A Study of Surrender in the Process of Transformation for Recovering Alcoholics
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1988 A study of surrender in the process of transformation for recovering alcoholics. Jane Marie Hart University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Hart, Jane Marie, "A study of surrender in the process of transformation for recovering alcoholics." (1988). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 4648. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/4648 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 3iEDbb DE^a osDa a FIVE COLLEGE DEPOSITORY A STUDY OF SURRENDER IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION FOR RECOVERING ALCOHOLICS A Dissertation Presented by JANE MARIE HART Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION September 1988 School of Education A STUDY OF SURRENDER IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION FOR RECOVERING ALCOHOLICS A Dissertation Presented by JANE MARIE HART Approved as to style and content by: UA/ OA djahn W. Wideman, Chairman of Committee Moma. Maurianne Adams, Member ren Schumacher Marilyn H^ring-Hidore, School of Education 0 Copyright by Jane Marie Hart 1988 All Rights Reserved This dissertation is dedicated to the higher power within the hearts of all those who suffer with addictive attachments. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Jack Wideman continually generated the fuel which propelled this study and so many of the insights gained. That fuel was a golden, unceasing offering of nurturance, integrity, and courage to "compose and harmonize" and discover a new song. Meetings with Jack opened unlimited possibilities with and for this study. He helped me claim this research as a joyous beginning to a wondrous journey. Maurianne Adams showed me how the limits and potential of this work could flow gracefully. She gently challenged the meanings and connections I kept reaching for and celebrated every small step I took. Maurianne nudged me toward a fine appreciation of how every aspect of this study could colorfully express both science and art. Warren Schumacher offered a spirit and cheer that sparked an energy within everytime we met or spoke. He emanated a confidence and belief that kept me rising above how weighty this work sometimes felt for me. Warren's brightness brought me to know it was possible to fly. Gretchen Rossman was so generous with her time, brilliance, and creativity in helping me release the concerns I had about "rigorous research". As a true artist she brought colorful images to the liveliness hidden within the task of analyzing reams of data. The support and love from so many others was boundless. My mother and father, Mary Jane and Ed Hart, kept their love and God's love shining upon my dreams. June Connelly was the source of a constant, tender wisdom and encouragement. Bobby Hawkins freely offered invaluable tools to keep going. Adair McKay and Michael Flanagan gave V the affirmation and perspective I needed when my vision and voice were blurred. Barbara King generously tackled the first transcriptions. Cathy Thayer joyfully demonstrated how typing could be an adventure. And Peggy Austin, Jan Irizarry, and Judy Jordan loved me through many confidence relapses over six years of hoping. Thanking the subjects interviewed could barely touch the enormity of feeling they gave me. Through their lives, their eloquence, and the light in their souls they opened me to a mystery that will continue to inspire and nurture my own search. Each person who shared their remarkable story showed me how grace and faith could turn one day at a time into a new beginning of unlimited potential. And finally my heart sings in thanksgiving for Eddie Noone’s presence in this story of surrender. All that he's given, at the most crucial times, has opened me to how it feels to be touched so sweetly and lovingly by the Higher Power that guides every step of my journey. VI ABSTRACT A STUDY OF SURRENDER IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION FOR THE RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC SEPTEMBER 1988 JANE MARIE HART, B.S., ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY M.ED., ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY ED.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: John W. Wideman The objective of this study was to respond to two primary questions: (1) What is the process of self transformation for the recovering alcoholic? and (2) What is surrender and what role does it play in that process of transformation? Eight subjects were interviewed who have maintained abstinence from alcohol for over ten years and who are active members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Subjects were chosen through two key informants who participated in a pilot study. Key informants were long-term recovering alcoholics and referred the researcher to individuals who could provide in-depth and process-oriented reflections about their experiences. Subjects were asked to tell their story of addiction and recovery in their own terms. An interview guide with focal and follow-up questions insured that each subject gave his/her own authentic and full account of the process of self transformation and experiences of surrender. Grounded Theory guided the collection and analysis of the data generated in the interviews. Analysis of data revealed common themes VI i and patterns in regard to the recovery process and the experiences of surrender. A common pattern of recovery, illustrated as a gestalt process model, involved four components: action, awareness, connectedness, and choice. These components were found to be highly interactive, each contributing to or augmenting the other three. No common sequence was found; instead, any one of the components could serve as an entry into a cyclical, multileveled system of interaction of all four components, in ways that led to crucial experiences of surrender. Although surrender was found to be the necessary and critical core experience in all the sustained recoveries, differing forms of surrender were described, and various names for the experience were identified. All subjects described the process of recovery and the experiences of surrender as what led them to new "ways of being , forms of knowing , and different modes of consciousness. vin TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . ABSTRACT . LIST OF FIGURES . Chapter I. INTRODUCTION AND METHOD OF STUDY Overview of the Study. 1 Background of the Problem . 2 Statement of the Problem . 6 Purpose of the Study. 8 Assumptions and Limitations. 8 The Method of Study. 10 Outline of the Study. 11 Design and Evolution of the Study. 12 Outline of the Dissertation. 28 Summary. 29 II. LITERATURE REVIEW . 31 Introduction . 31 Traditional Models of Alcoholism . 33 Medical Model . 33 Psychological Model . 39 Alcoholics Anonymous Model . 46 Critique of Traditional Models . 64 Emerging Contemporary Models of Alcoholism . 68 Social Psychology Model Developmental Model . Transpersonal Model . Summary . 98 III. STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION 100 Annette's Story 100 105 Eddy's Story . 111 Jude's Story . 116 John's Story . ix HI. STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION (Continued) Bob's Story . 121 Sean's Story . 129 Ellen's Story . 135 Dan's Story . 141 IV. A GROUNDED THEORY OF RECOVERY 148 The Process of Recovery 149 Descriptions . 149 Perceived Phases . 153 The Gestalt of the Process 164 The Recovery Model.166 Blocks to the Recovery Process . 169 Interaction of the Four Components.173 The Phenomenon of Surrender.184 The Meaning of Surrender.185 Shifts in the Meaning of Surrender.189 Forms of Surrender.194 The Individuality of Recovery . 197 A Recapitulation . 200 V. IMPLICATIONS.206 Implications for the Substance Abuse Professional . 208 The Process of Transformation.209 Phases of Recovery.212 Significance of Surrender.212 Implications for Research.218 APPENDICES A. Introductory Letter to Interviewees . 220 B. Interview Face Sheet . 221 C. Structured Interview Guide . 222 224 D. Contact Summary Form . 225 E. Informed Consent Form . F. The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous . 226 227 BIBLIOGRAPHY . X LIST OF FIGURES 1. Process Recovery Model 165 Xl CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND METHOD OF STUDY Overview of the Study In the past several decades studies of human nature and development have expanded from a focus on personality to a more extensive perspective on the whole person and the intrapsychic processes of growth and change. Theories which have emerged from different schools of thought have come to view human growth throughout an individual’s life as an interactive, dynamic process of "becoming", a perspective that was originally set forth by humanistic psychology. This perspective has filtered into an increasing number of studies presented by the schools of: psychoanalysis; sociology; anthropology; educational, developmental, and transpersonal psychology. Grounded in a process-oriented point of view, and incorporating a range of those theories, this study examines the field of substance abuse treatment and its approach to recovery from alcoholism. The objective of the following research is to provide insight into the experience of a selected population who have undergone a radical change in behavior, belief, thinking, feeling, and personal sense of identity. The process investigated in these chapters is believed to be