxification before official entry into the program , but those who w ere addicted to heroin could "kick" at the Center without physical danger. In the care and concern ex p res sed by other girls for those who were experiencing withdrawal, new girls have had their firs t contact with the reality of the C hristian life: The Lord touched my body the following day when I started to get sick when we w ere up in the snow s it ting inside of a car and my legs started bothering me a lot and I was cold and getting the symptoms of s ta r t ing to be sick. Risa and Rosanna agreed in pray er and I said, 'Yes Jesu s' and I felt better all over and I didn't get sick and I even ate that sam e day. So it was really the Lord — He is so good. When the Lord touched my body I knew something was real. I knew something was so different about this place — there was a lot of love and understanding and there w asn't a lot of scream ing, hollering, and yelling — something I really noticed right off in other program s that I couldn't stand. (Interview) The other new girls at the Center was Rosie. Shirley told me that she was 'kicking' today. She was staying near Sally m ost of the tim e. Rosie said that she couldn't kick at home because her mind hasn't changed. At the close of the group meeting Risa interrupted to say that her 's is te r' wanted to accept the Lord. Sam asked Risa if she had explained to Rosie how to accept the Lord. She replied, 'A little. ' Sam explained that you m ust recognize yourself as a sinner and accept C hrist as Lord. Rosie prayed out loud and asked Jesus to come into h er life because she didn't like the way she was living now and she wanted Him to change her life. A fter she prayed, Sam explained to the group that she was kicking heroin. So far she had had no with draw al symptoms and Sam asked Risa to share h er ex 116 perience because she is still waiting for her withdrawal symptom s. She said when she started to feel bad, people came and prayed over h er and she never developed the aches and cram ps some get. Rosie said that she w asn't able to sleep. Sam encouraged Rosie to ask the girls to pray and read scripture to her if she started to feel bad. (Fleldnotes) The F ailure of Conversion However, the girls m ust not simply kick their habit, but m ust also accept the religious ideology since the goal of the program is not just to get kids off drugs, but to help them find a "new life in C hrist. " Some found this "new life" simultaneously with the de liverance from drugs. Right when you get saved the Lord delivers you from a lot of things right then like He delivered me from drugs and drinking right then.(Interview) F or others the religious experience came from answ ers to prayer: I went to church and I said 'Lord, if you want me to be a C hristian I need a Bible to read — and this g irl I didn't even know handed a Bible to my brother and said, ' The Lord told me to give Rebecca this.' And I said, 'Wowi ' Later she said that for the longest time she kept saying, 'No, Lord — this is m y favorite one.' But He said, 'Give it to h er. ' It was a little thing, but for me it was a big thing. (Interview) As im pressive as these initial experiences a re to the girls they are not enough to develop the C hristian behavior which is the goal of the program* For example, the g irl who said that the Lord had de livered her from drugs and drinking when she had been saved added in the next sentence, "But then later troubles cam e" (Interview). 117 What the program m ust do is replace the form er goals and life style with new goals and a new life style in such a convincing way that the g irl never has to look for another set of values for her life. It is to use the experience of alternation (i.e .,h e r uncertainty and capacity to change) to produce a change of such magnitude and finality that further alternation operates to change identities in highly structured situations such as religious training or psychoanalysis. In psycho analytic treatm ent the person repudiates his past conception of h im self and takes on a new identity. The longer and m ore intense his relationship with his therapist is, the m ore committed the person becom es to his new identity. Finally, when he is "cured, this new identity has indeed become what he is, that is, a new identity has been constructed" (Berger, 1963:104). B erger differentiates between com m ittm ent to a new ideology so that an identity change occurs and m ere knowledge about religion. In fact, he says that it is the function of religion to deny the phenom enon of alternation: [Religion] will, give the illusion of absoluteness to one particu lar coloration of the social stage, thus r e a s s u r ing and ratifying the individual illusion of the actors. The m ost solem n rituals and superstitions of society receive their ultim ate sanction from religion. The precarious identities of actors, clutching their resp ec tive m asks, a re pronounced by religion to be the truth. Religion provides legitim ation of power and the explan ation of suffering. . . I t gives his world structure and purpose. It makes demands on him , even threatens and punishes him, but even in the possibility of dam na tion it allows him to live in an ordered cosm os. .. R e ligion provides the common fram e of reference within which the actors on the stage can coordinate their little p arts. . . I t m ay even add the reassurance that the play 118 is w ritten and directed by the m a ster im presario him self. (Berger, 1961:21-22) Religion without alternation (conversion) can offer only an illusion of reality but does not transform the person so that his past and present are dram atically re-in terp reted in term s of the new world view. Therefore, if a girl does not experience alternation, h er sense of precariousness rem ains. She sees the activities of the staff and "converted" residents as meaningful for them but not for h er. She m ay become even m ore disillusioned about h er form er way of life because she has seen that a different way of life is possible, at least for some people. Since the New Hope way did not become a way of life for her, the explanation for the ordered cosmos it provides is seen to be just another perspective among many and h er alternation rem ains unresolved.until another perspective is em braced: During the firs t three weeks I was just wrapped up in the feelings, but I didn’t understand. I w asn’t successfully indoctrinated because I began questioning too much and doubting a lot of it. I got turned off with talk of Hell and also, the speaking in tongues. .. Now I don’t know if there is a God — I’m not an atheist — I just don’t know. And I sort of resent the whole tim e I was there becaus e it took som e thing away from me, and now I have to say I don’t know. . . Everything got to be so ridiculous after a w hile— it got to be just another thing that people were grabbing on to, and a lot of people were grabbing on just for a few months to get a good re st and take care of them selves and the sincerity w asn't there. It ju st seem ed like such a silly thing after a while. Then I started making a lot of jokes about every thing and that really got me in with the other peo p le... When He ft I had all the guilt for feeling how I felt — just three months before I had had this beautiful experience and was high as a kite and close to God for the first time in my life, and then I was there with no feeling and not knowing if there is a God — so I feel real guilty. . . I looked for a job and couldn't find one. I started using again for about three 119 months. Then I went up to San F rancisco where I grew up — and that is when I really decided. Question: What made you decide? It was just looking back on my life and seeing what had hap pened since I was 17 — that it hadn't counted for anything and seeing that it was now time to change — to grow up and stop playing gam es. I said there are sev eral ways to grow up — you can com m it your life to being a sec re ta ry from 9 to 5 and hate every minute of it or you can find something you a re really interested in that would be a nice c a re e r — something to look forw ard to. So I decided to go back to college. . . I feel I can find God where I am — I was thinking this morning — the sunrise is like the experience I first had - the sun coming up and touching each thing and the noises — the crickets — to feel the a ir around me — that is what a spiritual experience is for m e. Another thing that has been a spiritual experience is studying physiology — the sequence and timing. . . When I left the Center I got quite interested in G estalt therapy and I started in therapy with a G estalt th e r apist. The disappointment I faced was in learning so much about m yself — the firs t month or so in therapy I did sta rt getting loaded, and then I had another so rt of spiritual ex perience with the lady I was counseling with. She said the m ore you keep making these ridiculous prom ises the w orse you a re going to be instead of just accepting the fact that this is probably what you want to do for now — that this isn 't going to be a life long way of life. The m ore you r e lax and accept this is what I am doing now, and so what, the sooner it's going to be over with. It has been a long process of learning to cope with disappointment. Question: Was New Hope and real disappointment to you? No, because I don't think I had any real expectations of it when I walked in — I never ever did believe anyone could change me except m yself. At one time at New Hope I did have this fantasy that God was going to reach out and work out everything and I'd never have to work on it and struggle - but after a few days of being there I realized that w asn't true either.(Interview) My beliefs in God w ere really mixed up. I couldn't get with it. I just couldn't feel the way they were telling me to. And I was watching people do like they used to call in New Hope - speak in tongues. I used to think it was games but they w eren 't just doing it — because they were getting m ore and w ere looked upon as a higher human being or something because they could speak in tongues. I just watched every body because I didn't pray too much — I would check them 120 out because it looked like an act — they w eren't for real to m e. Question: What was your reaction to the program ? Good for some people if you could believe it. If it's going to keep you clean, do it — I felt it was good for them but not for me because I didn't feel anything. Question: Did you understand what they w ere teaching? Strengthen your beliefs in God — then you wouldn't need any chem icals. If you believed strong enough you wouldn't even want drugs. Question: Where did you get your goals and motivations ? F rom the Family.^ Question: Not from your own family? They tried to tell me but I wouldn't listen. My values came at the end of the road — after I took those 50 pills. I knew what I was doing — I wanted to die. . . I can believe in what I see and touch. They (the Family) told me I was whore and dope fiend and I could agree — but all that praying. I couldn't take it. Question: What m otivates you now? To be honest, for real, truthful. If people accept me, OK, if not, I don't need them for a friend. I used to think, 'If you are sucker enought to tru st me — that is your problem .' Now I can tru st people. Question: Is your life now what you hoped for? With all the changes it is just what I wanted. Now I even want m arriage and children — that is something I never thought I would say. (Interview) Other girls who failed to find the answ er to the meaning of.life at New Hope have turned to Satan worship. Transcendental Meditation, and Scientology. This variation of experience is made possible by the very process of alternation. Since the legitim acy of their form er views and values had been brought into question and they were shown that a totally different way of life was possible, they became aware that yet another way of life would be possible. B erger explains it in ^A drug rehabilitation program . 121 this way: Each perspective seem s not only to include all of reality but to include within itself all other possible perspectives and the passages from one to the other. To put this in different term s, Catholicism has a theory of psychoanal ysis and a theory concerning what happens when a Catho lic becom es converted to psychoanalysis. But psychoan alysis returns the compliment. There is a psychoana lytic theory of Catholicism and of conversion to Catholi cism . And then there is a M arxist theory of both Cathol icism and psychoanalysis. And so on — ad infinitum — and ad nauseum. The aw areness of alternation and its ex is tential possibilities now becomes a sensation of vertigo. (Berger, 1961:18-19) The girls at New Hope are presented with the ideology of Chris tianity as an absolute; at the same tim e, its absoluteness is framed within the human situation of alternation. The content of C hristian and Pentecostal ideology is belief in C hrist and obedience to God: There can be no basis for C hristian faith except in the encounter with the figure of Jesus C hrist, as it becomes m anifest in the testim ony of the Bible and the living proclam ation in the church. Faith is the decision to stake one's existence on this figure. . • To be human means to live with inconclusive inform ation on the ultim ate m ean ing of things. To have faith in C hrist m eans to say that, if there is any meaning at all, it is here that one m ust find it.(B erger, 1961:189-190) The Context of Conversion How then are the girls at New Hope introduced to Jesus C hrist in a life changing way? The very fact that New Hope is a total in sti tution makes it possible for all activities to be structured so that the m essage of repentance and faith in C hrist is constantly repeated. Most girls who a re not already self-designated Christians "accept 122 C hrist as their Savior" within a few days after entering the program . They constantly hear about "the Lord" and it is hard to rem ain neu tral; When I first got there everyone was coming up to me and telling me 'C hrist can change your life' and inside of me I knew it was true. (Interview) One d irector of the program said that within two weeks a girl would either accept C hrist and have her life changed, would request a trans fer to another program if she had been placed there on probation or else she would just split. This assertio n appears to be partially vali dated by the statistical finding that all girls either stayed less than ten days or m ore than 15 days and the length of stay distribution is distinctly bimodal. Another staff m em ber explained it in this way: "If their heart isn 't right toward God, God turns them against the program . " Several girls rem arked that New Hope is a very uncomfortable place to be if you don't accept Pentecostal ideology: The firs t night I was there, these two girls came up and started telling me about the Lord — just what I didn't want to hear and when they left some others came.(Interview) When I got there I started playing a bunch of games and I got real m iserable, and that is when I decided I needed to change. (Interview) I never got loaded at the Center — I respected it. I wanted to leave a couple of tim es — when you are there and not do ing good with the Lord you feel very uncomfortable — the Spirit makes you feel that way.(Interview) When I firs t go here I felt that I couldn't make it — that I had to get out and I was just sick of the whole m ess. And the reason why that was, I found out, was that I was not 123 willing to give up anything for the Lord and w asn't willing to serve Him. And I was m iserable because I was around a lot of Christiana and when they praised the Lord and you just sit back and your mind isnH on the serm on or any thing and you a re just thinking 'I wish this would end' — You have to keep your mind on the Lord a lot, you know, just be willing to submit to Him. That is why I wanted to leave — because I w asn't open to the Lord and receiving what He had to give me. (Interview) It is obvious that not all girls accept this new way of life and there are many reasons why they don't. However, to make it easie r to understand how the program can bring about life changing results, the aspects of the program that contribute to this change will be d e s cribed first followed by a discussion of the problem s that prevent this change from occurring. Institutional Ideology Without a doubt, the m ost im portant m essage of the institution is a new interpretation and experience of the meaning of life. Con version is the starting point into the new way of life, Klapp describes the conversion experience in this way: By conversion we m ean the reorientation of the soul of an individual, his deliberate turning from indifference or from an e a rlie r piety to another, a turning which implies a consciousness that a great change is involved that the old was wrong and the new is right.(Klapp, 1969:155) To put is m ore simply, "conversion" or "being saved" or "accepting C hrist" is an acceptance of sins and acceptance of C hrist as Savior. When a g irl accepts C hrist, she is supposed to experience a feeling of joy in sharing faith with other believers, and a sense of turning 124 from one life to another: i asked Jesus to come into my life, and they say you can't feel Him come in, but I did and I know He was real and the next day I told everybody that Jesus came into my life and that He was real and they just looked at me weird and I told everyone I wanted to come to New Hope,(Interview) With the experience of conversion, the process of identity tra n sfo r mation is begun: I'd like to tell you all that I am new here, and that I seem like a babe in C hrist. . • but since I have been here God has revealed m ore to me than I have ever known in my whole life — like the offer of peace and everyone can have this. If everyone could know what it is, we wouldn't have any problem s at all on this earth because there are no prob lem s with Him. The Devil is the one that causes all the problem s, and I know that the Devil has really been giv ing me battles since I've been here. He doesn't like any of his servants being taken away from him and so I just want to p raise God because this is the only way, (T esti mony given at a Thrusday P raise-In) Probably the one aspect of the program that contributes m ost to making change possible is the w arm feeling of acceptance that new girls experience when they first a rriv e . One girl said that after she had h er adm ission interview with Sally she knew everything would be all right (Fieldnotes). Other girls have experessed their appreciation for friendships in this way: I do thank God for all the New Hopes and m ost of all for the dedicated people who followed God's call to work there. I'll never forget Sally. I gave h er some tim e. But she sure is a prom inent person in my life change and I send h er my deepest love. (Questionnaire) Rebecca was very close to me and I never had a true friend like her before. Being in New Hope made me realize that other people besides me have feelings. (Interview) 125 I m et many friends there who I will never forget because of their love and understanding toward me.(Interview) Question: Do the kids in the program help each other? Ya — all the tim e. It's really neat because everyone prays for one another there and its really beautiful because it teaches you — like if you never knew how to love people before. It begins your whole life. It's like a family there. That's the way it was when I was there. Like that was your family — that was your home.(Interview) A staff m em ber said: They know that we can accept and understand their past lives. And they know the Lord has brought the staff here that will understand and there is acceptance and love — not 'How could you do something like that' kind of attitude. (Interview) When girls firs t enter the program some of them experience types of relationships which a re new to them. One graduate of the program attributed this difference to the fact that the program is C hrist- o riented: If you go to a place that is not C hrist-oriented, people find it very hard — girls or m en — to bunch together with their problem s, (Interview) Another described the kind of relationships she was accustomed to: It is a m iracle that all the drug addicts «here get along be cause on the streets they don't — 'cause everyone is out for him self. It's one big game after another — this person is ripping this person off, and it goes in a circle. (Interview) Since everything is strange, the new g irls carefully watch the behavior of those they consider to be leaders to learn how to act: During the m eeting, Rheba frequently glanced at Robbie. She seem ed puzzled by everything and didn't join in clap ping hands during singing* (Fieldnotes) 126 At first I was afraid — I was really scared. And I just sat back and watched everything and thought 'Is this real? ' I didn't understand it and know if it was really th ere.(In ter view) Because of the shared religious experiences, girls often feel closer to other girls at the Center than they do to their own fam ilies and they refer to each other as "my s is te r in the Lord. " They also encourage each other to keep on in the C hristian faith: Rachel was the m ost inspiring person of all because there w ere tim es that girl would be flat down and out and she'd come up with the victory and really inspired me to keep going, man.(Interview) In addition to looking to girls who "are doing well" as role m odels, the girls also use the younger staff m em bers as role m odels. One girl explained that at first an ex-addict had been especially help ful to her because she could understand her problem s, but later when she had really decided to "go all the way with the Lord" a non-addict counselor had been the m ost to her because then she didn't want to pattern h er life after an ex-doper but after a real C hristian — a straight person (Fieldnotes). In addition to just understanding the girls and serving as role models for them, the staff contribute to change in a m ore definite way. By choosing to view any m inim al indication that a girl is de siring the change as evidence of change, the staff m em bers confirm the g irl in h er new identity. L of land calls a person who views b e havior in this way a "norm al-sm ith" (Lofland, 1969). By this he m eans a person who in terprets another person's behavior as norm al. 127 He points out that the difficulties in^transforming deviants into n o r m als may have as much to do with the fears of the norm als as with the propensities of the deviants. The "norm al" can either accept a m inim al indicator as evidence of change (the norm al-sm ith) or as evidence that the person has not changed (the deviant-sm ith). The girls at New Hope a re very aw are of the attitude of the staff and pub lic towards them. F o r m em bers of the staff, once a g irl has accep ted C hrist, h er acts a re interpreted as those of a norm al believer in C hrist. If the act is praisew orthy, God is given the credit; "P raise the Lord. " If the act is deceptive o r wrong, brothers and siste rs in the faith seek to resto re h er to fellowship with God through confession of sin. One d irecto r said: I make m istakes — we all do. You can make all the m is takes you want, but if your basic motive is to please Him, He knows. It is the motive lhat counts. (Fieldnotes) Not only is the new believer considered to be a new person in C hrist by those on the staff, but she is taught to consider h e rse lf to be a new person. An excerpt from a group meeting can serve as an example of how this is done: The group meeting was led by the assistan t director and was started with a series of questions: How many of you consider yourselves to be ' straight' people? How many of you consider yourselves to be sinners? O.K. — P raise die Lord, we are redeem ed by the blood of the Lamb. How many of you consider yourselves to be d o pers? Some asked the question, 'Am I?' and one girl raised h er hand. How many of you consider yourselves to be ex-dopers ? What I am getting at is this : II Cor. 5:17 says that we are new crea tu re s. If you have m et Jesus C hrist and asked Him into your life, the Scripture says, ' You are a new c re a tu re ' and we need to be cautious of the enemy 128 keeping us thinking that we are still the old person. Some tim es you may really think ‘I am still a doper, I still have those kinds of cravings. ‘ Don't let the enemy use that tool. Begin to speak out. You need to stop that kind of stuff. Don't get yourself involved in thinking about your old type of life so the enemy has a chance to work on you. You need to search out from the Scriptures to find out what kind of a person you are. Then when the enemy comes to knock you, you can say, ' That is not my life anym ore, I am not that way any m ore. ' Then you can find out what kind of a new creature you are and begin to experience it. The ene my would like us to think we are still like we always were and that we will always be that way and that there is no sense in trying to change. The Devil w ill lie to us and say we haven't changed. We need to comprehend what kind of a person we a re in Jesus C hrist. If the Devil says ' You are still the same person, ' you can acknowledge the act, but say 'In Jesus C hrist I am a new creature so I don't have to continue being that way. I can do all things through C hrist who s t r e ng the ne th m e. I can be victorious. ' Give the Devil a scripture. It works every tim e. You have to agree with the Devil that you are a sinner, but you can say 'I can be victorious. ' That is why we ask you to m em orize S crip ture — to relate to the Devil some Scripture. Begin to get a b etter vision of who you a re , what you are, what kind of a person you are.(Fieldnotes) The "norm al-sm iths, " the staff at New Hope, do not refrain from challenging what they regard as "sinful" behavior. What they do is ascribe it to the work of Satan and challenge the girl to gain the victory over Satan. The staff do not assum e the absence of devi ant behavior, but their attitude toward it is that of accepting it as be havior sim ilar to that com m itted by them selves and that sinful b e havior committed by either the ex-addict or the straight staff m em b er m ust be confessed to God. The rule of thumb was that: any positive statem ent was accepted at face value and acted upon as if the girl had honest motives and it was not a d e ceitful act. (Fieldnotes) 129 This philosophy of "norm al-sm ithing" can be contrasted with the philosophy of rehabilitation centers patterned after Synanon which operate in the mode of "deviant-sm ithing. " In those institutions, ad dicts a re told that they are addicts and will always be addicts and the program is geared toward maintaining them drug-free in the residen tial community. Collective Ritual The w arm caring relationships that individuals exhibited toward each other took place in the large context of an emotionally charged religious atm osphere. A new g irl's initial reaction to the religious rituals she observed might be su rp rise or disdain, but if she r e mained for two weeks or m ore, she was alm ost inevitably initiated into them and they became p art of the life she shared with the other g irls. P a rt of the attem pt of the New Hope program to help girls to rapidly accept their new "norm al C hristian" identity is associated with certain practices which a re norm ally used in Pentecostal w o r ship services such as lifting hands in praise to God, laying on of hands for healing, and speaking in tongues. It is these rituals that illustrate the organization's power to establish an emotional involve m ent that can resu lt in a firm com m itm ent to the new way of life. These rituals a re interpreted at New Hope as loving concern for others, binding the people in the group together. Group meetings and chapel services are ch aracterized by a freedom to bring the 130 needs of each other to the notice of God in group p ray er. When m em bers feel "led" by God to do so, they lay hands on the individual r e questing help as they ask God to remove the problem . F or example, when a girl who was leaving the program asked for p ray er about find ing a job and keeping out of trouble in the streets, the group leader suggested that some of the girls lay hands on h e r and pray. All the girls except two laid hands on h er and joined in the p ray er. In the same service, prayer was requested for a girl who had a toothache and again the sam e girls laid hands on her. In addition, group prayer was frequently offered for girls who had not become Christians or who w ere having special problem s: And when I left (the hospital) they gave me a bottle of 80 valiums and I had to take them or else I was just shaking. I was real nervous and everything and I cried all the time and when I went to New Hope I told them I was taking nerve pills and I wanted to get rid of them and someone prayed with me and told me the Lord could take them away from m e, and so when he prayed with me I just put them up and said I w asn't going to take any m ore. In fact, I rebelled against any kind of pill there was for a while. I wouldn't take an asp irin or anything until I got back to norm al.(In terview) Another highly emotional p a rt of their worship is the song and testim ony tim e. Many of the songs and choruses center on Jesus. One chorus just repeats the name "Jesus" over and over. Another favorite song is "Oh, How I Love Jesusi' During the singing, all faces and hands a re raised to heaven. As girls give testim onies of how God has changed their lives, there are frequent exclamations of "Yes, Jesu s" or "Thank you, Jesus" or "P ra ise the L o rd ." At tim es the expressions a re uttered quietly and at other tim es with 131 gusto. Although it was not a common occurrence, on occasion the whole group would decide to pray and fast in preparation for w itnes sing for the Lord. Girls also spent time praying in the chapel either individually or in sm all groups. My firs t experience at the Center was finding a girl kneeling in p ray er in the chapel where I was being shown the piano where I was to give the girls piano lessons. In many ways, the girls w ere constantly reminded to center their thoughts and feelings on Jesus as they joined together in religious observances. Even though m ost of the girls participated in these rituals, they might not be participating with the same degree of involvement. B e cause of this, the aura of unanimity that their collective actions sug gest m ay be deceptive. N evertheless, the facts that so many partiel-, pate and that even those who don't do not question the right of those who participate to perform the rituals suggests that the ritual behav ior has been accepted as a norm to govern the behavior of the group. Although many theories have been proposed to account for group behavior. T urner and Killian indicate that it can best be ex plained by the "em ergent norm approach. " An em ergent norm approach reflects the em pirical o b se r vation that the crowd is characterized not by unanimity but by differential expression, with different individuals in the crowd feeling differently, participating because of different m otives, and even acting differently.(Turner and Killian, 1972:22) The im portance of the em ergent norm approach to understanding the phenomenon of group participation in these rituals is in illustrating that the group behavior is not random. Rather, group behavior is 132 subject to social control under the em ergent norm. In such a context, the individual is im portant as an individual rath er than as a m em ber of a collectivity because only as his other identity is m aintained can the group exert effective social control, enforcing compliance with the em ergent norm . This control is especially powerful in a setting where all participants are known to one another. This theory of em ergent norm s is useful also in explaining the different ritual behaviors that were present at different tim es in the three year history of the group. Reports from girls who w ere r e s i dents at the center during the first period describe behavior that did not occur during the period in which the re se a rc h e r observed the p ro gram . F o r example, one girl reported that she couldn't stand "all that running around" and the ritual of "casting the Devil out" (i.e ., laying hands on the girl and praying to God that the Devil would leave her). There are two ritual experiences that m ark the full entry of the girl into the life and fellowship of the group. The first of these is w ater baptism . By this is m eant the im m ersion of the g irl in w ater by a m in ister of the church as he says "I baptize you in the name of the F ather, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. " This represents the g irl's public declaration of her faith in Christ, and may be done at a church with a baptistry (in winter) or at a lake (in sum m er). Although Klapp recognizes this ritual as "a crucial point of identity change in which the new m em ber enters into full devotee status" (Klapp, 1969:167), w ater baptism does not have the significance for this group that the 133 "baptism of the sp irit" does, I know that w ater baptism is practiced because I have seen group pictures taken at an outdoor baptism al service, and I learned that a baptism al service had taken place at a church when the chaplain asked a girl, in my presence, how she wanted her name printed on the baptism al certificate. When I attem p ted to get m ore inform ation about it from the girl, she said, "Yes I was baptized last Sunday" but she did not want to discuss it. In ad dition, I have never heard w ater baptism referred to by girls in their testim onies or as they discuss th eir C hristian experience with each other. However, from the snapshots taken at the outdoor baptism , it is evident that it was a very emotional group ritual experience. Speaking in Tongues Of far m ore significance to them as the crucial point of identity change is the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" or the "gift of tongues. " In fact, this is what they refer to when they ask, "Have you received the baptism?" F or many of the g irls, the occasion on which they received the baptism is the m ost momentous in their lives. One day I heard a girl on the phone telling her brother what it had been like: She told him that sev eral Christian, ladies laid their hands on h er. She said she had no idea of what to do, but they said she should just open her mouth and let her tongue sta rt talking. She did and she said, 'It was a weird ex perience — sounds started coming out — I couldn't under stand what I was saying and the ladies couldn't either. ' She told h er brother that a m inister once said, 'It is demeaning to be saying things you yourself can't under stand, but you offer it as a gift to God since it is His gift to you. ' L 134 Other girls described their experiences in this way: I never heard of the Holy Spirit until I got it. At New Hope people would always say, 'If you have a pray er language — speak in it' and I was always going to go to them to have them teach me how to speak in tongues. Then one night I went to this place and they said if anyone had never spoken in tongues they should go up front — and I did. I got saved and that was all, and he told me to read John and I did.(In terview) Question: Have you received the baptism? Yes, five months ago. It was at p ray er - someone was praying in chapel and sounds started coming out of my mouth but I held it back because I didn't want to speak it. So I didn't talk for a long tim e, but one day I started talk ing and the Devil m akes you feel like you are making it up and stuff - but I kept talking anyway and one time the Lord showed me that I w asn't making it up but that He was doing it so now I'm just getting back to speaking it m ore and m ore, but I still think its just me talking it - but I say, whatever. Question: How does it make you feel when you speak in tongues ? Does it make you feel any different? Som etim es, ya - it does - it makes me stronger. Some tim es I can't see it - but it does - it works. (Interview) Question: When did you receive the baptism ? How did it happen? We were praying down in the chapel and it really just came over me. They w ere praying in tongues and all of a sudden I started praying in tongues. It just came over me - I didn't ask someone to pray with m e, and I hadn't read the Word about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It w asn't too soon after that that we started studying about it. It was really beautiful because I just glowed and I really felt good and a peace and a joy and everything. I started going through a lot of things and all of a sudden a lot of trials started com ing and I know it was the L ord's strength that gave me vic tory through it because at any other time I wouldn't have been abot to go through those things. It is the power - I think everyone needs the baptism of the Spirit because it gives you the power to live and otherw ise you are just liv ing in the flesh.(Interview) A staff m em ber described how she received the baptism before com - 135 ing to New Hope; I was living with some college friends who attended an A ssem bly of God church. The m eetings were so wild and noisy I was shocked and I wouldn't let anyone lay hands on me to receive the baptism . I decided that if it was going to come, it m ust come from God Him self and in a way I could accept. I started reading books on speaking in tongues so I could understand it. At the close of a meeting I went forward and I just started speak ing in tongues - as easily as I am talking with you. After this experience I felt a fullness and richness - a reality in life I had never known before and I wanted to serve the Lord. F o r me it was a peaceful solem n experience that I knew was true - not a freaky one. Then I was s a t isfied and didn't have to search anymore. (Interview) Many of those who have received "the baptism , " feel that with out it they wouldn't be able to make it in their fight against drugs: I believe that for me, if I hadn't received the baptism of the Spirit, I wouldn't have been able to cope or have v ic tory in anything.(Interview) I got baptized with the Spirit last Thursday - now it is easie r to say 'no'. (Fieldnotes) Question: How does it help you when you pray in tongues? I can! t answ er that - I know it does though, but I don't really know how because when you pray in the Spirit, the Spirit prays for you for exactly what you need and you don't even know what you need. It's hard to explain. It's an assurance too because it is from God. It is comforting too because I know I am getting through.(Interview) Then when I got to New Hope everyone there prayed in the Spirit and so I learned a lot. . . It has really helped me - I guess it is because you pray about things you don't know about. I always pray in the Spirit now whenever I have any trouble or I don't know how to pray or something is bothering me and I don't know what it is - I pray in the Spirit and the Spirit of the Lord helps m e. This has helped me stay off drugs because the baptism gives you power in your life. Kids who don't receive the baptism don't make it.(Interview) 136 I got to know the Lord better during the two months I was there. I hadn't known the experience of the Holy Spirit before. I received it while there. Speaking in tongues is of g reat help to m e. My husband likes to gamble - like a fever. I pray about it in tongues and I stay home now when he goes gambling because if I go he thinks it is all right. Now he hasn't gambled for a month.(Interview) F or the m ost part, when girls or staff m em bers speak in tongues^ it is in a soft undem onstrative way. Speaking in tongues is usually a private act of worship; when someone speaks in tongues in a public meeting it usually occurs during a highly emotional p art of the m e et ing. For example, following a group meeting in which everyone had prayed for help in resisting tem ptation while at home for the Thanks giving weekend, the entire group stood in a circle holding hands. The group leader prayed in norm al language but during the quiet time prayed in tongues occasionally. Two of the girls also prayed in ton gues - very quietly repeating certain syllables over and over. There was not attem pt to make an interpretation of the tongues. In this con text, speaking in tongues is considered to be an act of highest worship to God. Usually the person praying in tongues does not a ttract attention to herself, and several could be praying at the sam e tim e. Most persons who have observed speaking in tongues state that each person has his own style of speaking and does not change his pattern. The syllables are usually repeated in a rhythm ical sing-song fashion. On one occasion, a girl from a Catholic background sang in a beautiful soft chant throughout the entire half hour of group p ray er. Words such as "allelulia" could be heard, but usually she used non-English 137 syllables. At the same tim e, others were also praying in English or in tongues. The directo r of the Center specifically did not want wild em o tional services because as one graduate explained: They tried to keep a tight rein on the use of speaking in tongues and healing because many of the kids had been on acid and tend to hallucinate anyway - so they tried to keep a tight rein on emotionalism.(Interview) Another leader also expressed caution and said: The Bible teaches that if a person speaks in tongues there should be interpretation, and if we want to get involved in spiritual gifts it is all right, but they should be kept in their place. Submission to God is the secret of peace and joy, rath er than the use of a gift,(Fieldnotes) However, one staff m em ber felt that there was some benefit to noisy uncontrolled intensely emotional meetings with "everyone hanging from the chandeliers. " He said, "They need a little of that, especial ly at first, to get them w arm ed up" (Fieldnotes). Graduates of the program who rem ain Pentecostals seem to r e tain this preference for the quiet use of speaking in tongues because after they leave the Center many of them attend F oursquare Chruches that also disapprove of noisy uncontrolled services. One g irl d e s cribed h er experience at an uncontrolled church: We went to one church, but it was so noisy I was frightened - it was awful.(Interview) The P restig e H ierarchy Those who speak in tongues a re accorded a Hgher prestige at 138 New Hope than those who don't; in fact, it is the apex of the institu tional hierarchy. Based on my observations I noted the following hierarchy of spiritual status going from those lowest in prestige to those with the highest prestige; 1. G irl new to program ; resistant, 2. New to program but attempting to learn. 3. G irl identifies self as a new believer. 4. G irl responds with the phrase "P raise the Lord" to a variety of situations. 5. G irl receives w ater baptism . 6. G irl raises hands in p ray er during singing or p rayer time. 7. G irl speaks in tongues in public meetings as evidence of the baptism of the Spirit (Fieldnotes). Newcomers look upon those who speak in tongues as leaders. At the close of one chapel service during the group prayer period, Robbie prayed in tongues. A fter the service was over, I heard one girl say to her, "Thank you, Robbie, I knew the Lord would have you pray for us" (Fieldnotes). This hierarchy of status is especially useful to the girl new to the program who seeks a role model so that she can learn the required behaviors. However, the staff also use this same prestige rating scale in selecting girls for special privileges such as going on school team or giving testim onies in public m eetings. 139 In contrast to the lack of talk about w ater baptism is the amount of talk about baptism in the Spirit, both in a serious way and m ore casually. Here is an example of alight-hearted reference to the bap tism ; It was reported to me that one girl had received the baptism in the Spirit at a Sunday evening church service, and it had made such a change in her. A few days later she came out of a chapel service during which one g irl had received the baptism after the leader had laid hands on her head and prayed. She was singing, 'Glory, glory, glory - someone touched m e. ' Then she said, ' The Holy Spirit touched m e' and was reach ing out to touch a staff m em ber, she said 'I'll give you some of my Holy Ghost thrills.' (Filednotes) Another indication that speaking in tongues is central to the New Hope worship experience is the number of anecdotes that are told as p art of witnessing or instructional or devotional talks which describe situations in which a p ray er language was used: I attended a chapel service held in the living room. Various kids gave testim onies of how the Lord was helping them. Robbie gave an example of how being in the Spirit helped. She said that she and her fiancee were driving near the mountains and the car overheated. H er fiancee opened the rediator and w ater gushed up. She said, 'Satan tried to get him in the face, but just his hand was burned. ' She said they prayed half an hour in the Spirit and all pain left and there was no evidence of a burn.(Fieldnotes) The collective excitation that results from group worship ex periences provides an emotionally charged m ilieu condusive to change. However, change would not occur and be sustained unless less em o tional elem ents w ere also a p art of the program -discipline and in struction in doctrine. 140 Testim onies The sharing of testim onies in group m eetings at the Center or at schools or public m eetings is another way that group m em bers a re bound together in a common purpose — "to share with others about my past life so they might not have to go through what I went through." G irls practice giving their testim onies until they can do it well and get the details organized in a meaningful way. F orm al Controls Acting in their role of "norm al sm iths" staff m em bers view rules and discipline as im portant to the ch aracter development of the person new in the C hristian faith. It was mentioned many tim es by both residents and staff that one of the m ain problem s of the girls is that they can't handle schedules and they have not developed a sense of responsibility and achievement. One g irl wrote that the m ost im portant thing she learned in the program was to accept discipline. Another said, "I needed the discipline, I didn't think I did, but I did." Some of the rules regarding smoking and appropriate d ress have already been discussed. Other rules that w ere strictly enforced were regarding boy-girl relationships. On one occasion meetings w ere called to restate the rules when it was learned that a g irl had split from the program after hearing that a boy who had split from the boys' program would not be allowed to return; When the staff came out of the meeting, Sam said the boys were having a separate meeting and all the girls w ere to come to a m eeting. All the staff except the male counse- 141 lors, attended the girls* meeting, Sam said they w eren't being prudish, but they did not want the fellows and girls socializing except a t the tim es provided. He said that the fellows had only one month at the Center and they needed to 'make it with the L o rd ' during that time or they wouldn't get along at the Castle where there is much less su p e r vision, He said the girls had only six months to get their lives centered on the Lord and this is no time to get mixed up in boy-girl relationships. He said that they had been doing that all their lives and hadn't been very successful as evidenced by the fact that they had ended up in a drug- rehabilitation program . He said they couldn't concentrate on the Lord and what He had to teach them if they were only thinking about the boys, Sam said the boys and girls would be together in classes, chapel, and m eals, but as soon as the activity was over, the boys were to return to their residence and the girls w ere not to be there, Sam also said that the girls w ere not to tem pt the fellows by leaving their bedroom windows open after they w ere in nightgowns or by w earing d resses that w ere too short. He said, 'After all they are men, and the sight of a girl in a short d ress or nightgown does something to a man. ' He said they should save them selves for the m an of their dream s who would come at the right time, (Fieldnotes) One g irl rem arked at the close of the m eeting that she wished the boys hadn't returned to this local Center because it had caused so many problem s and made the rules so much m ore strict. Another are a of life that was closely supervised was the p e r form ance of the daily housekeeping jobs to which each g irl was a s signed, These duties w ere seen as an im portant m eans of learning discipline and responsibility because some girls had never been made to do any kind of regular work before they came to the Center, and they didn't know how to organize their time: The discipline of the program helped me the m ost. I was so disorganized. The set schedules organized my time m ore. (Interview) 142 I need to have to be made to do things. The hardest part when I firs t go here was having rules and regulations. I just blew it every time I was told to do every little thing. (Interview) Question: Is there anything they could have taught you in the program that would help you now? Discipline - self-discipline. It's the m ost im portant thing. I was never disciplined at reading the Bible. That's the problem with my whole life - I was never disciplined at anything. (Interview) One staff m em ber told the girls that if they helped with the work they would appreciate the program m ore because,"You value what you work for. " In response to the question, "What was helpful to you in the program ?" one girls w rote, "The Bible class and the clean-up work. It proved to me I'm not lazy and that I was useful" (Question naire). The rules and discipline were not always pleasant, and there w ere many com plaints, but many of the girls rationalized rules they couldn't understand nor accept, such as the rule that only a particular staff m em ber could answ er the pay phone. They said this was the L ord's way to teach them how to submit and be obedient. One ex addict staff m em ber told the girls that just sticking out the program gives the person confidence they can stick out different situations. If a person thinks he can never make it here but sticks it out to find out how real God can be and what a difference it makes to turn your life over to God, then he has learned something. (Fieldnotes) D isciplinary action, although it was probably resented fiercely at the tim e it was adm inistered, was the factor that forced some girls to seriously consider how they wanted to live life — whether to keep 143 on gaming and pretending or to live for the Lord: I got kicked out for smoking for 3U days. When I came back, I decided I was going to straighten up. I really gave my heart to the Lord after I cam e back because the first four months here didn't m ean anything to me because I could care less then - I was ju st putting in time.(Interview) I got kicked out for 30 days because I came back loaded from a weekend. I just rebelled and felt crushed. I ju st left and kept getting loaded for a week, but I cam to grips with the Lord and said even if I have to go to jail, I have to get right with Him. Then I came back to the Center, I didn't have to go to jail, but I had to wait three weeks with my parents to see if I could still make it and come back twice a week. I made itl That was the best thing that ever happened to me because I had to come to grips with the Lord outside of the Center. My parents and my little bro ther got saved during that tim e. I feel that this was something that had to happen in my life. I knew consciously that this was where it was at, but I had to develop a sense of the Lord and to know that I was really a new creatu re, and in those weeks I knew that I was no longer p art of that stuff.- that I had been literally transform ed on the inside and I couldn't take p art in those things any longer. (Interview) I didn't quit smoking the whole tim e I was there and that's why they asked me to leave. They didn't put me out on the streets, but they knew I liked a certain chapel and so I went from New Hope to the girl.'s home and that is where I really made the decision I w asn't going to play gam es anym ore. Like the night before I left New Hope - it was such a battle because I was mad that I had gotten kicked out, I deserved it, but the way it happened, I resented it and I felt like just going out and blowing it again. I really had to battle to stay in the dorm that night - but I stayed and it really helped me a lot. It taught m e a lot - it was the Lord. It taught me you can't play gam es with the Lord, and that's what I was doing and that I had to make a choice one way or the other - to go on being a C hristian or to play games and still be liv ing my own life.(Interview) It would be hard to say which of the aspects of the program was m ost im portant in producing change because all work together sim ul taneously and each m akes its own contribution. However, in exam in 144 ing the responses girls gave to the question, "What aspects of the program were especially helpful to you?" the successful graduates stated that in retrospect, the Biblical instruction had had great value for them. The Bible studies provided the structure on which to locate the emotional and relational experiences that the program provided: these are excerpts from the g irls' questionnaire responses: Going to church and talking to somebody who cared - the fellowship, Bible study, church activities, and sharing C hrist with others - ju st being saturated in C hrist. The Bible studies. P ra ise In's and the concern of the staff for m e. The Bible studies in the morning. Chapel was a beautiful experience for me and also the tim es I was able to le arn from our supervisors and chaplain and to know they loved us. The chapel services every morning and the Bible studies and the work and the Bible readings and the sharing s e r vices where we went to different churches. All of these things taught me discipline. Bible study and chapel. Bible class and the clean-up work. The Bible classes made me understand the Word better. 'Group' helped me face m yself as I really was. Bible study and chapel w ere a help. But it seem ed after the first four months I was there, it was all repeat. I w asn't learning much that was new. Of course, the Lord was teaching me a lot in my own life, but I lacked deeper teaching - I just hungered and thirsted to learn m ore. The discipline, love, and counseling. The love and understanding and C hristian teachings. Group living and sharing; Bible study; fellowship (con stant). 145 The concentrated Bible studies and chapel everyday - also the love, patience, and understanding of the leaders. Some of the Bible studies were helpful. The p ray er and share, chapel, Bible raps, and P ra is e - Ins really helped. Also m em ory v erses are extrem ely essential for spiritual survival. There were a variety of form al and inform al religious training sessions at New Hope. One d irecto r em phasized the im portance of Biblical instruction; This is the fear of the Lord - to seek after knowledge and wisdom. You can't be double minded if you are to receive anything from the Lord - you need to really seek Him with your whole m ind.(Fieldnotes) In addition to form al Bible study classes, religious instruction was given in serm ons at chapel services or at P raise-In s. F o r example, Sam explained the meaning of the phrase, "P raise the Lord" at a P raise-In; We need to p raise Him for his m ercy, for the way He is working in our lives, for His protection and provision, for His m ajesty. As long as we live we need to praise Him because God wants to be praised. We need to let the phrase 'P ra is e the Lord' be the expression of our hearts,(S erm on transcription) There was also much individual religious instruction given during counseling sessions as can be seen from these notes; I explained the need to grow in C hrist and to learn how to walk as a C hristian while here. She had spoken in tongues on one occasion but is seemingly quite ignorant of Him and the purpose of the baptism . I explained some things concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit. She is hungry and I feel she will receive 146 soon. I hope she will continue here long enough to get spiritually established. I encouraged her to p ress in privately as well as in the group fellowship which she does real well. She is free in the language of the Spirit and seem s very sincere at really making it with the Lord. She voluntarily talked about h er spiritual growth esp e cially her experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. She was encouraged to seek freedom in tongues. However, in the final analysis, all the program can do is pro vide the opportunity to le arn and change. It is the response of the girl to what is presented that produces change, which is probably why voluntary adm ission shows a higher success rate than involun tary adm ission. In a chapel service this admonition was given: You have to be out and out for Jesus C hrist. You have to come to the place where you want everyone to know you a re a C hristian and say 'I'm not playing games or hiding any punches. I want my parents to know - I want everyone to know.' If you sneak home and think you are going to sneak in the back way and be a sweet guy or girl, you a re going to have problem s. But if you make a stand and say, 'I'm not living for the world anym ore - I'm living for Jesus C hrist, ' that is 90% of the battle. You have a lot of struggles and problem s because you don't make a clear cut decision for C hrist.(Serm on transcription) Many girls have expressed this sam e idea; The program gives you what you need, but you can't just come in here and expect the Lord to just come boom on you. You have to be willing to try and give yourself to the Lord and help Him along because H e's not going to just do it. You have to come to a decision of whether you're going to serve Him or not.(Interview) At first I was just playing gam es. I thought, ' You can sit anything out. ' But if you do that you get m ore m is erable and hom esick. I didn't really want to get changed. That is why I called m y parents to get m e out of here 147 because I knew if I didn't get out I would be changed and there was something in me that didn't want that. But once I gave it completely over and submitted and let my self get changed - I am happier and people tell me I have changed. (Interview) Success in the Program When a girl "went all the way with the Lord" she experienced anew view of the world and a new view about herself. At least for the time, she had found the "summum bonum" and was confident of her position in Christ so that no other way of life was considered. At the time of leaving the program the girl no longer appeared to be ex periencing alternation. Her questions about what was right or wrong were resolved and she was able to interpret her former life from the perspective of this world view. Girls described in detail the changes that had occurred in their thought patterns and attitudes since entering the program: My mouth was cleaned up - physically I'm cleaned up and I don't - well I do have the desire to smoke once in a while - it's no big thing though. The inward change was the most important and lasting - the way that I think, re act to situations. My expressions are much different and it's like someone has taken your brain out and put in a new one, but you still have a little bit of hang-up. Question; Do you attribute this to a supernatural power that has changed you or a mind or matter type thing, you know - a psychological thing? It wasn't a psychological thing - if it wasn't for believing I was delivered, I never would have been delivered from saying and doing the things I used to do. I think it is more spiritual than anything. (Interview) The program has kept me off drugs. It made me see the no good value in them - how they can really hurt you. It's 148 opened my eyes to see what life is really about instead of just some phantasy. It's opened every good thing in life that I can see where before I didn't ever see them like the fun you can have and the fun things of this sort.(Interview) Once when I went on school team, it was with college kids and I was only saved for 2^ months, and it was really weird. I used to be in the position with the kids saying, 'There's nothing really wrong with dope and getting loaded and it doesn't affect your mind. ' Instead I was saying^ 'But I know now that it does. I was in your position 2g- months ago until I found the truth.' (Interview) Wow, I've changed so much - well, the Lord has changed me. My whole personality has changed. Question; When you think of yourself, do you think of your self, do you think of yourself as being an ex- doper? No. I think of myself as a totally new person. The other person that I was isn't real. I mean, it was reat at one time, but I have nothing to do with that person. That per son's dead and I have a totally new life now. (Interview) I can't imagine I did things like that. I used to think I can't be changed - that I won't be having any fun. But we are new creatures. My attitude and everything has changed, and now everything I did before is a drag and now even the simple things I'm doing now are so neat - even looking at the stars. You notice these things when you are off drugs. Everything becomes so meaningful. You're so free to do everything. It was neat to sing in front of a bunch of police men at City Hall and to know there was nothing to be afraid of because I'm on the right side of the law now. (Interview) It's the little things I learned at New Hope that really count. I learned that I had to give a lot of myself to other people, and that really caught me because I was - we all are basi cally very selfish people - so I learned that nothing was mine but because God gave it to me. Also before I didn't like people - I was always very much in my own world and I got to get along with people and share their problems and feel what they feel. I forgot all about myself and concen trated on other people. I learned this by living with ten other girls in the dorm - you have no privacy, so you learn that you can't get up in a grouchy mood and go, 'Hey, I don't dig you. ' You learn that you can't do just what you want to do. At first I was always in a bad mood, but people took time and cared about me. When someone loves you, you defenses drop. I said, 'If she loves me. 149 how could she be trying to hurt me, so I started being friendly with people. (Interview) I learned how to control my tem per - how to live with other people and get along with them a little better. My attitude was really bad - I just wanted to by my own boss, and I always thought I knew what I wanted and what was right. I was m ean to my family and didn't look up to any body. The Lord has made me to be concerned about other people's problem s - not just m y own. My attitude toward life has changed, and I'm m ore patient and understanding than I used to be. Also my attitude toward my parents has changed. When I went home it was com pletely different because I was letting the Lord work in my life. My parents didn't have to tell me to do anything - I just did it because if you do things as unto the Lord, like to your parents, it is a lot easier to do it because you're doing it to the Lord. And I loved my parents and showed my love to them and it w asn't me always saying 'No, I'm not going to do what you tell me,' and we got along really good,(Interview) F or the m ost part, the girls were very pleased with the behavior and attitudes they observed in them selves. They saw them selves as being totally changed persons; My life has changed in every respect. My pleasures a re not my pursuit now. I put C hrist firs t in everything. I'm happy for the first tim e, and I like m yself. I no longer act on im pulse. I discipline m yself in everything. I love people and life, (Questionnaire) I can look back and see how I used to act and I think about how I was even when I was here and I can see how many changes God has brought about in my life and I think I'm a pretty good person - not being self-righteous or anything because that is how God made m e. I'm pretty happy with my life and I'm really glad all these changes came about. There are still things in my life I don't like, but they a re n 't big things like when I firs t came to New Hope. Now I feel at peace with myself,(Interview) I gave my testim ony two weeks ago and I said if they had ' told m e seven months ago that I would be holding a Bible now, I would have told them they w ere carzy because I never thought I would be in the position I am now or even that I could be used by God. It's all to the L ord's glory. 150 Without Him, I could never have amounted to anyting or been anything. I was bound by drugs. I loved drugs, but He loved me and came to me and saved me. (Interview) She said whatever I had, she wanted it because you know, God has changed my life. He has taken that hatred and put love and understanding so I am able to share with others. My whole outlook is completely different now. I've gotten really personal with my nephews and I tell them what God has done. I shared with a lot of people and I said, ' You know, you couldn't have changed me, my m other couldn't - not even the love I had for my son could have changed my life. But when Jesus came into my life He did the changing - my way of thinking, the feelings I used to go on, the d istru st I had. I w asn't ever a follower - I always was a leader and now the Lord has humbled me so that I’m starting off as a follower. P raise Godi ' (Interview) ' We still see our old friends, but we don't get loaded. I'm sure we both in our minds have had trouble getting d e pressed or feeling down and wanting to get loaded, but we don't. Most of our friends don't come by to see us, but when they do, it is usually because they have had prob lem s, and a couple of them have accepted the Lord but have gone back. They're really scared of us. It's really weird because I think we a re a lot m ore fun to be around now - we are out-going now-but it is that fear of the un- known.(Interview) Many people do not know about my past (my em ployer, for example) and it has gotten to the point where hep kids now take me for being straight. P ra ise the Lord! He gives me the darndest ways of witnessing. I never thought I would be so straight and like it. My drug past seem s like a bad d ream .(P erso n al letter) Because of this new experience of living as C hristians, girls said that their desire for drugs was gone; You reach a point in your life where you know you just don't want drugs anym ore. I know that I don't. I'm not tempted with drugs anym ore, w hereas before it was a great tem pta tion for me, and I'd get really depressed. Now I don't want drugs. (Interview) 151 Now the sm ell or sight of drugs m akes me sick. However, if I am depressed or not walking with the Lord, I think about using. But praise God, I never do. The hardest thing is to stop thinking like a user, the talk, the w ariness. (Question naire) As far as drugs, I just don’t have any problem with them. It was hard for me to give up smoking when I came here - I was smoking two packs of Camels a day - and I said 'Lord, you took my drug habit away, now take my d esire for sm ok ing away. ' I would be in places where people are smoking and I'd either have to get away or the tem ptation would be too great. So I would go away - the Lord gave me that way to escape.(Interview) I never thought I would be a C hristian - it was such a stru g gle at the beginning. I’m glad I am though because I wouldn't have made it if I w eren't a Christian. I know I would be out on the stre e t with a needle in my arm . I know I would be - or dead. I know the world says, 'Once an addict - always an addict' but I don't even have a desire for drugs and as a m atter of fact, I feel uneasy around them - not because I'm afraid I m ight want to try it or something - but (laughing) they a re kind of repulsive to m e. My way of life has changed so much. I'm not putting them down because I know their situation - I've been there - but once you know the truth, you feel like grabbing them and shaking them and saying, ' Why don't you see. Wake up! ' But you don’t reach them that way - there is no way you can reach them. The Lord has to.(Interview) My friends thought it was pretty cool - me being changed. Most of them said I was a nice person being straight b e cause half of them had never even seen me when I was sober or straight, and they didn't even know who I was. They ju st said I was a different person and I think I am a different person than I used to be. The Lord has really changed m e. I used to get really super loaded and that was just so I could face people or talk to them.(Interview) I had a very bad tem per and many other im m ature habits. New Hope showed me the C hristian way to handle these things and take care of these habits. I do not take drugs now and m ost of those old habits are gone. I do not want to ever get loaded again, and I know I never will. I have no doubt about it. A fter tasting the C hristian life of s e r vice to Jesus, I know I could never go back. Jesus has been too good to me.(Questionnaire) 152 Question: How do you know you a re ready to leave the program ? Being here six months we got a chance to go home once a month and I know when I can go back to my town and not want to see any of my old friends and not want to get loaded and when I sta rt looking for new things to do and sta rt tak ing m ore steps to get ahead - then I feel I'm ready to leave, (Interview) Change Outcomes Counselors and other staff m em bers w ere concerned with the type of change a girl experienced while in the prog ram and their eval uations of the g irls' responses w ere usually recorded in the g irl's file. By far the g reatest m ajority of the girls w ere seen by staff m em bers as falling into the cooperative category: 60,9% of the girls w ere felt to be cooperative in the program , 16. 5% w ere seen as non- committed, and 22. 6% w ere described as rebellious (see Table Five). F o r the subgroup who stated that they entered the program to increase their faith or because they wanted to change, the percentage of girls who w ere judged to be cooperative is even g reater: 84 percent for those who wished to increase th eir faith, and 65 percent for those who desired to change (see Table Six). It is interesting to note that the percentages of those who fin ished the program or left with the perm ission of the staff as com pared with those who split from the program closely approxim ates the percentages found for those three types of experience in the p ro gram : 62. 1% finished the prog ram or left with perm ission and 37.9% split or w ere expelled. Seventy-seven percent either becam e C h ris tians while in the program or had been C hristians before entering the 153 TABLE FIVE Response to P ro gram Cooperative 70 60.9% Not .Committed 19 16.5% Rebellious 26 22. 6% Missing O bservations - 3 TABLE SIX Response to P ro g ram by Reason Given for Entering the P ro gram RSP Increase Faith D esire Change Forced Row Total Cooperative 26 39 4 69 83.9 65. 0 19. 0 61.6 Not Committed 4 10 5 19 12. 9 16. 7 23. 8 17.0 Rebellious 1 11 12 24 3. 2 18. 3 57. 1 21.4 Column Total 31 60 21 112 27. 7 53. 6 18. 8 100. 0 M issing O bservations - 6 program . In spite of this high percentage who professed to be C h ris tian, only 60. 9% w ere felt to be cooperative by the staff, but 83. 5% (N= 86) of the girls felt that the program had been of help to them. This discrepancy between success in the program viewed from the perspective of the resident m ay indicate that each group had distinct ways of m easuring benefit derived from the program . However, this 154 opinion changed over time and at the time data w ere collected, only 53 or 74. 6% of the respondents felt that the program had helped them. Since there w ere 47 girls for whom inform ation was not available, it is possible that the percentage of those who no longer felt the program had been helpful might be considerably lower since it is m ore likely , that those who did not respond to the request for inform ation had less positive views about the extent to which the program had been of help to them. The overall response of girls who entered the program volun tarily rath er than being placed there by the courts was somewhat m ore positive as can be seen in Table Seven. Of the voluntary ad m is sions, 75.9% were thought to be cooperative w hereas only 47. 5% of the probation placem ents w ere considered to be cooperative. Of the 115 girls for whom inform ation was available, 70 w ere judged to be cooperative, 19 not com m itted and 26 w ere rebellious. However, 78.9% (N = 15) of those who w ere not committed and 65.4% (N = 17) of those who w ere rebellious w ere probation placem ents. Although it was anticipated that girls who entered the program as voluntary adm issions would be m ore receptive to the teachings of the program as evidenced by claiming to be a Christian, in actuality, m ost of the girls who rem ained in the program over nine days p ro fessed to accept C hrist (see Table Eight). In addition, there was no difference in the group who had entered voluntarily from those p ro bated by the courts in their opinion about whether the program had helped them or not. RSP 155 TABLE SEVEN Response to P ro g ram by Type of A dm ission Voluntary Probation Row Total Cooperative Not Committed Rebellious Column Total Missing O bservations - 3 TABLE EIGHT Type of A dm ission by C hristian Experience . ^ C hristian Not C hristian Row Total ADM Voluntary Probation 41 29 70 75.9 47. 5 60.9 4 15 19 7.4 24. 6 16. 5 9 17 26 16. 7 27. 9 22. 6 54 61 115 47. 0 53.0 100. 0 Column Total Missing Observations - 4 45 9 54 51. 1 34. 6 47. 4 43 17 60 48.9 65.4 52. 6 88 26 114 77. 2 22.8 100. 0 Yes No Row Total 43 8 51 50. 0 47. 1 49. 5 43 9 52 50. 0 52. 9 50. 5 86 17 103 83. 5 16. 5 100. 0 156 T A B L E NINE Type of A dm ission by Opinion about Help Received from P ro g ram ADM Voluntary Probation Column Total M issing Observations - 15 What these tables m ean is that m ost of the girls who entered the program either on a voluntary basis or by being probated w ere willing to cooperate with the requirem ents of the program which included giv ing evidence of being saved and participating in the religious worship practices. By doing this, they were successfully meeting one of the short te rm goals of the program which was sum m arized by a staff m em ber in this way: "All we can hope to do in such a short tim e is get them saved and filled with the Holy Spirit" (Fieldnotes). In order for this to happen, the girls need to cooperate emotionally and intel lectually with the religious training program that was provided. As an outcome of accepting the religious ideology and discipline of the Center, the girls w ere also helped to stop using drugs or cigarettes thus fulfilling the p rim ary goal of the program - to stop using drugs. When the total group is considered, only 22.6% (N = 26) w ere 157 actually judged to be rebellious. This same sh o rt-te rm positive r e sponse to the m essage of the program was noted by Johnston (1973) who studied a sim ilar program . He found that male heroin addicts in a Teen Challenge program rapidly changed their self-im age and views about drugs as a result of conversion to C hrist and accordingly their views of drug taking as sin. However, he found that the change so rapidly acquired was not maintained (see discussion in Chapter II)• Therefore, it is possible for an organization to accom plish its short te rm goals successfully, but fail in its long te rm goals. It can be seen that whether the girl entered the program as a voluntary adm ission either by her own choice or because of p re ssu re from her fam ily to get rehabilitated, or whether she was placed at New Hope by the courts (often at her request), the participation in the program made her rethink her fo rm er way of life and enter into a new type of life that she considered to be better. F or those who accepted the C hristian m essage, the answ ers to the basic questions of life had been resolved for them at the tim e they left the program . F or those who did not experience a complete identity change, a new way of life had been shown them and some felt that this had been of benefit even though they had not been able to adopt it for them selves. Even though the number who rebelled at the discipline and en forced Biblical instruction was sm all, there w ere many girls who w ere not able to participate fully in the group worship practices and did not experience the w arm th and concern described above. Some 158 of the environm ental and sociological factors which kept the institution from being therapeutic for every girl are discussed in the next chap te r. CHAPTER VII IMPEDIMENTS TO CHANGE New Hope is not only a Pentecostal fellowship group, it is also an institution of incarceration. Although many girls enter the p ro gram voluntarily and even those placed there by probation officers can split at any time since there are no locked doors, as long as the girl is "in the program " she is in a total institution, as described by Goffman: a place of residence and work where a large number of like- situatèd individuals cut off from the wider society for an ap preciable period of tim e, together lead an enclosed, fo rm al ly adm inistered round of life, (Goffman, 196l:xiii) A total institution differs from other institutions of m odern society in that the b a rrie rs which norm ally separate the activities of sleep, play, and work a re broken down so that "all aspects of life a re conducted in the same place and under the same authority" (Goffman, 1961:6). In the total institution, all residents are subject to rules and regulations which govern what they are to do and when, and these enforced a c tivities a re seen to accom plish the goal of the organization. The total institution is one way in which the g irl is enveloped in the "world" of Pente cos talism . it is difficult for many girls to adapt to the lack of freedom which they find when they enter the Center. F or example, the girls 159 160 are not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio or go for a walk unattended. One girl com m en ted : It is hard to adjust to being confined when you a re used to running around on the streets. (Interview) Although the total institution offers many advantages for con trolling the lives of the residents in a way designed to bring about positive change, the very fact that so much control is invested in one organization perm its the m isuse of power. Goffman says there are four m ajor im plications of this concentration of control: 1) When persons a re moved in blocks, they can be su p er vised by personnel whose chief activity is not guidance or periodic inspection, but rather surveillance - a seeing to it that everyone does what he has been clearly told is r e quired of him, under conditions where one p erson 's in frac tion is likely to stand out in relief against the visible con stantly examined compliance of the others. 2) In total institutions there is a basic split between a m an aged group. ..a n d a sm all supervisory staff. Each grouping tends to conceive of the other in narrow hostile stereotypes - staff often seeing inm ates as bitter, secretive, and u n tru st worthy while inm ates see staff as condescending, highhanded, and m ean. Staff tends to feel superior and righteous ; inm ates tend, in some ways at least, to feel inferior, weak, blam e worthy, and guilty. 3) Inmates of total institutions have their full day scheduled for them. Therefore all their essential needs are planned for. . . There will have to be different m otives for work and different attitudes toward it. 4) Total institutions are also incompatible with another crucial elem ent of our society, the family. The inmate can't sustain a meaningful dom estic existence. (Goffman, 1961:7-11) Staff - Inmate Relationships Because of the all pervading control of a residential rehabilita tion center, it m ight be anticipated, as Goffman has indicated that 161 the g reatest number of problem s would a rise in the exercise of con trol of staff over residents. Because of the expectations the girls had about the program , they w ere very disillusioned if the staff treated them in the institutionalized way described above by Goffman. They expected much m ore from the staff in term s of personalized loving treatm ent than they would have from caretak ers in a penal institution. The m ost common com plaint was sum m arized by girls in this way: The counselors should have m ore tim e for girls and make them selves m ore available to talk to the girls. (Question naire) The program could be m ore helpful with m ore staff to spend m ore tim e with you individually.(Questionnaire) Another graduate recognized this problem and offered h er suggestion as to what might help: I’d like to see some m in istry - one on one^- to the girls in the Center. I’d like to see some other girls go in there as p a rt tim e w orkers that really understand what it m eans to be a m inistering person - that really understand what it means to share Jesus - to m in ister to the girls because the staff at New Hope is very open to it because that is so healing, (Interview) It is generally agreed upon by staff, residents, and interested out siders that there needs to be m ore individual time available to the g irls. However, the staff feels that it is n ’t possible because the num b er of staff at any one tim e is lim ited by turnover and the financial constraints of the organization. Also, in my opinion, the staff is not. willing to accept outside help as the graduate quoted above believes ^By this is m eant that one girl from outside the Center be friends and counsels one of the residents. 162 because attem pts of rehabilitated addicts and sympathetic C hristian outsiders to volunteer their tim e for augmenting the counseling time available to each g irl have been m et with consistent lack of in terest and refusal of Llie offered help; I offered my help to them - but it just w asn’t accepted - it was open ended - I would help in anyway they could use m e. But it seem ed that my children w ere m ore of a problem to them than the benefits my help would be because I couldn’t go there with m y children. But I’m not the only one. Others have offered their help and they wouldn’t use them. And I know they need it because a few tim es I have gone there to talk to a friend who I had taken there and I was there only for a few hours and I talked to h er and they w ere hungry for someone to talk to and I just sat on the couch and talked to them and prayed with them.(Interview) A fter giving a few piano lessons, I found out that the group meeting for that evening had been cancelled. While I won dered what to do next, Sam came and asked me if I would talk to him for a few m inutes. His first question was, ’How do you think the group is going? ’ R ather than a n s wering his question, I asked him if he had had feedback from the girls about it. He said, ’ Yes, some of them think it is boring and of no value. ’ . . . I had the im pression that he doesn’t want to discontinue the group but also doesn’t want to continue it in the sam e way - with so much s e r monizing on his p a rt and so few contributions on the p art of the g irls. . . . (One week later) Sam said there would be no group meeting this evening. He said Steve and Stan wanted to lead the group and they had had a lot of ex p er ience in leading groups and had m ore tim e. The plans a re n ’t settled yet, but the meeting will probably be some other evening. . . (One week later) When talking to Sam, I also asked about the group m eetings. He said they were tem porarily suspended. He him self is too busy now (as director) and he doesn’t know for sure if Steve wants to lead them .(Fieldnotes) In talking to the proposed leaders, it appears that they w ere willing to give this service, but plans could never be worked out and they thought they w eren’t wanted in this capacity. The result was that 163 group meetings w ere not resum ed. A group of people interested in the New Hope program , both staff and outsiders, m et for a weekend conference to discuss the prob lems of the program . The discontinuation of the group m eetings was felt to be a serious problem ; It was the consensus of the group that it would be ideal if someone could spend an hour a week in counseling each girl, but this is very hard to do since there is always a change of staff. Outside reso urces w ere discussed. F or example, a psychologist from the New Hope denomination has offered to give tim e weekly for this purpose. How ever, it seem s that the staff fears having an outsider come in and lead a group or do individual counseling. (Fieldnotes) In addition to this m ajor problem of lim ited tim e available for counseling, participants in the p rogram have identified a number of other problem s in staff-resid ent relationships ; a lack of love towards the girls, a lack of understanding of th eir problem s, a lack of honest discussion of problem s, a b a r rie r raised by the authority status of the staff, the su perior attitude of the staff, and staff inconsistencies. A w arm , caring relationship is assum ed to set the clim ate in which learning and change can occur. However, not all girls ex perienced this; Before I entered New Hope, there was someone who loved me and accepted me just as I was - this is something I didn't find at New Hope. (Interview) The reason I made it like I did was because I was able to confide in the staff because I had been friends with them before. Many of the other girls are not able to do this. Therefore they confide in their friends - stre e t talk comes up and the urge to go get loaded comes from that. But if there w ere m ore people like girls who have completed the prog ram to talk with the girls it would be of great help. 164 They need other people there who have strong definite beliefs who don't preach doctrine but go to the basics - 'What is on your mind right now? What did you dream about last night? What's in your thoughts when you a re n 't in school? Can I help you? ' It takes a lot of time to find out what is on their minds right now. If you can help them realize there are going to be problem s upon problem s but that each one can be talked about and prayed about - but it has to be done personally. (Interview) Even when staff attem pted to be concerned and w ere vitally in terested in helping a girl, their attem pts w ere som etim es misguided because of their inability to understand the problem s of the girl. One young g irl said: There needs to be someone there the girls can really tru st - someone who's been through it or young enough to think like a young person. I would rath er have someone who knows how I feel than someone who it trying to learn.(Interview ) One g irl commented about a staff m em ber: Poor girl - no one can tell h er anything. She doesn't under stand anyone. (Interview) Others complained of the lack of ex-addict staff: I had a hard tim e talking to the staff that hadn't taken drugs. I would talk to them and they just say, ' You need to pray a- bout it' but they really didn't know what I was talking about. They told you to pray about it because what could they tell you - they didn't know what you w ere going through,(Inter- view) I think they should get someone in there that used to be a drug addict - like someone who has gone through the p ro gram . I know the Lord has used some of the counselors, but m ore people can relate to Risa than anyone else b e cause she has been through it all and she can relate to us. We got the attitude from the others. Well, you're a drug addict and w e're up here - I'm right and you're wrong. A person can't tell another about drugs if they have never taken them. Like som etim es we w ere down and wanted to 165 go out and fix or something and the staff didn't know our d e sire s, what they felt like and how strong they were and they so rt of put us down for ti. Also you could tell Risa anything. (Interview) To further com plicate the problem , residents came to the program already predisposed not to discuss anything of a personal nature with the staff because of their fear of anyone in authority: Because of the authority b a rrie r between girls and staff, the girls would talk to each other about problem s and that w asn't good. We would use stre e t talk and old ways of thinking which w ere a c a rry over from stre e t days. You never would con fide in anyone in authority - just your gang. In the program you need someone to talk to who is not in an authority p osi tion and isn 't responsible for enforcing rules and discipline. (Interview) One girl explained why younger girls often came to her: Rita and Rosie often came to me with their problem s because they knew I wouldn't spread them a round. (Interview) The basic split that exists between the managed group and the su p er visory staff can be seen in the change in relationship when a resident becam e a counselor: Look at Risa. She was in the program and was an addict and then becam e a counselor. But as soon as she became a counselor, the g irls w eren't as open with her, and she tried h er hardest to keep that from happening, but it hap pened anyway. (Interview) An im portant elem ent in the authority dichotomy p resent in the organization is the superior attitude of the staff, sim ilar to that d e s cribed by Goffman (1961). The authority dichotomy applies to both ex-addict staff recruited from participants in the program and the straight staff. The ability to supervise rath er than doing the work 166 changes the relationship between people: At Victorious Life (a drug rehabilitation program ) no one is called a counselor and the girls are much m ore free to talk. No one has any m ore privileges over the others. It would really help if New Hope was m ore like that but it is hard when there are so many g irls. . . I t is sim ilar to New Hope only in that it is C hristian. It is sm all and not so organ ized. The lady who runs it and h er husband have opened up their home so there are only about five girls at a tim e. It really helped m e. I learned a lot m ore there about being a C hristian than I did at New Hope because it related m ore to m e. I could see how C hristian family living is. While I was there I just gave com pletely over to the Lord and I was able to be used m ore - like I helped with the new g irls who came in and I was given m ore responsibility so that I felt useful like I hadn't at New Hope. The counse lors there do the sam e things as the other girls so there is a lot less conflict there. There a re no titles there and everyone is just a s is te r in the Lord and no one is the boss of anyone else. It is a lot m ore relaxed atm osphere. (Interview) Another graduate summed up this problem thus: When the program starts to be institutionalized and rigid, it loses its ability to help. It's got to be run on a family level and that takes full time com m itm ent - living there. They have to find those kind of people - otherw ise it's just survival - dealing with the physical and a little with the spiritual but nothing with the emotional. Community living is the essence of the program so that on a day to day basis, residents and staff can communicate with each other. (Interview) An even m ore serious aspect of the problem is when staff m e m b ers see them selves as better people than those they a re trying to help. One girl received this im pression of the staff: I think the New Hope staff looks down on drug addicts. They see them selves as superior and they stoop down to help the down and outer s. (Interview) Another girl felt that the staff and other girls looked down on h er be- 167 cause she was sick so often with colds since the im plication of being sick was that she didn't have enough faith to be healed. Instead of doing anything for her, they just prayed for her (Fieldnotes). The Problem of Superficial Change The lack of d irect understanding of the problem s of the addict led to a sense of unreality and dishonesty about the help offered. G irls made the following com m ents about their experiences in the program : The program could have been m ore real and related to what the real world is like. It was a protected and unreal place - I w asn't helped to m eet the problem s I had to face.(Q ues tionnaire) People w ere running around the place saying 'Ju st pray about it. ' I believe I had faith - I asked the Lord to take it (the d esire for heroin) from m e. I was serious, but it didn't happen so they would just w rite us off saying we w eren't serious. We should be told it takes a period of tim e for the d esire to leave. O therw ise we think we are hopeless. They should have testim onies about people falling and still having cravings but that the Lord is w ork ing. Then we would have had m ore reality and fewer gam es. They need people seriously talking with the girls that its really hard and it takes tim e. Sometimes I would go up and lay hands on and would say, 'C ast the Devil out. ' That made me mad - like I had a devil in m e. That made me feel bad,(Interview) One person who had a very intimate knowledge of the g irls' response to the program felt that the superficiality of the program contributed to dishonesty: One of the biggest problem s is that kids a re forced to do things that they a re n 't really ready to and that the Lord w asn't dealing with them about, and so superficially they 168 seem to be conforming and doing well in the program , but there was no real change,(Interview) The problem of superficial change is m ore serious than the game playing that many girls have mentioned because in this case the girl really thinks she is changed and she doesn't recognize the change as conformity to standards imposed from outside herself. An even m ore subtle form of this problem is when a g irl expects m ore of h erself than the institution does. In a case like this she is trying to become spiritual by im itation and ends up over-acting: A girl who had become a C hristian one week before e n te r ing New Hope was talking to a counselor at m eal tim e about h er spiritual growth during her second week in the program . She said that she was really trying - that she had been able to speak in tongues several tim es, but had been unable to p raise God by singing during the p ray er time last week a l though she said God had told h er to. She told her about e a rlie r experiences she had in a Pentecostal church where speaking in tongues had been ignorantly done (i. e. loud and boisterous with no control) and carried to excess, and she said she was trying to feel differently about it. Several weeks la ter she talked to another staff m em ber who told h er 'You can't force yourself to become s p ir itual all at once - it comes gradually as you learn m ore about God. ' She agreed that this was true and said she had stopped trying to make h erself act religious, like speaking in tongues, and that she w asn't pushing h e r self to get spiritual gifts anym ore,(Fieldnotes) Perhaps the g reatest disillusionm ent cam e if a g irl who had been struggling with a drug problem later observed staff or girls who had been leaders in the program using drugs on the outside. Several girls mentioned incidents like this: I feel silly about when I was there - I wanted to make it so much. They had me go testify. I loved it - I ate it up. It 169 was my ego. I didn't say I was healed - I said I wouldn't leave until I was strong enough to make it, but I was tr y ing to chip on the side. I feel that if someone has been addicted two years or m ore, it is alm ost im possible to turn back. I learned to speak in the Lord - I was strong enough to get it and I desired it. They said it was as easy to get over heroin addiction as getting tongues - ju st desire it. But after I left, I saw one who said the desire was taken away in a flash fixing after she left the program . They should let us know you need to fight it day by day. I was hooked and they didn't know how to deal with me so they kicked me out.(Interview) She told me that after she left the program she visited someone who had been in the program six months and the person was using so she concluded, 'So you see, the program didn't do h er any good either.' She feels that many pretend to go straight while at the Center but sta rt using again as soon as they a re out. She says that one problem with the p ro g ram is that they don't know what problem s you a re going to have to face when you get back on the streets so they don't know how to prepare you to face them. As long as you a re there, you a re protected, but you haven't learned how to handle yourself in tem p tation. (Fieldnotes) Some of this unreality could be reduced if the opportunity for honest and open discussion of problem s was provided. Many girls said that they could never discuss their problem s with a staff m em ber because then "they would get on my case." We needed more group - m ore serious talking - with people being truthful. It shouldn't happen that if I tell the truth the people will think I haven't made it and I will be prayed over for days, (Inte rview) There should be house m eetings where things get settled before the b retheren and God. There should be ample chance for residents to learn how to honestly and c o rre c t ly vent their feelings on any m atter without being afraid to bring up w hat's bugging them. I didn't go to staff for a lot of things that bugged me because I didn't want them to get on my case, and this should never be allowed to happen.( Questionnaire) The m ajor problem in a C hristian program like New Hope 170 is that people can't presen t them selves like they really a re - they m ust constantly w ear m asks because if peo ple really know what they did and w ere she would lose all respect and status. This m eans that when a person is struggling with a problem she m ust do it alone if she wants to m aintain her position in the organization.(In te rview) New Hope has a super spiritual image as its ideal. This m eans that the girls have to keep up this image if they are to succeed in the program . It would be better if they didn't have to live up to a spiritual standard that is forced on them so that they could grow into it. Then when they get the Spirit, we would know the Lord is doing it. Then they would have a standard that wouldn't fall ap art when they leave.(Interview) One o b serv er of the pro gram said: The stru ctu re of the denomination (Assembly of God) p r e vents honest disclosure of problem s because: 1) it is not reality oriented. 2) they don't allow people to disclose faults since they are supposed to be victorious, 3) all struggle is attributed to the Devil. 4) religion is used as an escape - problem s are denied rath er than confronted,(Fieldnotes) Because m ost of the staff tend to be "norm al-sm iths" who expect good behavior and even interp ret a slip as a tem porary set back of a p e r son who really wanted to behave differently, they a re not able to really deal with the actual d esires of the p erson for dope, sex, and cigarettes, and allow the person time to actually give up the d esires before requiring a change in behavior. In contrast, the "deviant- sm ith" accepts the d esires and behaviors of the addict as given. Therefore they can be brought out into the open, dealt with, discussed and evaluated. The advantage of the deviant-sm ith approach is that 171 the person is not advanced to an identity so far beyond his actual ex perience that he or she despairs of bringing identity and experience into actual consonance and can only hope to reach behavioral com pliance. i?'or example, one girls was forced to "gain victory" over smoking while at New Hope. She was very proud of h e r accom plish m ent and testified often about how the Lord had changed her. How ever, within a few weeks after leaving the program , she had started smoking again and within another few weeks h er parents had kicked h e r out of the house and she was back to her old life style. It can be hypothesized that since she had placed all h er confidence of salvation on h er ability to stop smoking, she assum ed that when she resum ed smoking her relationship with God was also lost. The norm al -sm ith staff are aw are that for them selves it isn 't easy to overcom e their own problem s and that for them change takes a long tim e. However, they a re not willing to extend the sam e amount of tim e to the girls for them to struggle with their problem s. F o r this reason, girls found it easier to talk about th eir drug past and how they w ere delivered than about the cu rren t problem s they w ere experiencing. L aslett and W arren differentiate between the adm ission of past problem s ("stigm a display") and cu rren t problem s ("deviance display") (L aslett and W arren, 1974). The straight staff also found it easie r to engage in "stigm a display. " It was noted that when a personal example of a problem was presented by a straight staff m em ber, he was m ore likely to refer to his past history than his cu rren t situation. This is illustrated by this anecdote told as 172 p art of a chapel talk: I had to learn to accept authority before I could be used. There is something about submitting to God that brings peace and happiness. When rebelling there is so much turm oil inside. I never used drugs - I think you all know that - but there was so much rebellion in m e. I know the whole trip. You want something good and they say 'no. ' Then Satan comes along and tells you, ' They are being unfair' and then you s ta rt feeling 'I can't wait to get out of this place.' Satan likes nothing m ore than for every one to be in turm oil hating one another - one fighting a n other. It is God's plan to submit to those in authority. It is O .K . to say 'I don't like it' but to submit anyway. I know because I had to learn this just like you.(Field notes) However, L aslett and W arren found that "ex" change agents w ere m ore likely to use "deviance display" than were "straight" change agents. This was also true at New Hope. One ex-user staff m em ber described his struggles in staying away from his girlfriend; Nothing is m ore im portant than serving the Lord. If you can imagine what it m eans to be away from her - but I had to choose between the Lord and h er because of the sin she is living in.(Fieldnotes) One o b server of the p ro gram commented that the staff never adm it their m istakes and what they did to rem edy them and how they have been helped not to fall back into them; therefore the girls can't learn by example how to deal with m istakes. One g irl also was aware of this: They should have testim onies about people falling and still having cravings but that the Lord was still w orking.(Inter view) When the staff presented them selves in this superior way it was 173 especially harm ful when girls w ere able to detect inconsistencies in their behavior: Stephanie (a counselor) made an im pression on me, but I didn't know if she was for real or not. Her talking was good, but she was smoking cigarettes at the liquor store. (Interview) Sometimes the inconsistency is not as gross as that described above. It m ay just be lack of in terest or abruptness or the telling to another staff m em ber something told in confidence. However, because of the great, expectations the girls had of their counselors, it was a serious problem . The end resu lt is that the norm al-sm ithing strategy denies the real struggle that is going on within the person they are trying to help. Since the girls are not expected to or really allowed to p resent them selves as they really a re without loss of status, the dishonest cover- up of problem s prevents a solution to their problem s as it does in the typical correctional institution. The Problem of T rust There is a basic inconsistency between the position of the staff regarding the girls who have accepted C hrist as Savior, "you a re a new creature in C hrist" and therefore you are living a changed life and the need of the staff to supervise and scrutinize the lives of the residents carefully. F or example, all the g irls' m ail is opened and read before they can see it, and all phone calls are screened. One counselor explained that this is n ecessary because "every little thing 174 throws them off because their minds a re still with the past" (F ield notes). D orm leaders are not allowed to answ er the pay phone either because it is assum ed that the other girls would hassle them and they wouldn't have the ability to say "no" to their friends. Other examples of m istru st of the girls w ere also observed and these incidents when known to the g irls, w ere deeply resented. One staff m em ber cautioned me to be careful when talking to the girls b e cause they had been accustom ed to "making their living by lying and they were very skilled in it. " He said that "only God could change their m anner of life so that truthfulness would become habitual" (Field notes). Another staff m em ber told me that kids often pretend to have symptoms of illness just to get attention or to get out of doing work so they had to be checked out carefully before taking them to the doctor. Another staff m em ber who had been given custody of a child felt that the m other shouldn't be allowed to take the child on weekends because he didn't want the child to be around a lot of addicts and he thought the m other m ight sta rt using again since all h e r con nections w ere near. The girls said, "That made me really mad that he should think such a thing" (Fieldnotes). This deviant-sm ith labeling of residents as "addicts" and th e re for as untrustw orthy is detrim ental to the sense of tru st and openness between staff m em bers and residents even when the residents don't find out about it. It is of in terest that each of the deviant-sm ithing incidents described above involved persons high in the authority s tru c ture of the organization whose actual physical contact with the re s i- 175 dents was lim ited. The dilem m a of the staff is that often th eir w orst suspicions are confirm ed. Tensions Among Residents Another source of problem s inherent in institutional living is relationships between residents. Because the residents in the p ro gram are never fully alone - "they a re always within the sight or e a r shot of someone" ( Goff man, 1961:25) their interactions with other residents are m ore encom passing than a re interactions on the outside where withdrawal to a place of privacy is possible. In fact, the tone of their interactions establishes w hether the Center is a w arm friend ly place or a cold disagreeable place. It can also determ ine whether a g irl stays in the p rogram or splits: Before when I visited because my husband was here, every one was clo ser - there was m ore of an atm osphere where you felt everyone was really with it - that everyone cared and really looked out for one another and like we have it to a certain degree here, but it's not as strong. There are a lot of problem s between the girls going on now. It was m ore like a family before - like the Lord said - 'bearing one another's burdens. ' Now it has changed to the point where the girls a re a burden to each other. Instead of helping each other, we hinder each other. The girls would talk about each other and the staff - real bitter. And instead of helping, I would find m yself joining in and it turned into a regular backbiting session. So I decided to leave - I thought it was the L ord's will for me to leave instead of getting involved in these hassles.(Interview ) Because of this closeness with the other girls instead of the counselors, som etim es wc would sit there and sta rt talking and before we knew it we would be talking about our old tim es and everything. And if you are a babe in Christ, talking with other babies - before you know it, you want to leave and go back to it.(Interview) 176 There was one g irl there who was a heroin addict, and the day before I left she ran away and that made m e feel bad because she was the closest friend I had there. Wc w ere both new and we stuck together, and so I just said, 'F o rg et it. I want to go home.' (Interview) One girl told a friend that all the talk of the girls at the Center made h er feel she had m issed something in not trying heroin, so that was the first thing she did after getting out. She soon realized that heroin was not what she wanted and quit using it, but she said that her ex perience of wanting to try a new drug has happened to other girls she knows. (Fieldnotes) This problem of girls dragging down other girls by their talk was the subject of a group meeting: One girl said that she had overheard some girls talking about her saying that she was always complaining. She was mad at first, but then realized they w ere right. Now she says she doen't talk unless she has something good to say and added, 'Som etim es I don't say anything the whole morning,' (Interview) One of the counselors said that we som etim es try to be in the crowd by complaining - but that puts us in a big black cloud. She said that when she finds herself in such a situ ation she needs to shut up or rem ove h erself from it if she is to m aintain a cheery disposition.(Interview) Another g irl said that we som etim e complain about others because we are dissatisfied with our own selves and we pick ap art someone else to make us feel better. 'If we pick on some else's«problem , that m ay be our problem.' (Fieldnotes) When I firs t went to New Hope, all anyone ever talked about was drugs - and the new people asked, 'What are you taking?' It's not good.(Interview) One g irl described how hard it was for h er to keep from rebelling when other girls started criticizing her: 177 One day I was on a bum m er day, and they got on my case and I just couldn't hold it in anym ore, and I went upstairs and scream ed and prayed* ' You know, you can't hold it in or you will go crazy. ' I ju st say, 'Lord, help me. ' Question: Is there anyone you can talk to? Well, ya. But is like griping. I try to forget it when people hurt me - I try to just p raise God. When I see that I am wrong, I just say, 'P ra is e God. I won't do that anym ore. ' But som etim es I would get mad because they would be on my case when they w ere doing something worse.(Interview) Game Playing The problem of inmate hypocrisy is probably the hardest for girls to handle. The girls call this "playing gam es. " One g irl ex plained what playing gam es was all about: Playing games m eans when you come into this program and you're not really - you know you're coming here and you just want to use it to kick or something, to get off drugs, or to get straight, or maybe you're just coming in here just to have a place to live, or maybe you're probated here, and come in and you don't have any intention of getting it straight with the Lord and you couldn't care less about it, and you know people come in and they say 'Hallelujah, P ra ise the Lord, ' but in their hearts they're not meaning it. T hey're just - it's just a cover, you know, so people say, 'Oh look at her, she's a C hristian, ' and it's just play ing gam es with the Lord that you're not really serious at all with the Lord and you're just m essing Him around. And like I was doing that when I firs t cam e in here and - but. He put me through a couple of little trials that made me know that I needed Him, and I'm glad He did. I think every body when they firs t come in here m ight do that - because I know m ost of the girls have. A lot of the girls I've talked to, and I just think that maybe at firs t coming in not know ing what to expect and then you just do what everybody else does, and then fall, and then you backslide and you realize that it's m ore real than you expected it to be, and that's when you s ta rt realizing that C hrist really loved you and it's serious and it's not a game and you'd better get right. (Interview) 178 In actuality, game playing is an example of secondary adjustm ent as described by Goffman; "practices that do not directly challenge the staff but allow inm ates to obtain forbidden satisfactions or to obtain perm itted ones by forbidden m eans" (Goffman, 1961:48), In the case of playing the game of religion, girls are able to gain status in the organization and satisfy the conditions of their probation but do not allow them selves to be changed inwardly. In some cases girls a t tributed th eir game playing to rebelliousness: I put up a front there - really happy. I was in a rebellious stage.(Q uestionnaire). When I got to New Hope - really just about the whole time - I was just playing games with the Lord because in the firs t place I didn't want to be in any drug rehabilitation program - it was just because of the court that I had gone - but yet I still wanted to find something to replace m y need for heroin and I was searching for something. But I did find the Lord and He delivered me from drugs. But I think it was the thing I was battling - the reason that I was there - not b e cause I wanted to be but because the courts sent me and I was in rebellion and fighting just because of that and so that held me back.(Interview) During the tim e a g irl is playing gam es, other newer girls a re watching h er and often they become disillusioned: When I was up there, some of the people there seem ed like hypocrites. I realize now, some of them w ere placed there, but I still can't understand why they tell you one thing and show you another. I felt then and still do - you should p ra c tice what you preach.(Interview ) I really liked it at first, the things w ere going good with me and the Lord* But then there were too many girls who w ere saying 'P ra ise the L ord' but w ere doing things that w eren 't right. I think it was because too many new girls came at one tim e, and they knew each other and talked about their past a lot and that dragged me down. They didn't want to go with the Lord - they w ere just playing it.(Interview) 179 Ruth Marie said she sometimes feels like she doesn't m eas ure up to the spiritual level of some of the girls and she gets discouraged. In the meeting that had just concluded one girl had described how she spends 1% hours in the morning in prayer and Bible study. She also has very pious m anner isms such as raising her hands during prayer and she spent her time during the group meeting copying Bible verses into a notebook.(Fieldnotes) In an interview a year after she left the program, this "pious" girl admitted that all she had been doing at the Center was playing a big game and trying to live up to the image that was expected of her but that no real change had taken place: I was different while I was there but not when I got out, I went back to my old life, but actually, I had started going back even while I was there, and it just continued, I was smoking for quite a few months, I tried to make it when I left - but I really didn't because I was smoking and I liked dope a lot.(Interview) False piety such as this makes it very difficult for girls new to the program because they are looking to the ones who have been in the program for cues as to how to act. This pious girls acted so super ior and otherworldly that I felt uncomfortable in her presence, and I felt that any girls trying to use her as a role model would have been utterly defeated, A total institution, therefore can be potentially anit-change be cause of the control staff members can exert over residents, and because of the intense relationships that residents have with each other because of their constant proximity. In addition, the total in stitution poses a third type of threat to the successful change of its residents : rules and institutional practices that produce negative 180 rath er than positive responses. Inside and Outside: M istraining for Outside Problem s Although it is the goal of the program to produce graduates who a re able to "make it" when they leave the program the subm issive suppliant role that is required of the girls while they are in the p ro gram impedes this goal. Goffman describes such required subm is- isiveness as the pro cess of m ortification (Goffman, 1961:14). M orifi- jcation has two aspects: violation of the autonomy of the act and viola- I jtion of the autonomy of the person. When a person is not allowed to eat, d ress, talk to a friend, or finish a task at a tim e of his own choo-j ‘ sing the autonomy of the act is violated (Goffman, 1961:38). When a * jgirl m ust ask perm ission to make a phone call, m ail a letter, or buy ‘ supplies, and this p erm ission is denied, questioned, and restricted , essentially h er status as an adult or even a person is brought into I question because it is in the act of being able to make decisions over is m all m atters like these that she has the feeling of command over her jworld. When adult self-determ ination and freedom of action a re de - inied, autonomy of the person is violated. One g irl explained some of I the reasons why she couldn't stay in the program : ; I had to go to a place where I could keep my baby with me. Also, I couldn’t stand Stella (a counselor). Everytim e I got a phone call, she was there asking who had called and I what they said.(Interview) i lExamples of girls being reprim anded for wearing d re sse s that were 'too short or socializing too much with the boys have already been 181 given. When you add to this the numerous rules about doing house work, when to attend school or chapel, when and how snacks and m eals could be eaten, and when and how they could go shopping or make phone calls, it is apparent that rules constitute an im portant source of friction between staff and resident, with the staff insisting that the rules are only in the b est in terests of the resident, and the resident angry that her personal freedom has been totally relinquished The im plications for the goal of changing the girls is clear. If the girls become too angry or too subm issive, productive rehabilitation w ill not occur. Goffman describ es several types of responses the girl m ight make: situational withdrawal, refusal to cooperate with the staff, or conversion, which he defines as "taking the official view of the self and trying to act out the role of perfect inm ate" (Goffman, 1961 ), In addition, a combination of the above is possible so that the resident "plays it cool" and has the m axim um chance of getting out psychologically unchanged (Goffman, 1961:61-65), The other option open to the girls at New Hope since it is not a locked institu tion is simply to split: I broke away from New Hope because I found that at New Hope there w ere m ore rules than there were in the Bible. It is the b est thing in the world for people coming off the streets and from prison, but after that they need to go on, (Interview) Since essentially the sam e rules apply to girl from the time of h er initial period of probation is over until she leaves the program , there is no training for progressive responsibility and decision making. 182 In one area of life however it may be that the girls a re given too much responsibility too soon. New converts a re often expected to testify or witness to others about their conversion and deliverance from drugs so soon after the event occurred that they have not had the opportunity to complete their alternation before they m ust attest to the difference. Whenever television or radio time was offered for a new scast girls or boys w ere asked to give testim onies since that was one way free publicity for the organization could be secured. F or example, one girl "accepted C hrist" on October 24^^ and gave h er testim ony on a radio broadcast on O ctober Several months later she left the program because she couldn't tolerate the constant surveillance of the staff and was losing weight because she couldn't eat or sleep at the Center; at last report, she is back in her old life of drugs. An other girl left the program to work in a distant New Hope Center with h er husband and was successful for sev eral m onths. She and her husband "cooled off with the Lord" however, so she split and is now back in h er life of heroin use. One o bserv er of the program commented that "babies" are expected to "fall" (i. e. new converts) but little provision for this is provided in the program . They go from a place of m axim um p ro tec tion to places requiring m axim um stability with little preparation from the program to re s is t tem ptation. One g irl becam e a counselor in a New Hope program and she said: 183 There I was, responsible for the spiritual growth and counseling of fourteen girls when I m yself needed to be counseled. I always wanted to be a supervisor and I had my goals set, but it came too fast - 19 years old and an assistan t supervisor. I w asn't able to handle my own problem s, yet alone the problem s of 14 other girls with no other staff. It was just too early for it - I couldn't handle it, (Inte rview) In this case, she left the pro gram after about six months and went to school to prepare h erself better. The institutional practice of sending girls in the program to w it ness in churches and schools presents problem s both for the speakers and the h e a re rs . F o r those who recount th eir drug past there is a constant recalling of a difficult period of life: When I would go on school team , for a while it was a big hang up. I'd wonder if I was every going to forget my past because I was reliving it every day. But now I have a whole new attitude about that - because now I share with someone about my future. So no it doesn't bother me - but at tim es it did. A lot of tim es I would feel the feelings I had when I had overdosed - especially the time I attem pted suicide. I would feel the h u rt I had felt then. A lot of tim es when I gave my testim ony in a church I would cry because I would still feel that hurt, and then God gave me a whole different view about it - why I was doing it. ' I was doing it not to just relive m y past, but so that someone else might not have to live tiie way I lived.(Interview) At first giving my testim ony was a th rill - I would get to share and what I was talking about was really, really real. And then I went through the stage where I said, 'Wow, what am I talking about. ' What I say is going to stay on these people's m inds. I was feeling bad about it and then I got the idea that if I share my life, someone m ight not have to go through what I did. Being on school team taught you a lot because you always had to be on the ball with the Lord or you w ere nowhere.(Interview) I was on school team once or twice. Man - that was really neat. I ju st gave my testim ony and I kept thinking maybe 184 I would be helping one person live a straight and clean life and wouldn't have to go through what I went through. (Interview) Even though it was the common belief among the girls that giving a testimony would prevent the hearer from getting into the drug life as they had done, there is the possibility that their testimonies could have the opposite effect: the h earer could decide to use drugs until they became a problem to him or he wanted to quit and then he would enter the New Hope program and get off drugs just as these girls had. The information lacking in the testimony was what would happen to the girls in the days ahead. In other words, they could only testify about their present experience but the future with its many problems including the possibility of returning to the use of drugs is not known to either speaker or hearer. Therefore a false sense of optimism pervaded the testimonies and with it the element of unintentional de ception. This problem has been discussed at length by Brecher (see Chapter II). The testimonies also had a deceptive influence on girls who were in the program but hadn't been very deep into the drug scene: If you haven't been into drugs a lot, if you go to New Hope, a lot of people were and you learn so much more about it, and you aren't afraid of it because they made it through - it's like you did it because you lived with people like that. Then it is a lot easier to get into heavier drugs and heav ier things when you get out,( inte rview) Therefore, the very organization that was established to p ro duce life-altering changes in its residents can by its very nature d is courage the possibility of change in the direction of the discontinuance 185 of drug use. Not only does the rigidity of the institution work against change, but the problem s the girls bring with them into the institution make change difficult. Most enter with a very negative self-concept and weak self-control. In addition, they bring many habits and thought patterns from th eir past life which need to be altered or com pletely changed before they can em erge as drug free individuals. If friend ships or relationships that developed at the tim e of adm ission get them into a group of gam ers th eir chances for change are probably slim . Each of these problem s will be considered in turn. Negative Self-Concept A problem that m ost girls face is that of a negative self-concept. Even the m ost beautiful and talented among them am aze the staff and interested friends by their feelings of w orthlessness. F o r example, a woman reported that one girl in whom her fam ily had taken a sp e cial in terest was unable to think of one good thing about h erself when the New Hope group was playing a game at h er house which required each g irl to list ten good points about herself. I experienced this problem when attem pting to give piano lessons to the girls. It took constant reassu ran ce to persuade some girls to believe that they had the ability to learn to read m usic because they would say, "I'm no good a t m usic, " "I'm so clum sy, " "I never could learn, " "Is this right?" "My teacher at school always said I had the hands fur play ing the piano, but I don't know" (Fieldnotes). One ex-addict staff m em ber attem pted to explain his inter p e r- 186 sonal relationships with the girls in the program in term s of his own self-concept during a group meeting when he was put on the spot: The attention then switched to Sanford. Many girls gave examples of his abruptness or rudeness to them. He a c cepted the complaints and said that possibly he was rude so he wouldn't need to get friendly with the girls because his biggest problem now is loving himself and since he doesn't love himself, he doesn't want others to show affec tion to him. He said he was learning to confess his sin and pray for help in loving and accepting himself. He said that the reason people left the program was not drugs - 'Once you become a Christian the drugs are gone. ' The real problem is accepting self and facing up to the prob lems that made you start on drugs in the first place. If a person just concentrates on his failures, he gets de feated and feels he can't make it anyway and so he goes out and gets loaded. But the reason is not a desire for drugs but a sense of failure. He said it is only when you can feel 'accepted in the Beloved' that you can begin to love yourself.(Fieldnotes) Inability to accept oneself makes it difficult to accept criticism from staff or from other girls. One staff m em ber described how she attempted to help the girls when counseling them: It is hard if any criticism comes if the person can't accept herself. That is why they get into drugs in the first place - they can't handle themselves honestly and so they take an escape and after six or more years of escaping they can't believe the Lord has changed them and they are beautiful people now. They need to be told about their good quali ties - like I sat down with this girl and said, ' You are likeable, attractive, and you have a gentle spirit. ' She said, 'I do?' She had no idea that others could see her as someone good because she had looked at all the nega tive and didn't know these good things had penetrated. She couldn't accept any of these good things about her- s elf. ( Inte rview) The following is a dialogue showing how one girl could not even accept a comment that she had ability in arranging flowers: 187 I would like to be a florist. You a re good at arranging flowers, a re n 't you? Oh? (self-conscious laught) People say you are good at arranging flow ers. Who said that? (very abrupt) I brought some flowers once, and they said, 'L et Rheba arran g e them. She knows how to do it. ' Well, I was getting trained to work in a shop and I made a few floral arrangem ents, but I don't know much about it. (Fieldnotes) Another girl related how she had difficulty making friends with the other girls because of h e r feelings about herself; I w asn't that friendly with anyone. They w ere too good, and I didn't feel that good about m yself while I was at the Center. (Interview) One g irl who had not been helped by the program wrote about h er ex perience in another program ; I blew it the first tim e, but this time I'm trying and th e re 's a big difference. I'm going to s ta rt caring and liking m y self now. The group here is really helping because it is hard for anyone to keep quiet in the group and so I have to bring up my problem s.(L etter) Although all the girls had some problem in this area, some girls w ere so lacking in self-confidence that they had little to draw upon when they attem pted to change old behaviors for new ones. One staff m em ber questioned w hether or not it is possible for them to be changed: We talked about other girls who did not have such a stable personality that they could successfully c a rry out a plan of change. Sally said she wondered why some enter the 188 program and com m it them selves to God and never falter and others have so many struggles. She asked, ’Is faith in God enough to change a person - is salvation so pow er ful it can overcom e personality w eaknesses or is the p e r son with a weak ego at such a disadvantage she has trouble accepting God's power? ' (Fieldnotes) Self-Control Another problem that staff m em bers observed was that many of the girls had weak self-control. This could take a variety of form s. F or example, it was noted that when girls quit using drugs, they d e veloped a craving for sw eets, or as one staff m em ber said, "They changed one addiction for another. " It could also be seen in the in ability to defer rew ards. This was noted in the way they did crafts. They usually would want a project that could be completed right away rath er than something that would take several weeks to com plete. It could also be seen in the study habits of girls who w ere poor read ers. Even though one g irl was very anxious to learn, she was unable to self-d irect h er study and could only study when someone was with h er who could give h er instant encouragem ent. This sam e need for in stant im pulse gratification led some girls to split from the program rath er than disciplining them selves to face up to a difficult situation and stick it out, and led others into m arriag e p rio r to the time they had planned for it. This sam e lack of self-control causes some of the residents to use drugs even when it is not what they say they want to do. One p e r son who has known many of the kids in the program over a period of 189 tim e said; While they are at New Hope they seem fine, but I think it take a lot longer than m ost people realize. I can re m e m b er about a year ago, we had a fellow in our home, and he'd been in the p rogram for a couple of months at the time and it was a very spiritual experience meeting this person, and yet the next weekend he went out and used heroin, and that's happened m ore than one instance. I m ean, not to that p articu lar person but to different people that have r e a l ly been spiritual, and the next weekend they'll go out, and they'll actually, you know, fix. I think it takes six to nine months of living with C hristians, w hether or not it's a c tually in New Hope. (Interview) Few of the girls knew how to discipline them selves before en tering the program . One of the school teachers felt that the school program was useful for th e m in learning to develop discipline: Our school p rogram - when they have to sit down and think and do something - it helps their m inds. They just a re n 't used to that kind of discipline. It helps them think b etter - to get some sense in their heads so they can think before they act. We need to expect enough of them because they need to have rigid lim its set on them because their self- discipline is zero, but not too much so they throw up their defenses and leave. (Interview) They also came to the program with many habits and experiences from their old life which made change difficult. One girl who had had a bad church experience was so repelled by the religious atm osphere of New Hope that she left before the program could be of any help to her: What I saw there rem inded me too much of a previous church experience. I'd like to be really religious because many people a re happy that way, but its got to be real - you can't force it. I really felt the joy of knowing the Lord, but some people seem ed so far ahead - getting visions and talking in tongues. I thought that maybe I didn't know the Lord at all because I didn't speak in tongues. My husband said he spoke 190 in tongues - I don't know. Tongues are so confusing to me. One girl tried to explain it to me. A lot of things discour aged me. In church everyone sings together - all pray out loud - all are speaking in tongues. It was very confusing. (Interview) Other girls entered the program so "spaced out" from the ef fects of drugs that nothing was really comprehensible at first. There fore some time had to elapse before they were able to participate d i rectly in the program. They also brought with them unresolved prob lems with their parents that made them resent anyone in authority: Question: What was your biggest problem at New Hope? Discipline. Question: Did you have discipline as a child? Ya - when you get a D on your report card and get on restriction for a year - that's discipline. Question: Do you think you are rebelling against the Christian life because it is so strict? I don't know - I haven't thought about it. But my father was too strict and he wouldn't let us do anything. Question: Do you think you are rebelling against that now? Of course I am. Everytime someone tells me what to do, I think about it. I'm constantly rebelling against the Lord, (Interview) Even though you know the Lord is so good, you still have a way of wanting to do things your way - and that is the hardest thing I learned here - submitting to the Lord and those in authority. I never could do that before. He really taught me a lot and He helps and He told me to be patient and just hold steady. I praise the Lord for that - for keeping me in His love. (Interview) However, this girl continued to have a problem with authority and had difficulty in accepting advice or help from others. She was drawn back into drugs after leaving New Hope because of her need to make 191 it on her own. Another girl had a difficult time remaining at New Hope because she became so very upset every time she had a tele phone conversation with her mother. She was able to express this problem to a counselor: 'I'm really angry with my mother. She always finds fault with every place I stay. ' Her need to begin to form an identity separate from that of her mother was discussed. She seems to feel that she has improved since being in the program and said, 'I've never done this well before.'(Coun seling note) Lastly, the girls brought with them their desire for smoking and drugs, which was a constant source of difficulty for many. The talking about drugs which leads to a desire to use drugs has already been mentioned. One girl pointed out that even if she didn't actually use drugs, the talking about them "can come between my relationship with the Lord. I know, because it has happened before" (Interview). This desire also causes problems in family relationships because many of the girls had brothers or sisters who were still using drugs and they had to guard themselves from the temptations their siblings prepared for them when they visited at home or communicated with them. Some girls found it impossible to quit smoking and therefore they were never able to enter into any kind of real involvement with the goals of the program. Occasionally they were able to hide their smoking from the staff so that they appeared to be meeting the de mands of the organization, but in actuality they were just putting in time and were not actively involved. 192 Since the purpose of the New Hope program is to introduce girls to a new way of life that is capable of becoming a total way of life, anything which prevents this purpose from being realized works to prevent change from occuring in the specified direction. We have already seen that the problems inherent in the total institution and the psychological make-up of the girls work against the establishment of a love and trust relationship that would help to facilitate change. Intellectual Impediments Another important factor in preventing this change from occur ring is the inability of the girl to understand intellectually and accept emotionally the teachings of the new value system. Some of the girls don't remain in the program long enough to become established in the new way of life. Others are in such a state of rebellion that they won't learn, and others, although they are physically in the program, feel so uncomfortable with the religious style that they can't make it part of themselves and identify with the group. Staff members re c ognize that the new form of worship may seem strange at first and counsel the girls to "take it day by day and reserve judgement" until it becomes more natural. Not all girls were able to adopt this type of religious experience: They tried too hard to push religion on us. Some of the kids didn't like it. When you have come off the streets you haven't heard of God, and then when you get there you have to do everything with God. They said a lot of things I didn't understand - it was really mind blowing. I learned to use speaking in tongues when there, and 193 sometimes it made me feel close to God, but sometimes it felt like I was just babbling. The last few months I was there I wasn't close to God - He just faded away - it was like an emotional experience at first.(Interview) It wasn't real - just praising the Lord. They pushed you in. too fast - it wasn't realistic. They didn't build a foun dation I could hang on to when I left. At the program they had control of everything and everything was outlined for you, yet they said, 'It's up to you to get it together. ' They should be more serious about dealing with real life like getting jobs. All I rem em ber is the shouting and hollering and running around. They praised the Lord that way. There wasn't enough serious study and serious quiet praying. They say the Lord can heal anything, but they are not dealing with the real problem. Hard core hypes there wanted to be clean, but they weren't so they were just pretending they were.(In terview) I received the baptism but it didn't really change my life because I didn't understand. I experienced being filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues, but it wasn't over- powe ring. ( Inte rview) However, the majority of the girls started to use the religious ideology after entering the program and followed the Pentecostal wor ship practices: Initially they will accept Christ as Rosie did the first eve ning at the Center because they are so desparate for any thing and if this is somthing that can help, they are willing to try it.(Fieldnotes) The problem comes in the day to day living. Although some are in itially very happy in their new faith, later when things get tough and something goes wrong, they just leave. One girl explained this type of response using verses from the Bible: And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root. They be lieve for awhile and in time of temptation fall away. (Luke 8:13) 194 Even though m ost girls "accept Christ, " not all are willing to subject them selves to the discipline the new way of life requires. Therefore the need for self-discipline is constantly taught. One Bible tea ch er told her class; Every person has tem ptations. If a big temptation com es, it should make you realize you have grown enough to han dle it. We m ust will to take the exit or way out of the tem p tation that God provides. We are all spiritually lazy. When you accept C hrist, everything is so rosy - you have a new life - everything is given to you. But it doesn't stay that way. You have to grow up and take responsibility. The Lord says, 'I want all of you' - that's when we lose some. As long as Jesus paid it all, O .K ., but when I have to pay, forget itl The crisis points are 1) decision to accept C hrist, and 2) the decision to go all the way with Christ, that is to give everything to Him which leads to peace and joy. (Field notes ) Another chapel service dealt with the problem of quitting when the going gets tough; Don't despise the L ord's discipline for He disciplines those He loves. The Lord wants to change you - make you com plete. We say if the Lord is going to tre a t me this way, I won't stay with Him. . . Jesus paid the price for your total freedom . If you have problem s talk with the staff - don't let Satan keep you bound. . . Do some heavy looking at your self in P ro v erb s. P ray, 'I can't change m yself - you have to do it. ' Yield to the Lord and it isn 't hard but it isn 't easy to change what you have been doing your whole life. (Fieldnotes) The focal point of the New Hope program is the encounter with C hrist each girl has as she decides by faith to accept Him. Both the staff m em bers and the residents come from a variety of religious backgrounds so there is no one theological position taught. However, all staff m em bers believe that the baptism of the 195 Spirit is im portant for spiritual growth and had had the experience of being baptized which was evidenced by speaking in tongues. F or example, a Bible teacher said: Once you have accepted C hrist, if you try to leave Him, it will be difficult. Even if you leave New Hope the Lord doesn't leave you. It m ay be harder to leave the Lord than you think. God's keeping power is not dependent on our faith. However, we do have the power of choice - God won't keep us against our will. No force can take you away from God unless you want it. God has obligated H im self to keep us. A child doesn't have to w orry about staying in the family - he ju st stays in it even if disobe dient. Just come to God and perm it His keeping power to be m anifested. In II Timothy, Paul said, 'I know whom I have believed and that He will keep what I have com m itted. ' God can only keep what I commit. I John 1:11-12, 'He that hath the Son hath life. ' Without C hrist in my heart, I don't have enternal life. When a person backslides, God alone knows the heart. Some people a re so weak they can only cry within, ' I don't want what I do. ' Jesus is in our lives to continue the w ork.(Field notes) However, another staff m em ber related an incident which implied that he believes it is possible to lose one's salvation: A person who had recently been converted was killed in an accident while driving a company truck. His wife questioned why he had to get killed when he was doing so good. The staff m em ber told the wife, ' This was the b est tim e for him to go. This way we know he is with Jesus, and that has to be good. Only Jesus knows if he would have made it - maybe he w asn't strong enough to stay off dope permanently.' (Fieldnotes) Although many of the kids talk about the repeated need for being saved after falling into sin, others have gone through really bad tim es confident that God had not left them: 196 I received the baptism of the Spirit before I started using drugs, but during the time I was in rebellion I wasn't de pending on it. However, I always knew that it was in me - the Lord had taught me so much. I didn't completely fo r sake the Lord - I just wasn't depending on Him. I was depending on myself. But even when I was rebelling I started getting hungry for the Lord, and I know it was the Holy Spirit within me making me dis satisfied, and all the bad things that were happening to me when I was with my doper friends made me want to turn back to the Lord. (Interview) Question: Since you came here, have you had the exper ience of falling and then asking the Lord's forgiveness and going on? Yes, I fell, and I really felt bad. And I know it was Satan because he said, ' You really blew it - the Lord isn't going to forgive you. ' All the se thoughts went through my head - and I just went to the Scriptures and read that the Lord will forgive if we confess our faults to Him and He will cleanse us. I knew I was saved and that He would forgive me. Through these experiences I have learned His love and His strength and His victory and not to go back.(In terview) One close observer of the program noted that experiences such as this are essential in the change process for the girls : An important thing the girls need is training in failure. Many of the kids operate on the feeling level only and when they make a mistake, the feeling is gone and they backslide because they haven't learned how to confess the sin and get back into fellowship with God. This really needs to be taught by example. (Inte rview) Another girl said that the emphasis New Hope places on rules such as not smoking makes girls tie up their whole relationship with the Lord on keeping the rule. She said, "I feel that if I pick up a cigarette, the Lord will leave me" (Interview). It is clear that many factors work against the complete change of life style and patterns of thought which would entrench Pentecostal 197 ideology and lead to complete change. These range from incomplete acceptance or understanding of the new life because of institntional or personality factors to the type of doctrinal position one accepts. For those who believe that once a person is saved, he is always saved, the initial conversion a girl experiences at New Hope can be the start of a long life with God in which she might fall into sin but doesn't lose her salvation. On the other hand, the girl who "sins" by lighting a cigarette may view the relapse back into heroin use as inevitable. The total institution can direct all activities of residents toward the purpose of bringing about change in accordance with the goals of the institution. However, the concentration of control often permits the misuse of power so that the desired goals are not achieved. The social distance between staff and residents with the resultant lack of trust creates many problems. In addition, the more numerous group, the residents, intentionally or unintentionally subvert the goals of the institution through their informal organization and their inability to accept intellectually or emotionally the goals of the organization. If in addition, the ideology of the organization is not understood changes that occur in the direction of ideological change will probably not be stable over time. For this reason it is important to find out directly from the graduates of the program the kind of change, if any, they perceived in themselves as a result of participation in the program and If they were able to, or wished to, maintain the change after leav ing the program. CHAPTER VIII EVALUATING THE PROGRAM: PROBLEMS IN DEFINING SUCCESS Evaluation of a drug rehabilitation program can take place at many levels and in te rm s of both short and long range goals. Men tion has already been made of the num ber of g irls who w ere successful tin the p rogram according to the staff c rite ria of cooperativeness, spiritualness, and freedom from drugs. Mention has also been made of the qualitative changes that took place in the girls so that a new view of life was acquired. As useful as these m easu res are in eval uating the effectiveness of the program , they a re not necessarily in dicators of long te rm success. Therefore, the rrx> st useful criterio n for evaluation of a reh abil itation program is the success of the graduates after they leave the program as com pared with graduates of other p rogram s. Since this inform ation is very difficult to obtain because of the high mobility of this group, few private rehabilitation program s have actually attem p ted to do this. In this study, inform ation was obtained for 103 of the 118 g irls (87.3%). P erso n al inform ation was obtained from 42.4% of the group, reports from staff m em bers, relatives and friends w ere obtained for 44. 2% of the group and no inform ation could be obtained for 12. 7% of the group. There was no difference between voluntary 198 199 and probation adm issions in response to the request for inform ation (see Table Ten), However, a g reater percentage of personal in te r views w ere held with those who w ere not using drugs than with the un successful graduates (see Table Eleven). Even if inform ation is ob tained about the graduates, the problem of evaluation is not autom a tically solved since success has been: defined in a number of different ways. A useful definition of success is "the m easu re of accom plish m ent with respect to a p ro g ram 's particu lar target" (G laser, 1973:4). However, G laser points out that this definition is difficult to apply when a program has m ultiple goals and m easu rem ent is not precise and certain. F o r either its short or long te rm goals. New Hope defines su c cess in two ways: when com paring the p rogram with other drug r e habilitation program s, success is defined as not using unprescribed drugs. However, for a graduate to truly m eet the goals of the p ro gram , she m ust also be actively "living with C hrist" in addition to abstaining from drugs. The New Hope staff see these goals as con sistent with each other because they believe that it is the spiritual change that takes place in the participants while in the program that is "the core of success of the program " (Fieldnotes). In actuality, this was not always true, but for the purposes of this investigation the first definition of success has been used. 200 TABLE TEN Type of A dm ission by Source of Information P erso n al Report None Row Total Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total 27 23 6 46 27 23 6 56 54. 0 43.4 40. 0 47. 5 23 30 9 62 46. 0 56. 6 60. 0 52. 5 50 53 15 118 42.4 44.9 12. 7 100. 0 a <D C Q Z i 'V < TABLE ELEVEN Adjustm ent by Source of Information Inform ation Not Using Using Column Total Pe rson Report Row Total 39 30 69 (78.0%) (56.6%) 66.7% 11 23 34 (22. 0%) (43.4%) 33. 3% 50 53 103 (48.5%) (51.5%) 100.0% M issing Observations - 15 201 Types of Response to the Program Even though each girl admitted to the program was required to give evidence of her desire to change and was given an introduction to the ideology of the program, girls varied in their willingness to em brace the new perspective. Therefore different patterns of response were noted: 1) rebellion which made it impossible for the girl to remain in or profit from the program; 2) acceptance of the ideology but inability to maintain the standards of life that are required; and 3) acceptance of the ideology accompanied by a change in behavioral patterns in the direction of success as defined by the program. Girls in group 1 were defined by the staff as failures in the program and girls in both groups 2 and 3 were usually defined as successes while they were in the program. Rebellion and Flight Not every girl who entered the program experienced success. If girls came into the program trying "to fake it" they usually found that they couldn't keep up the front and would split before two weeks had passed. If they came in against their will, their rebelliousness would make life impossible and no change could occur even though they stayed physically in the program. One girl responded to my request for her to participate in the study with this reply: 202 Dear Barbara, I want nothing to do with New Hope or with your study. For three months I went through Hell, so please just leave me alone,and you can shove your holly (sic) roller jazz right up your holy ass. ____________(signed by name) FUCK YOU ALLi In talking with people who had known this girl personally after she left the program, it was apparent that no change had occurred while she was in the program, except to make her more antagonistic to the program; she had asked to live at the home of a girlfriend because she was expecting a baby and to their knowledge she was not using drugs while living with them. However, after a few months she split taking with her $1, 000 in cash and a lot of clothing; there is now a police w arrant out for her arrest. Other girls who experienced no change in the program in the required direction did not leave with such a negative view and did not completely reject religion as a possible source of help at least for some people. One girl remained in the program only two days since she "couldn't handle it" because of her prior religious experiences. A year after leaving the program she got into a methadone program which she says makes possible a better life for her because "it is legal and I don't have to steal. " She isn't happy in her drug life and would like to get off everything but says it is hard to do it alone. She said, "My boyfriend uses - I really like him - he gets some and does it. I'm so used to doing it - I don't have the desire - but I do 203 it because it is there" (Interview). However, she has seen that life can be different and said, "I wish I could get with the Lord like Randy and Stan (two graduates of the program). The seem so happy and real" (Interview). Another girl entered the program at the urging of a friend who was in the program. She said, "I didn't change at all in the program - I couldn't. I was very resistant and antagonistic" (Interview). The experience that transformed her world for her was pregnancy. She said; When I became pregnant I wouldn't take any drugs - not even an aspirin. There is the possibility it might hurt the baby. I decided, 'I'm not going to destroy my baby's life and I'm not going to destroy my own life. ' And I told my husband that he wasn't to bring any drugs into the house. I wouldn't have my baby exposed to that.(In te rview) However, the spiritual change she resisted so forcefully while in the program she still holds as an ideal and now attends a Bible study class and looks forward to the day when she can live her life as she should; "I know I should get closer to the Lord. I know I'm doing things wrong" (Interview). Another girl entered the program because a friend of hers was there and there was no place else to go. However, while there she had a spontaneous abortion and she said that no one wanted to take her to the doctor and she was hemorrhaging all over, and so she had to call her father to come to get her. He thought she was gaming but finally came and then she spent three days in an intensive care unit 204 at the hospital. She said, "I was hanging on until that abortion - that abortion really m essed me upi No one would listen and I was dying. They just said they would pray" (Interview). She has been able to stay off drugs through a secular program but even now she feels a need for religion and that God is with her all the time. "I'm not a religious person but I do believe in something because I go on talking to Him" (Interview). These are accounts of some of the girls whose alternation was inconclusive while they were in the program. There were also others with whom no contact could be made after they left the Center. For the most part, these were the girls who remained in the program nine days or less who probably did not consider the possibility of life lived in a different fashion with new values and goals. Unstable Conversions There is still another group who are at the present struggling with the pioblems of drugs and smoking but who had a very different experience while in the program than those described above. These are girls who appeared to experience conversion (i. e. confession of sin and acceptance of Christ as Savior) while in the program. There were many evidences of the change in their lives both in their words and actions. For example, in a group meeting one girl asked how you handle the problem of people wanting to talk about "how you used to be and you don't want to talk about that anymore because I'm dif ferent now - I have a new life" (Fieldnotes). This girl split from the 20 5 program several days after the group meeting but six months later Sally was visiting a jail and met her there, Sally said that Rowena told her she had worked for several months after leaving New Hope but then started taking heroin again and had gotten arrested at the home of her connection. However, Sally said that Rowena was s u r prised and happy to see her and when Sally asked, "How is it between you and the Lord?" Rowena said, "I pray every night and I'm sure it was the Lord who got me arrested because He knew I might die of an overdose, " Sally said that before her experience at New Hope, Rowena would have attributed her a rre s t to bad luck or chance, but never to the Lord's protective interest in her. Sally also said that the reality of the Lord is evidenced in the fact that after such a brief contact with Him as girls often have in a few weeks or months at New Hope, their way of interpreting life and its events is changed (Field notes). Another girl had a very sim ilar interpretation of her arrest: About 12:30 Risa came and said that she had been job hunt ing. She said she had a new P.O . and since she was caught using heroin by her P .O ., her P. O recommended jail, but when she went to court, the judge gave her the alternative of finding a full time job within three weeks. She said she had an interview lined up for the next day. Then she said, 'I know it was the Lord - wouldn't it be awful to go back to jail now.' (Fieldnotes) In these above cases, the girls' attitude toward the drug world had changed because of the experience of an alternate reality while in the program, but they find themselves in the drug world attempting to interpret it from a new perspective while knowing that they aren't 206 meeting the standard for living life according to that perspective. Therefore they have experienced conversion which according to B e r ger implies the "ability to imagine oneself holding quite a different position" (Berger, 1961:17) but are presently unable to maintain them selves in that position although aspects of that position have become part of them. An experience such as this can be explained within the fram e work of the Pentecostal belief system: Things are never the same after we have met Jesus Christ. The old things are not as much fun as they used to be - so we can use each experience as a stepping stone that can help us grow - not to make us go backwards. (Fieldnotes) When a person backslides. Cod alone knows the heart. Some people are so weak they can only cry within 'I don't want what I do,' (Fieldnotes) However, the person who finds herself in this experience of accepting a set of beliefs as normative for behavior and yet not able to live up to them is forced to live with a burden of guilt. She has recognized the inadequacy of her past life in drugs to satisfy her and yet she has not been able to change so that she is secure in the new position: I tried so hard to stay with the Lord - but I just couldn't do it. But Cod is always in the back of my mind espec ially when I do something I know is wrong. The m ore I got into sin, the more I thought about the Lord. I wanted physical love and also the real peaceful love of the Lord, and it was real hassle because I didn't know which one I wanted most. . . I wanted to quit smoking because I knew the longer I put it off, the harder it would be. Also I have been thinking about the Second Coming and I thought, 'My Lord, what if He comes while I'm doing this,' (Inter view) 207 But really, I feel that after getting straight at New Hope and being around straight people and finding out about the Lord and everything - going back to dope was just a real drag plus I felt 10 times more guilty. . . I still read my Bible and believe in the Lord and I always will - I know that for sure. I know Jesus is real and so is the Bible and no one can ever tell me different. That much I did learn at New Hope and I'm glad I did.(Personal letter) They showed me something I never had before - C hris tianity - what it's like to be clean and have fun with b ro thers and sisters in the Lord. Now I have a lot of guilt I never had before. It makes it harder for me to straighten up. I'm constantly feeling guilty like I've failed myself and the Lord. I'm glad I tried it even though it is for the worse, but I have a great deal of resentment to the pro gram and I don't want to get involved in another program. Now I have this guilt feeling about how I'm treating my daughter. When I left the program I hoped I could make it, but I went back to using as soon as I left. I have been in jail two out of three years since leaving. I couldn't follow through when I got home, (Interview) I don't know if it makes me more determined to quit or use more. I still have my faith and pray, but I don't want to get involved in another program like that again. (Interview) Question: Have drugs been a problem for you in any way? Yes, I guess anywhere I go I have to face the problem. If I could have stayed longer I would be a little stronger to cope with it. I have gotten loaded, but I don't feel right like I used to so I try to stay away. It's hard, (Question naire) New Hope changed me - it got me quieter. When I got out of there it just wasn't the same when I got back on the streets. But I'm not with the Lord like I was - I still think about Him and respect Him. I don't go to church and read the Bible. I'm not using drugs now - I used to use reds, but now I don't. Being in there I had so much time to think, I guess I'm changed, (Interview) The following comments were made by a girl who had exper ienced an identity change while in the program and took a position as a counselor in a religious drug rehabilitation program. At the time 208 she left the program she did not anticipate that drugs would again be a problem for her. Question: Did the teaching have an impact on your life? Of course it did. Question: In what way? For one thing - I can't get away from it, and if I wouldn't have had the teaching, I would never have made it because that is the only thing that is keeping me going. Question: Why do you believe it was true? Well, it's like this. I can only say from my experience - I was delivered from drugs and I know it was real. I'm not tempted to go back on drugs. Question: But you get loaded - now explain that. If you were delivered from drugs and you know God did something for you, what keeps you going back? Can't you make the break? What keeps you from making a total break even though you know the teachings of God are true? Me - that's all I can say. It is a lack of following through on spiritual things. Question: Do you really believe in your heart that you are going to make it someday - that you are really going to make it one of these days? Of course - otherwise I wouldn't keep on struggling. (Interview) Many of the girls in this group experienced times when they were completely drug free and then reverted to occasional use while still being able to maintain a job. Others got into drugs again com pletely. However, in observing the course of their drug use and periods of abstinence, one staff member commented: "for many, it is an up and down thing for the first five years. " She feels that if their desire for change is real, the struggle they are having will have a positive outcome and they will come to a stage where they don't 209 want to get loaded again. She said that the girls need to learn how to handle life and its problems and to find out that drugs don't do the same things for them that they had in the past (Fieldnotes). Viewed from this persepctive, if the attitude of the girls is one of wariLiiig to please God, failures at this point in time can be seen as stepping- stones to a new way of life: Question: Why can't you keep on with God? Because I'm always falling. The world looks pretty to me at times and I want a little taste, and so I taste. Question: So you can't withstand temptation? No, but then my conscience doesn't let me go too far because as soon as I get that taste I have to run right back and I'm down on my knees and saying to God, 'Help,' (Interview) Identity Change In instances where girls have learned to use experiences of failure as a stepping stone to the kind of life they want for themselves the failure is not constantly repeated and the feeling of guilt is not maintained; After I had been there three months, I went home for a weekend - I could have gone sooner, but I knew I wasn't strong enough in the Lord. And when I got there I was just so uptight and nervous. I just wasn't ready to be there - I wasn't strong enough in the Lord to resist, and I went down and I used some heroin. But I found out it wasn't the same. I'm glad I found out instead of always wondering - but still. But I haven't since then. I knew it would never be the same even if I decided to leave the Lord and go back. It wouldn't be the same. It's just not the same once you know the Lord. (Interview) 210 After I left New Hope I fell because I was so completely alone out there. But the first day after I had messed up, I got out of it because I couldn't stand it. I couldn't live that life any more. Even the thought that I dared slip up was horrible because once you have known and tasted the Lord Jesus, you cannot accept the old life back - not un less you completely stay out of it 24 hours a day, but you can't even do it then. I know that because I couldn't live with myself. I don't care who they are. Once they have been through that program for even a few days - once they have been exposed, you can't get away from it,(Interview) One girl was kicked out of the program for 30 days because she came back loaded from a weekend visit to her home. She recalled her feelings at the time in an interview: I just rebelled and felt crushed. I just left and kept getting loaded for a week, but I came to grips with the Lord and said 'Even if I have to go to jail, I have to get right with Him. ' Then I came back to the Center. I didn't have to go to jail, but I had to waif three weeks with my parents at home to see if I could still make it and come back twice a week. I made it! That was the best thing that ever happened to me because I had to come to grips with the Lord outside of the Center. My parents and my little brother got saved during that time. I feel that this was something that had to happen in my life. I knew consciously that this was where it was at, but I had to develop a sense of the Lord and to know that I was really a new creature and in that week I knew that I was no longer part of that stuff - that I had been literally transformed on the inside and I couldn't take part in those things. Question: Do you think you have completely sold out your life to the Lord in spite of the ups and downs you have had? I think those ups and down make it for people because you go up and you know the Lord in such a neat way, and all of a sudden He is gone and people seem like they are attacking you and you go through such really bad things. Then the Lord comes and touches you even in the midst of all that and then you know how real He is.(Interview), Other girls described their experiences of failure in this way: 211 I left the program too soon. I wasn't ready to leave. I tried Christian service at several places, but when the organization flopped, so did T . I used weed and booze for about ten months while away from the Lord, but it wasn't the same, and I was m iserable. Once knowing the Lord, you don't enjoy sin as a sinner does. But through it all. I've learned a lot - I know God never left me, but He allowed it for me to see there is no satisfaction in anything but God. Drugs aren't a prob lem now - P raise God! (Questionnaire) Other girls had sim ilar experiences. The following is an ex cerpt from an interview at the time one girl was leaving the program to enter a counseling position: Question: When you think about drugs, does it make you want them? It doesn't bother me. It's gone - like I've got my life right here right now. I just wouldn't have time to get loaded. I feel too good to get loaded. I would bring me down. But I'll tell you though, right now while talkipg about it, Satan came up behind me and said 'Wouldn't it be nice to go back and get loaded? ' but I just continually ask the Lord again to bring up all the bad instances that I ever had. I'd like to go back and get loaded just for getting loaded. I'd want the Lord too, but I don't want it because I love the Lord too much and I don't want anything He doesn't want me to have. (Interview) When this same girl was interviewed nine months later, she d es cribed her struggles in attempting to really get off drugs: Question: Did you set any goals for yourself when you left - that you were going to try to keep - I'm not going to smoke. I'm not goint to get loaded - I'm going to be good? Ya - I told the Lord I wouldn't go any of that - but I did. I was blowing it - whenever I would reach something with a person and be mixed up, my first thought was - I'm going to have a cigarette, and it go to - I'd have my bottle in my bedroom and my cigarettes in my purse. . . It was getting so I was having a drink everytime I didn't want 212 to face something, and I knew I'd have to leave my job, and it was getting so I'd have to go outside all the time to have a cigarette, and it was worse than it had over been, and finally I had to go to someone and I went to Stanley and we talked for two hours and I realized that I hadn't forgiven my mon for my past. It's really beautiful because after going home, the Lord just lifted this feeling of blowing it, and it's kinda hard to explain. I talked with a friend one day after church, and she said it wasn't right to keep on having problems since I had committed it to God, and I prayed to God to show me in my heart that I really didn't want to go back with drugs. Because every time I had a battle, I would have a battle with wanting to get loaded, and I had to go through these decisions - and finally God showed me in my heart that He took it from me after I asked my parents forgiveness. I reached a point where God showed me I really didn't want to go back, and now that I know that - every time I come to anything, I can knock off and it saves 50 tears and 50 battles and then I just have to face the problem or the hurt you get. Question: Do you think you are m ore stable now? Yes, but I still have my ups and downs, (Interview) After leaving I straightened up. I gave up my old friends, but I was still m iserable. I knew I had to make a com plete stand for the Lord. I was sick of doing what I wan ted to do - I gave it to Him,(Questionnaire) In the foregoing cases, the discrepancy between beliefs and actions was brought into line so that a complete identity change could occur. Although experiences of learning from failure were not documented for each of the girls who experienced a real identity change, they were noted in such a great number of interviews that it may be a s sumed that those who did not mention such experiences would have, had the question been asked. The New Hope explanation for the dif ference between those who continue with a sense of guilt and those who fail but turn to God for forgiveness is that the first group a c cepted Christ but failed to make "the decision to go all the way with 213 Christ, that is, to give everything to Him which leads to peace and joy" (Fieldnotes). This is documented by interviews and fieldnotes for each of the cases described above, because in each case where guilt continued, there had been a problem with "game playing" while in the program or else the girl had not understood religious instruc tion. The more reflective of the girls were thankful for the changes they saw in themselves, but they also recognized the need for their continued dependence on the Lord: Just think, I was a year old yesterday (i. e. in the Lord) Praise God, what a change. So many people have com mented that I have sort of a quiet flow and peace. Thanks to Him, I’m being kept in a wonderful way. I've been clean for so long - but I still live day by day. The girl who works with me keeps trying to turn me on - unaware I'm an ex-user. (Personal letter) Two years after this letter, this girl responded to the questionnaire with praise to God that she is still clean: God has been good to me, and I cannot go back. I only wish for more fellowship and more ways to serve Him. (Questionnaire) Cycles of Success and Failure One girl who has not yet reached the stage of not getting loaded has already experienced the cyclical pattern described above. She initially experienced conversion in the program but then was "busted" by a counselor for coming back loaded from weekends at home. The counselor wrote the following note: 214 Monday in group I called Resilee out for coming back loaded. I feel she has had a bad feeling about me ever since. I talked to her today and she seems to be doing better. She has been asking the Lord to help her. She said she has been seeking other relationships other than Roxanne. She also told me she was glad I busted her because it really gave her a release she really wanted and it helped her ask for prayer and get right with the Lord. I'm praying Rosilee will really see the Lord. I'm not sure she has had a really deep experience with the Lord. (Counselor's Note) A letter to Rosilee's probation officer at the time she was ready to leave the program indicated that she had made satisfactory progress in fulfilling the expectations of the counselors: Rosilee has been doing very good here at New Hope for the past six months. I also feel that she has gained suf ficient strength to enable her to make a successful ad justment at home with the proper support and help from her family and the probation department.(Letter) A year later, a staff m em ber received a letter from Rosilee which said: I thought I would write to see how you are doing. Myself - I am fine. I'm not strung out no more. P raise the Lord. I m et some straight friends that are a lot older than me that really cared about me and they took me up North to stay and kick. They did that about three times until I finally gave it up for good. I've been off of it for about 3^ months now, and I don't ever crave it or even think about it. Nobody up here can believe it. I went from 117 to 140 lbs. I sure look healthy again. Well, Sally, you sure wouldn't believe this. But rem em ber my school plans when I left the Center. Well, nobody thought I would ever finish high school or go to college. Well, I sure fooled a lot of people. I went to night school and got my high school diploma and now I'm going to Junior College sum m er school and I'll start again in September. The Lord must of really worked a miracle in my life. I'm still not going to church, but I read the Word every day and other Christian books. (Personal letter) 215 Six months later she returned the questionnaire which was sent to secure information for this investigation. In response to the ques tion, "What have you been doing since you left the program ?" she wrote: "Going to jail and being strung out on heroin, " In response to the question, "Is your life now what you thought it would be when you were preparing to leave New Hope?" she said, "No, I used h e r oin very little before coming to the program. But when I left I made all new friends and just ran right back into the same old thing - ex cept worse - heroin instead of reds. " What she wants most out of life is, "To kick and live a normal life. " The last line of the ques tionnaire read, "Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. " She replied, "your (sic) welcome. Tell everybody hello and to pray for me. " Three months later Rosilee stopped for a visit at New Hope. She said she was still using, but she wanted to get off drugs and may come back to the program. It is this type of up and down pattern that makes it so difficult to evaluate the success of a rehabilitation program. The short term goal of producing an identity change while in the program was a c complished, and if no further communication had followed her letter, she would have been recorded as successfully rehabilitated. How ever, on the basis of her questionnaire responses she was recorded as a user and her final success in kicking her habit is still unknown. 216 Another girl completed the program very successfully and worked as a counselor. She later returned to heroin use and then tried unsuccessfully to quit using while enrolled in another program. At the time the tabulation of the success rates for this investigation was done she was listed as a user. Recent reports have been r e ceived that she is now working successfully as a counselor in a drug rehabilitation program. Life histories such as these could be doc umented for many girls in this group. However, for the purposes of this investigation, a girl was de fined as successful or unsuccessful according to the report that was available for her on March 1, 1974 so that the information could be tabulated for statistical analysis. The fact that some of the girls should be classified differently based on information available at the time of writing the report constitutes a limitation of any type of study that attempts to quantify at one point in time a process that is dynamic. For this reason it is especially important to understand the usual problems of the transition period so that a girl*s perfor mance at one time can be seen in relation to the whole. CHAPTER IX EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM If the goal of the program was only to produce conformity to and ideological acceptance of the beliefs and values of the program while the girls were participants in the program, the task of evalua tion would be relatively simple. The percentages of girls classified as successful or rebellious by the staff and the statements of the girls indicating the changes that had occurred in their lives would provide the information for computing the short term success of the program. However, as discussed above, success in the program cannot be equated with success outside the program. The overall success rate for the 118 girls who remained in the program 16 days or more was 66. 7% (based on 105 for whom information was available). A l though the group who was judged to be cooperative had the highest percentage of successful graduates (73. 5%) as compared with 50% success for girls judged to be not committed and 60% success for those judged to be rebellious (see Table Twelve), the difference was 2 not statistically significant (X sig. at . 15 level). In fact, it was the shock and bewilderment caused by reports that girls who had such a positive witness for Christ while in the program had returned to drugs after leaving the program that provided the impetus for this investigation. The fact that the accounts of behavioral and ideological 217 218 changes that occurred during the pio gram that were given by girls at the time they were leaving the program cannot be used to predict long-term success, points to the importance of gaining knowledge about the life situations girls experienced after leaving the program which confirm or disconfirm that change had occurred. Through an analysis of the responses of the girls to these events, the effective ness of the program in preparing girls for meeting the problems experienced in the transition from program to society, and the help fulness of the program staff in managing the transition can be eval uated. TABLE TWELVE Adjustment by Response to Program Adj Cooperative Not Committed Rebell Row Total Not Using 50 8 12 70 Drugs 73. 5 50. 0 60. 0 67. 3 Using 18 8 8 34 Drugs 26. 5 50. 0 40. 0 32. 7 Column 68 16 20 104 Total 65.4 15.4 19.2 100. 0 sig. at 0. 1452 level missing observations - 14 Until a girl has made the transition to the normal work world or has demonstrated that she can hold down a job or enter into a 219 stable, drag-free m arriage, it is not possible to talk in term s of "success. " Therefore, the program can only be evaluated in terms of its long-term goal which is "to effect a change in the identity of a girl so that she goes from seeing herself as an addict to seeing herself as an ex-addict and then sees herself only as a Christian" by assessing the events^ of the transition period (Fi eld notes ). It must be noted that the Center has no stated goals for the management of the transition period, but only for its outcome - the drug free gradu ate who is living for Christ. Transition to the Outside Transition to life outside New Hope posed problems for most of the girls, and the problems were more acute if the stay at New Hope had been long. Coffman has described the phenomenon of "disculturation" or "untraining which makes a person temporarily incapable of managing features of daily life on the outside" (Coffman, 1961:16). Disculturation can occur during a long period of institu tionalization. For some. New Hope had become "home" to such an extent that they were afraid to face life on the outside: It was just weird being out of the program and being in the world. It wasn't easy to even talk to people.(Inter view) Question: What happened to you when you cut the Center loose - when you got on the streets and started living on your own? It was scary because I depended a lot on the Center, but I made it. There were trials and tribulations I had to face but I was finally growing up.(Interview) 220 Question: Did New Hope prepare you to meet the outside world ? Well, in a way. But in a way, I don't know because I got to the place where I didn't want to meet anyone because after you live there so long you feel like it is your secu r ity or something. A. lot of times I was scared to meet new people and scared to go any place. I'd been there in the program not going anywhere. A lot of times I didn't want to go on recreation because I just didn't want to leave the house. (Interview) The problems that the girls faced when they left the Center were common to all unless they immediately went into another Chris tian institution: loneliness, no job, no Christian fellowship, no friends except the old gang, and family problems. Many girls felt that New Hope had not sufficiently prepared them to resume life after leaving the Center: One problem with the program is that they don't prepare you for returning to the streets. As long as you are there you are protected, but you haven't learned how to handle yourself in temptation.(Interview) You are so protected while in the program - but when you are let out, you are just let out. The Lord prepares you in ways, but you need to learn to trust Him.(Interview) Confusion,about how to live a Christian life on the outside was expressed by other girls : When I was there, most of the girls thought that when you got out you were going to live your life as you had in the Center, and that's impossible the way it was set up. One of the things that scared me when I left was 'How am I ever going to make it like this on the outside' because it was never explained to me how it would be when you got out. Some of the girls were afraid to leave because it wasn't explained to them how it would be possible to live as a Christian outside the Center.(Interview) 221 I tried to be with the Lord after I left, but it is hard. They said, 'Just depend on the Lord - He will work everything out. ' It seems like a phantasy now - I know He's up there - but I'm here. They didn't talk about the world, just the Lord,(Interview) When I came out, it was so different. I had to take on so much responsibility. I had to figure out my Bible reading time - you know there is no one to make you read your Bible and if you quit reading your Bible you just. . . (Interview) The anticipation of the loneliness, lack of acceptance by family and the inability to find new friends or a job are all part of what Goff man term s "release anxiety" (Coffman, 1961:72). Girls who had found family, friendship, and meaningful work within the program as well as status and recognition were afraid that when they left the program they would be forced to start over again from the bottom and that perhaps they would be unsuccessful. Girls realized that they would not find the acceptance on the outside that they had found in the pro gram, and that their stigmatized past would be a problem in many social and employment situations. For many, their graduation from New Hope sent them from the top of one world to the bottom of an other and many found this change of status very difficult. For ex ample, one graduate who applied for admission to a dental assistant program was told that she could only prepare herself for work in an orthodontist's office since drugs were rarely used in that branch of dentistry (Fieldnotes). Another girl was able to successfully "pass" as a "normal" and enjoyed the new type of relationship she was able to have with 222 friends and other employees: Question: Do you think of yourself as an ex-addict? I used to - I don't think it is good to think of yourself as an ex-addict forever. Now I'm just a regular p e r son. People think I am more lame than other lame people. When I worked in an office, the people thought I was the sweetest thing and loved me to death, and I thought, 'If only you knew' - but it is kind of nice to have people think you are sweet.(Interview) Another girl made no attempt to hide the fact that she was a graduate of the New Hope program when she entered a private Bible college. However, she found that girls she talked to were genuinely surprised when they found out about her past: Rhonda says that many girls come to her for counseling. They don't know she took drugs, but they know she is someone people can talk to. She said they are usually surprised when she tells them she used drugs because she presents such a different image now. She says, 'I just want them to think of me as a Christian - not an ex-doper - because that what I am. ' She says that many are using the Bible College as a New Hope - many hve just quit using drugs and others are still tempted by them. She said that in the future she would like to go into some type of counseling work. (Fieldnotes) When a girl is ready to leave the program attempts are made by the staff to help her find a job, especially if she wants to work as a counselor in another drug program. However, if she doesn't have any great'desire to do something special, she just leaves. As one girl said, "one moment you are in the program and the next you are out" (Interview). The loneliness the girls experience when they get out was one of the most commented on problems: 223 My biggest problem in adjusting to the outside world was loneliness. There were sixteen girls at New Hope and after I left th ere was only one and she wasn't there half the time.(Interview) You see, the problem at New Hope is, once you leave, that's it. There is no out-patient program which is what is necessary. When I left New Hope, I sat alone in this house for three months and no one came - no one called. It was as if all of a sudden I was some place and a knife just cut me off. I used to call and say, ' You guys drive right by - would someone please come and pick me up for church?' But no. I didn't do anything wrong in the program.I was friends with every one, but it was just that there was not time. You can imagine how it is to go from a schedule that is very tight to nothing. I almost went crazy at first.(Interview) This feeling of desertion was expressed by another girl: Have you seen Sally? Tell her to call or write or come over or something. Doesn't she love us any more either? Golly gee, they all desert us, (Personal letter) P art of the loneliness was associated with the problem of making friends of a different type. One girls said that when you are in a drug cult it is a lot easier to meet new people and added, "It should be just as easy to find Christian friends but it isn't" (Interview). Others said: They should introduce you to new friends and a job. You see, the only friends I knew were drug addicts, so when I went home, I went to the streets. (Interview) I was very lonely and had no friends. Learning to cope with everyday problems and life in general without drugs was difficult. I didn't quite know what to do with myself - what kind of job to get, what church to go to, what to do for fun,(Questionnaire) Perhaps the most difficult problem any girl had to face was going back to her own home to resume associations with form er 224 friends or with family m em bers. Because the girls may have " r e formed" in the past and then went back into drug use, parents were often reluctant to believe that this time she was really different. One girl wrote: How do you explain to parents you are clean so they will trust you again? The program could have been more help ful in teaching us how to cope with parents once you leave the Center and how to stay strong in the Lord when there is no fellowship available and how to rearrange you life style so you are not tempted back into drugs. These past three years have not been easy. My parents still do not trust me and repeat often that they feel that they are fail ures as parents. (Questionnaire) Parents aren 't of help. My mother couldn't accept the fact that I had changed. My family to this day - and it has been three years - are just beginning to accept it, but they don't want to hear anything about religion. They say, 'Don't preach to us. ' So I came out of a Christian oriented program to a home where my mother told me, 'Don't mention God in this house. ' A younger person with no one but Jesus (which is beautiful, really) goes back home where their parents can't accept them as a changed individual and where everyone is waiting for them to fall, and all their friends come around and they're going to meet someone on the streets. It's not hard to understand why they fall.(Interview) I was ready to leave the program, but I still wanted to be in the ministry, and my parents under no condition would let me come home even though I had been a C h ris tian for eight months and was doing very well. When I found that I had no where to go because my parents wouldn't take me, I just got really bewildered and went off the deep end.(Interview) One young mother described the difficulties she had in getting her small son to trust her again: Before I wasn't a very good mother - no addicts really are - and he didn't have any trust in me at all. When I got him back, it was real hard at first - like if I'd go into a restroom, he would get nervous and not want me 225 to close the door because that is where I used to go fix - in the bathroom - and he was afraid if I went into the bathroom I might come out and be the old mommy. It was just gradual that the trust relationship developed. He's - he's been through so much already (Interview) In another case, a mother finally believed that change had occurred in her daughter, but subsequent events proved that her confidence was prem ature because the girl went back into heroin another time before becoming drug free again: Question: Have you told your mother about your new job? Yest, I shared with her last weekend. I told her, ' The Lord is going to use me in this way' - and I think she be lieved me because she smiled and said, 'Praise the Lord.' Every other time I told her something, she would think, 'No, you are going to fall or stumble' like I have after other programs I have been in.(Interview) Even when parents accept the fact that change has occurred, girls found that it was often difficult to live at home because the C hris tian fellowship they had learned to depend on was lacking; When I went home and was living with my family who really haven't had a relationship with God in the way that I have, they're not living every day to serve the Lord and the TV runs constantly and nobody talks about God - it was like my spirit was just deflating. I still loved the Lord and went to church, but I didn't have the blessings I could have had being with Christian people. I hadn't backslid and gave out to drug use, but I wasn't getting all the fulfillment I could have, so that's why I went back to work at New Hope. My Christian life is totally dependent on the Lord, but the Bible says we need Christian fellowship, and I don't think I could keep on living as a Christian without others around because the Devil could come in and shoot all sorts of condemn ing (sic) thoughts at me. (Interview) An even more difficult situation for a girl to live with was for par- 226 ents to accept the fact that a change had occurred but not like the change because it made them feel sinful: Sometimes I think my parents liked me better the way I used to be when T was on drugs, I used to cuss and tell them I hated them. They still expect me to be that way sometimes because it takes them so long to believe that God changes you heart inside. Question: Why do you think they liked you better the way you were before? I don't know - but what the Lord has shown me is that where they are right now is where I was when I got saved. (Interview) In the cases described above, girls found it difficult to return to their own homes because of the lack of trust they experienced or the lack of Christian fellowship. However, these were not the great est problems associated with returning to one's home. The greatest "release anxiety" girls experienced was the fear of being tempted to use drugs again if they got back into their old crowd: some girls know that they couldn't make it if they ever returned to their own homes and made deliberate plans to avoid the problem. They said: I know if I would start hanging around with my old friends and partying, I would start back on drugs. (Interview) I didn't want to go back to my home town when I left the program. I didn't know any Christians there - none of my friends had been saved, and it is a lot harder in a small town to start over because you already have a label on you. So I decided to stay here where I had Christian fellowship, I don't think I could have made it if I had gone home. By staying here I could really start over afresh without having the old label. They still refer to it when I go back home, but I can take it now, (Interview) 227 Most of the kids who leave New Hope don't go back to their home town. There is a lot of temptation every where, but especially in your home town. When I go home on weekends, I meet kids I used to know - most of them don't believe it if I tell them I've changed.(In terview) It's really hard when you go back to a school, you know, where all your friends are there. They are just there and you spend all day with them, you know, and just none of them are saved, and it's just different. After you get saved and you're living for the Lord, it's dif ferent out in the world, you know. I'd have a hard time making it, I know, and I don't think I ever want to put myself through that test, of going back to regu lar school. The only thing I could think of that would help if I went back to my regular school would be if I was constantly talking about the Lord, you know, to people. I would have to be constantly talking about the Lord and what he has done for me, because if I was to start talking about something else, that could lead into talk about old times and stuff, and that would lead to me dwelling on the thought and then wanting to get loaded again. And, you know, most people wouldn't want to hear me. I can't carry on just a conversation with one of my old friends now, because I am different now, be cause I am different now, and we just don't have any thing to talk about.(Interview) I will be going back to my high school, my old haunt. I donft think it will bring me down because I have the Lord now - but if it does, I will have to change schools or something because it is better to do that than get back to the old way. (Interview) I know the first few months after I went home, I was going out with my old friends - not to parties but to a movie or a concert. I wasn't ready to go home and just live with my parents. I don't think that anyone who was really into drugs should ever go back to their home town. Question: Do you feel there is too much temptation there with the people you know? Uh ha, if you get lonely you call up an old friend or if you want something to do - that's what I did. If you get upset, it's a lot easier to blow it. The Lord just took away my non-Christian friends when I was living at home. I know it was Him that was making me not 228 see them - and then I prayed that He would bring me some Christian friends, and it was really neat - He did, (Interview) Those who went back to husbands or boyfriends who were drug users had little chance of maintaining the change that had occurred while in the program: She wanted to get right with the Lord, but then her hus band came back and got her started on heroin again. She says, ' The Lord won't forgive me. * She wants to come back to the Lord, but she has so many problems that to overcome them or face them she thinks she has to get loaded and when you are on heroin, you don't care. Coming down you want to get right and straight but when someone brings it to you, 'Why not?* and then you start going again. But she is in m isery now, so I know she will be coming back to the Lord,(Interview) I went to another program, but I didn't stay there very long. Then I got together with my husband, and that's bad news. We are bad for each other. (Interview) Question: Have drugs been a problem for you in any way? Yes, I began to take my eyes off Jesus for almost a year. I started dating a guy who I'm pretty sure is demon possessed who claimed to be a Christian. He really confused me about God, and I was always de pressed around him. I started taking speed again so I wouldn't be so low. (Questionnaire) Correlates of Success Hypothesis 1 The success rate for girls who have chosen to enter New Hope will be greater than for sim ilar female addicts committed by the courts. 229 An important factor in predicting long term success was the type of initial admission. During the three year period of this study, 56 girls entered the program as voluntary admissions, and 62 were probated to the program by the courts. It was found that those girls who entered the program as voluntary admissions had a higher rate of success than did those who were probated there (see Table Thir teen). Eighty-six percent of those who had entered the program as voluntary admissions were not using drugs wereas the probation admissions were evenly divided between those using and not using. TABLE THIRTEEN Adjustment by Type of Admission Adj Not Using Drugs Using Drugs Column Total sig. at 0.0001 level Missing Observations - 13 Voluntary Probation Row Total 43 27 70 86. 0 49. 1 66. 7 7 28 35 14. 0 50.9 33. 3 50 55 105 47. 6 52.4 100.0 When the voluntary and probation admissions were compared, it was found that there was no significant difference between the groups in the amount of time they spent in the program,in their age 230 at the time of entering the program, their m arital status, race, patterns of church attendance, and their opinion at the time they were leaving the program as to the helpfulness of the program. How ever, on a number of important variables there was a difference b e tween groups. The girls who entered voluntarily tended to be better educated. Eighty percent of those who had had some college courses were in this group whereas 68% of those who had less than a tenth grade education were in the probation admissions (see Table F our teen). Of those who came from intact families, 62.5% were volun tary admissions whereas those who came from one parent homes or foster homes were prim arily probation admissions (see Table Fifteen), TABLE FOURTEEN Type of Admission by Education 10th or Less 11th —12th Row Total College Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 1 13 35 8 56 32. 5 52. 2 80.0 47.9 27 32 2 61 67. 5 47. 8 20. 0 52. 1 40 67 10 117 34. 2 57. 3 8. 5 100. 0 Natural Parents One Natural Parent Foster Parents Row Tot 30 20 1 51 62. 5 38. 5 20. 0 48. 6 18 32 4 54 37. 5 61. 5 80. 0 51.4 48 52 5 105 45. 7 39. 5 4. 8 100. 0 231 TABLE FIFTEEN Type of Admission by Family Composition Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 13 For a girl to be probated to the New Hope program meant that she had been involved in drugs to such an extent that her drug use had come to the attention of the juvenile authorities or that her drug use had lead to her a rre s t on other charges. Therefore, it is no surpise that 65% of those who reported that heroin was their major drug were probation admissions (see Table Sixteen). On the other hand, those who had used varying combinations of other drugs were evenly split between voluntary and probation admissions - there were 37 in each group. It was also more likely that girls who were pro bation admissions had been previously admitted to another program. Fifty-nine percent of those who had been in a previous program were probation admissions (see Table Seventeen). Another factor that is useful in explaining why girls who en tered the program voluntarily were more successful than the proba- 232 He roin Oth er Row Total 11 37 48 35. 5 50. 0 45. 7 20 37 57 64. 5 50. 0 54. 3 31 74 105 29. 5 70. 5 100. 0 TABLE SIXTEEN Type of Admission by Preferred Drug Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 13 TABLE SEVENTEEN Type of Admission by Attendance in a Previous Program Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 6 tion placement was that more of these girls had accepted the ideolog ical position of the program prior to admission than had the proba tion admissions. For example, 86% of those who said they wanted to enter Christian service after their rehabilitation were voluntary Yes No Row Total 14 39 53 41. 2 50. 0 47. 3 20 39 59 58. 8 50. 0 52. 7 34 78 112 30.4 69. 6 100. 0 233 admissions (see Table Eighteen), and 66% of those who reported that they had accepted Christ before entering the program were vol untary admissions. In contrast, 73% of those who had not accepted Christ b e fo r e en terin g the program were probation placements (see Table Nineteen). When the main reason given for entering the pro gram was analyzed for each type of admission, it was found that more girls who entered voluntarily wished to increase their religious commitment whereas more of the girls admitted as probation place ment feltvthey had been forced to enter the program (see Table Twenty). It was also true that more girls who were voluntary adm is sions came from Pentecostal backgrounds (see Table Four). One girl who was a probationary placement said: "I never heard of half the things they do here - I never heard of speaking in tongues. I wanted to leave, but I couldn't because I was probated here" (Inter view). TABLE EIGHTEEN Type of Admission by Life Plan When Entering Christian Service Return Home Row Total Adm 1 ^ 19 29 48 Voluntary 1 ^ 3 51 54 Probation 13. 6 63. 8 52.9 ^ ^ . 22 80 102 Column Total 2 I. 6 78.4 100.0 Missing Observations - 16 234 TABLE NINETEEN Type of Admission by Accepted Christ Before Entering Program Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 5 TABLE TWENTY Type of Admission by Reason Given Before Entering Increase Faith Desire Change Forced Adm Total W 1 21 31 2 54 Voluntary 6 5 .6 50.0 9. 5 47.0 Yes No Row Total 40 14 54 65. 6 26. 9 47. 8 21 38 59 34. 4 73.1 52. 2 61 52 113 54. 0 46. 0 100. 0 Probation 11 31 19 61 34.4 50.0 31. 1 53.0 Column Total Missing Observations - 3 32 62 21 115 27. 8 53.9 18. 3 100.0 The New Hope program has as its basic tenet that it is a s p ir itual change in the girl that enables her to live a drug-free life when she leaves the program. This tenet is given some support from the data described above that girls who had a religious experience prior to entering the program and entered the program wishing to consol idate that experience were more likely to be drug free after leaving 235 the program. They were also more likely to be considered as co operative by the staff while they were in the program whereas the probation placements constituted 78.9% of the non-committed and 65.4% of the rebellious groups (See Table Six), It is also seem by the fact that of those who split or were expelled from the program, 70. 5% were probation admissions (see Table Twenty-One). TABLE TWENTY-ONE Type of Admission by Manner of Leaving the Program Adm Finished or Permanent Split or Expelled Row Total Voluntary 42 58. 3 13 29. 5 55 47, 4 Probation 30 41. 7 31 70. 5 61 52. 6 Column Total 72 62. 1 44 37.9 116 100. 0 Missing Observations - 2 An important factor for success already discussed is the place of residence a girl goes to when leaving the program. The girl who was admitted as a probation placement was more likely to return to a drug environment than was a girl who had voluntarily admitted herself to the program (see Table Twenty-Two). Closely connected with this factor is the maintenance of ties with a Christian group. Again, the voluntary admissions were much more likely to do this 236 with 63, 6% maintaining contact (see Table Twenty-Three). Of those who did not maintain contact, 73. 2% were in the probationary placement group. TABLE TWENTY-TWO Type of Admission by F irst Place of Residence After Leaving Program ( I J Adm Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 6 TABLE TWENTY-THREE Type of Admission by Maintenance of Christian Contact Christian Institution Non-Drug Drug Environment Row Total 26 24 4 54 59. 1 52. 2 18. 2 48. 2 18 22 18 58 40. 9 37.9 81. 8 51.8 44 46 22 112 39. 3 41. 1 19. 6 100. 0 Voluntary Probation Column Total Missing Observations - 22 Yes No Row Total 35 11 46 63.6 26. 8 47.9 20 30 50 36. 4 73. 2 52. 1 55 41 96 57. 3 42. 7 100. 0 237 Hypothesis 2 The success rate for girls who have received "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" will be greater than for those who did not. Hypothesis 2 could not be tested because it was not possible to secure adequate information about which girls reported receiving "the baptism of the Spirit. " However it was observed that some girls who stated they had received the baptism are now using drugs whereas others are the most successful of the graduates. Hypothesis 3 The success rate for girls who enter a Christian environment after leaving the program will be greater than for those who do not. In order to avoid the problem of returning home after leaving the program, many of the graduates entered another Christian insti tution or school as counselors or students. It was this group that has been most successful in staying away from drugs. Of the forty- three girls who entered Christian institutions after leaving the p ro gram 76. 7% were drug free at the time the statistics were tabulated.^ However, those who went to homes that were drug-free have also been successful (see Table Twenty-four). Many of the girls in this group m arried Christian men and have maintained contact with Christian groups. Of the eighteen girls who were known to return to a home where there were drug users, 72. 2% are now using drugs. In fact, one graduate of the program said that going to another p ro gram as a worker that is pretty sim ilar to that of New Hope is one of the best ways to phase out of a program (Interview). 238 Therefore hypothesis 3 has been confirmed. TABLE TWENTY-FOUR Adjustment by Place of Residence Adj Christian Institution Non-Drug Drug Environment Row Total 33 31 5 69 76. 7 72. 1 27. 8 66. 3 10 12 13 35 23. 3 27. 9 72. 2 33. 7 43 43 18 104 41. 3 41. 3 17. 3 100. 0 Not Using Drugs Using Drugs Column Total sig. at 0. 0006 level Missing Observations - 14 Hypothesis 4 The success rate for girls who maintain contact with New Hope personnel or a church group will be greater than for those who do not. The factor that was most useful in predicting success was whether or not graduates maintained contact with a Christian group or not. Of those girls who stated that they had maintained contact, 89. 1% were not using drugs. In contrast, of those who had not maintained contact, 61.0% were using drugs (see Table Twenty-five). Even though a Christian group provides friendship, a reference group, and discipline for its m em bers as well as fellowship, it is not possible to state that affiliation with a Christian group results 49 16 65 89. 1 39. 0 67. 7 6 25 31 10.9 61. 0 32. 3 55 41 96 57. 3 42. 7 100. 0 239 TABLE TWENTY-FIVE Adjustment by Maintenance of Christian Contact Yes No Row Total Adj Not Using Drugs Using Drugs Column Total Missing Observations - 22 in drug-freeness because the relationship between these variables is far from linear. However, from the statement of the girls a l ready cited, it is clear that they consider Christian fellowship to be of great importance in their ability to resist the temptation of drug use. For example, one girl said: I was saved when I visited New Hope. Then I went home and I was O. K. for a whole week, but I didn't have any Christian fellowship and tried to be good. But anyway, I started getting loaded again that weekend. I didn't have friends or nothing, and so I started calling my friends and telling them about the Lord, snd they asked me to a party, and I was preaching to them telling them about the Lord, and they laughed and said, 'Why are you get ting loaded then. ' I said, 'I don't know, but I need to go to New Hope. It's a Christian place, and I want to get myself together with the Lord.' (Interview) Another girl explained why she wanted to be active in a group: 240 We have to be active in the Lord's ministry because if we sit around we get depressed because we're not doing what He wants us to do. We have to be helping other Christians and be with them or we fall back ourselves. (Interview) It is through contact with other Christians that girls are able to find direction for their lives: I keep praying the Lord will give me the right goals and desires for my life. I am too flighty, I need your pray ers too. (Personal Letter) In some cases girls maintained their contact with New Hope as a support during the early period of transition. One girl said that when she was first m arried they were so poor that they would go back to New Hope and get potatoes and use the phone and be encour aged by all the sisters there (Fieldnotes). Others went back when they were experiencing upsetting situations: The program is still a lot of help because things happened today, and I went over and talked. I don't think the Lord wants me to cut myself loose from the people there b e cause they are like our spiritual parents.(Interview) Since it is the long term goal of living outside of the institution without drugs that is of most importance to society as a whole and to the participant in the program as well, the actual evaluation of the program must be centered on the performance of its graduates. As stated above, the overall success rate for the 105 for whom in formation was available of the 118 residents who remained in the program sixteen days or more was 66. 7%. Some of the 105 girls had been out of the program for over three years and some had been 241 out for only a few months. Since the literature suggests that the recidivism rate rises as the time out of the program increases, the success rate was analyzed according to the amount of time since de parture from the program. These graduates from the program p re sented a pattern which was directly opposite to what had been expec ted. Of the group that has been out of the program the longest, 75. 7% are still drug free whereas only 54. 5% of the most recent group of graduates are drug free (see Table Twenty-six). What this means is that those girls who participated in the program during the first years have experienced greater success than those who were in the program during the third year of the program. There are two pos sible sources of variability to analyze that could account for the dif ferences between these two cohorts: I) characteristics of the re s i dents, and 2) characteristics of the program at the two times. TABLE TWENTY-SIX Months Elapsed Since Program by Adjustment 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total 2 . . ^ . Not Using Drugs Using Drugs Row Total 28 9 37 75. 7 24. 3 35. 2 24 11 35 68. 6 31.4 33. 3 18 15 33 54. 5 45. 5 31. 4 70 35 105 66. 7 33. 3 100. 0 level Missing Observations - 13 242 The girls who were residents during the first year were more homogeneous in age than during the other years. Most of the girls were between the ages of 16-21 years (81.4%) whereas only 56. 2% were between these ages in the third year (see Table Twenty-seven). Group I was also more homogeneous in religious background. Twenty-three of the 34 girls in Group I came from Protestant de nominations, and of these more than half came from Pentecostal churches. In contrast, only fourteen of the 32 girls in Group II came from Protestant denominations and eleven came from Catholic backgrounds so that 61% of the girls who were Catholic were in Group III (see Table Twenty-eight). The first cohort also tended to remain in the program for shorter length of time than did the third cohort. In the first group, 16.3% of the girls remained in the pro gram for more than 178 days as compared with 37. 1% of the girls from group three. In fact, for the first and second groups more girls left between 16-59 days than for any other period (see Table Twenty-nine). This pattern again is in the opposite direction of what would be predicted knowing that the first group was the. more success ful group. However, in the discussion above it was stated that girls who were on probation placements tended to remain in the program longer and also had a lower rate of success. One factor that can a c count for the greater success of the program during the first year is the fact that there were more voluntary admissions than probation placements and this pattern was reversed by the third year (see Table Thirty). 243 T A B L E T W E N T Y - S E V E N M o n th s E l a p s e d S in ce P r o g r a m by A g e 14-15 16-18 19-21 22 and Years Years Years Over Row Total 2 20 15 6 43 4. 7 46. 5 34. 9 14.0 36.4 3 21 8 8 40 7. 5 52. 5 20. 0 20. 0 33. 9 3 10 10 12 35 8. 6 28. 6 28. 6 34. 2 29. 7 8 51 33 26 118 6.8 43. 2 28. 0 22.0 100.0 2032 level 31 -47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total . TABLE TWENTY-EIGHT Months Elapsed Since Program by Denominational Background Pentecos. Protes. Catholic Jewish None Row Total 31-47 Months 8 47. 1 15 34. 1 4 22. 2 0 0 7 41. 2 34 34. 3 16-30 Months 7 41. 2 17 38. 6 3 16. 7 1 33. 0 5 29.4 33 33. 3 1-15 Months 2 11. 8 12 27. 3 11 61. 1 2 66. 7 5 29.4 32 32. 3 Column Total 17 17. 2 44 44. 4 18 18.2 3 3. 0 17 17. 2 99 100. 0 sig. at . 098 level Missing Observations - 19 244 T A B L E T W E N T Y -N IN E M o n th s E l a p s e d S in c e P r o g r a m b y L e n g th of T im e in P r o g r a m 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total 178 Days 120-177 60-119 16-59 Row or More Days Days Days Total 7 7 13 16 43 16. 3 16. 3 30. 2 37. 2 36.4 8 6 8 18 40 20.0 15.0 20. 0 45. 0 33. 9 13 7 8 7 35 37. 1 20. 0 22. 9 20. 0 29. 7 28 20 29 41 118 23. 7 16.9 24. 6 34. 7 100. 0 sig. at 0. 1970 level TABLE THIRTY Months Elapsed Since Program by Type of Admission 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total X^ sig. at 0. 3532 level Voluntary Probation Row Total 24 19 43 55. 8 44. 2 36.4 18 22 40 45. 0 55.0 33.9 14 21 35 40. 0 60. 0 29. 7 56 62 118 47. 5 52. 5 100. 0 245 Although most of the girls in each of the three groups were single. Group I had the highest percentage of separated or divorced women (20.9%) whereas Group II had the highest percentage of m a r ried women (22.9%) (see Table Thirty-one). This is of importance because in the first group, the girls were free to make a new life for themselves after leaving the program rather than returning to a husband who might be an addict. The difference in success between those who were m arried and those who were separated or divorced can be seen in Table Thirty-Two. TABLE THIRTY-ONE Months Elapsed Since Program by Marital Status 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total sig. at 0. 1309 level Single Married Separated or Divorced Row Total 30 4 9 43 69.8 9.3 20, 9 36. 4 32 2 6 40 80.0 5.0 15.0 33.9 23 8 4 35 65. 7 22.9 11. 4 29. 7 85 14 19 118 72.0 11.9 16. 1 100. 0 246 TABLE THIRTY-TWO Adjustment by Marital Status on Entering Program Adj Using Drugs Column Total Single Married Separated or Divorced Row To1 56 3 11 70 71. 8 25. 0 73. 3 66. 7 22 9 4 35 28. 2 75. 0 26. 7 33. 3 78 12 15 105 74. 3 11. 4 14. 3 100. 0 sig. at 0. 0050 level Missing Observations - 13 Another important difference between the group that had been out of the program the longest time and the more recent groups (Groups II and III) wat that more of them came from intact families (see Table Thirty-three) and a greater percentage of girls from in tact homes were successful although the difference for this factor was not statistically significant (see Table Thirty-four). The three groups had almost the same percentage of heroin users (see Table Thirty-five). However, the pattern of drug use was somewhat dif ferent. More girls in the third group reported that they had started using drugs with a relative (26. 5%) than in the first group (2. 6%)(see Table Thirty-six). Response to the program as reported by staff members was not a good predictor of success for these groups. A higher percentage of girls from Group I and Group II were reported 247 TA B T . . ‘ E THIRTY-THREE Months Elapsed Since Program by Family Composition Natural One Natural Foster Row Total Parents Parent Parents 31 -47 Months 22 61. 1 12 33. 3 2 5. 6 36 34. 3 16-30 Months 14 37. 8 22 59. 5 1 2. 7 37 35. 2 1-15 Months 12 37. 5 18 56. 3 2 6. 3 32 30. 5 Column Total 48 45. 7 52 49. 5 5 4. 8 105 100. 0 sig. at 0. 1777 level Missing Observations - 13 TABLE THIRTY-FOUR Adjustment by Family Compo sition Natural One Natural F oster Row Total Parents Parent Parents Adj Not Using Drug. 33 ^ 76.7 31 63. 3 2 40. 0 66 68. 0 Using Drugs 10 23. 3 18 36. 7 3 60. 0 31 32.0 Column Total 43 44. 3 49 50. 5 5 5. 2 97 100. 0 X^’ sig. at 0. 1481 level Missing Observations - 21 248 T A B L E T H I R T Y - F I V E M o n th s E l a p s e d S in c e P r o g r a m b y P r e f e r r e d D ru g 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total Heroin Other Row Total 13 25 38 34. 2 65. 8 36. 2 8 27 35 22. 9 77. 1 33. 3 10 22 32 31. 3 68.8 30. 5 31 74 105 29. 5 70. 5 100. 0 sig. at 0. 5503 level Missing Observations - 13 TABLE THIRTY-SIX Months Elapsed Since Program by Person with Whom Drugs were F irst Used 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total X^ sig. at 0.0008 level Missing Observations - 10 Relative Friend Row Total I 38 39 2. 6 97.4 36. I I 34 35 2.9 97. 1 32.4 9 25 34 26. 5 73. 5 31. 5 11 97 108 10. 2 89.W 100.0 249 to be not committed or to be rebellious than for Group III, and a low er percentage reported that they had accepted Christ while in the program (see Tables Thirty-seven and Thirty-eight). One explana tion that could be o ffe r e d to ex p la in th e se findings is that many of those in the first group who were rebellious or not committed simply did not respond to requests for information; furthermore, they had been away from the Center for a long enough period that the staff had not received current information about them. Eight of the 15 girls for whom no information was available were in the first group (see Table Thirty-nine). If it could be assumed that all non-respon dents are currently using drugs, a hypothetical table of success for the three groups could look like Table Forty. That all non-respon dents are currently using is not a reasonable assumption: there can be many reasons for nonresponce in survey research. However, if all non-respondents were using, the success rate for Group I would still be higher than for Group III. Therefore, it is necessary to look at characteristics of the program at different times in its development to find possible reasons for the first group's higher rate of success. Although the same di rectors remained for the three years included in this investigation, there were many differences in the interpersonal climate during the three years. Although I personally observed only the third period, I received numerous reports from people who had worked on the staff or had been residents during the two preceding periods. I also was fortunate to begin my observation just before a radical change in the 250 TABLE THIRTY-SEVEN Months Elapsed Since Prog ram by Response to Program Cooperative Not Committed Rebel! Row Total 31-47 Months 50^0 8 19. 0 13 31. 0 42 36. 5 20 16-30 Months ^ 8 20. 0 12 30. 0 40 34. 8 29 1-15 Months gy g 3 9. 1 1 3. 0 33 28. 7 70 Column Total ^ 19 16. 5 26 22. 6 115 100.0 sig. at 0.0048 level Missing Observations - 3 TABLE THIRTY-EIGHT Months Elapsed Since Program by Christian Experience Christian Not Christian Row Total 31-47 Months 65^9 14 34. 1 41 36. 0 28 16-30 Months ^ g 11 28. 2 39 34. 2 33 1-15 Months g y 2 1 2.9 34 29. 8 Column Total 77^2 26 22. 8 114 100. 0 X^ sig. at 0.0036 level Missing Observations - 4 251 T A B L E T H I R T Y -N IN E M o n th s E l a p s e d S in c e P r o g r a m b y S o u r c e of I n f o r m a tio n Person Report None Row Tot 17 18 8 43 34. 0 34. 0 53. 3 36.4 11 24 5 40 22. 0 45. 3 12. 5 33.9 22 11 2 35 44. 0 20. 8 13. 3 29. 7 50 53 15 118 42.4 44.9 12. 7 100. 0 31-47 Months 16-30 Months 1-15 Months Column Total sig. at 0 . 0198 level TABLE FORTY Hypothetical Table Months Elapsed Since Program by Adjustment w Corrected for Non-Response § ^ Adjustment o Not Using Using Row Total ^ Row Pet. ^ 31-47 Months 65.1% 34.9% o S 16-30 Months 60.0% 40.0% < u S H 1-15 Months 5 1 ^4% 4 8 ^6%
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Artinian, Barbara Murray
(author)
Core Title
Identity change in a therapeutic community
School
Graduate School
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Program
Sociology
Degree Conferral Date
1975-08
Tag
OAI-PMH Harvest
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC11256127
Unique identifier
UC11256127
Legacy Identifier
DP31762
Document Type
Dissertation