"Where There is No Love, Put Love": Homeless Addiction Recovery Perspectives and Ways to

182 Pages·2017·1.38 MB·English

GGeeoorrggiiaa SSttaattee UUnniivveerrssiittyy
SScchhoollaarrWWoorrkkss @@ GGeeoorrggiiaa SSttaattee UUnniivveerrssiittyy
Anthropology Theses Department of Anthropology
Spring 5-6-2012
""WWhheerree TThheerree iiss NNoo LLoovvee,, PPuutt LLoovvee"":: HHoommeelleessss AAddddiiccttiioonn RReeccoovveerryy
PPeerrssppeeccttiivveess aanndd WWaayyss ttoo EEnnhhaannccee HHeeaalliinngg
Mark W. Flanagan
Georgia State University
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses
RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn
Flanagan, Mark W., ""Where There is No Love, Put Love": Homeless Addiction Recovery Perspectives and
Ways to Enhance Healing." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2012.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/2768955
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Anthropology at ScholarWorks @
Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Theses by an authorized administrator
of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected].
“WHERE THERE IS NO LOVE, PUT LOVE”: HOMELESS ADDICTION RECOVERY PER-
SPECTIVES AND WAYS TO ENHANCE HEALING

by

MARK WILLIAM FLANAGAN

Under the Direction of Cassandra White

ABSTRACT
This study explores how middle-aged homeless persons in Atlanta, GA, who have harmful, self-
identified addictive behaviors come to make positive material and psychological changes, while
constrained by urban poverty and structural violence. This study is divided into two parts. In
part one, I examine the interaction between individual, social, and material factors that promote
recovery from addiction in a poor, urban context. I argue that recovery occurs through a process,
initiated by a decision and realized through practice. Recovery is enhanced by a stable commu-
nity and consistent material access. In part two, I examine how pain associated with homeless-
ness can create a strong drive to intensify substance usage as a means to seek relief. I then de-
scribe how alienation, pain and corresponding addictive behaviors among homeless persons can
be lessened through intentioned, empowering acts, which I call “symbolic love”. Finally, I offer
policy recommendations based on my findings.
INDEX WORDS: Addiction, Homelessness, Recovery, Alienation, Symbolic Violence, Love
“WHERE THERE IS NO LOVE, PUT LOVE”: HOMELESS ADDICTION RECOVERY PER-
SPECTIVES AND WAYS TO ENHANCE HEALING

by

MARK WILLIAM FLANAGAN

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in the College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
2012
Copyright by
Mark William Flanagan
2012
“WHERE THERE IS NO LOVE, PUT LOVE”: HOMELESS ADDICTION RECOVERY PERSPEC-
TIVES AND WAYS TO ENHANCE HEALING

by

MARK WILLIAM FLANAGAN

Committee Chair: Cassandra White

Committee: Faidra Papavasiliou
Bethany Turner

Electronic Version Approved:

Office of Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
May 2012
iv

DEDICATION
I dedicate this project to those who suffer on the streets of Atlanta; to those who have no
one to call “friend” and endure hard days and even harder nights; to those who have little stabil-
ity and are caught in a cycle of addiction; to those who are forgotten; and to those who are not
forgotten because they were never acknowledged. I dedicate this project to those who have
found the healing powers of intention and community; to those who, after years of darkness are
emerging to new life; to my new friends, who shared their stories of fear and recovery and who
taught me how to love just a little bit more. I also dedicate this project to my friend Reece Haigh
who passed away during this study: keep on jamming.
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank all of the participants in this study, both homeless and non-
homeless, for sharing your insights on homelessness, addiction, and recovery. I would espe-
cially like to thank Ed Loring and the members of Open Door Community and Anita Beaty and
the members of Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless for welcoming me into their com-
munities and giving their time and energy to this project. This thesis would not have been possi-
ble without them.
I would also like to thank my committee Dr. Cassandra White, Dr. Faidra Papavasiliou,
Dr. Bethany Turner, and Dr. Miriam Boeri for their insight and invaluable mentoring.
Dr. White, thank you for your warmth, humor, and reassurance. You taught me to trust
and develop my inclinations.
Dr. Papavasiliou, thank you for your sharp wit and creative thought. You helped me push
the bounds of what I knew.
Dr. Turner, thank you for your rigorous scholarship and intellectual integrity. You gave
confidence and focus with unfamiliar subject matter.
Dr. Boeri, thank your honesty and kindness. You offered alternative perspectives and
helped round out my study.
vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................................v
1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1
1.1 From Homeruns to Homelessness ....................................................................1
1.2 Developing a Thesis ..........................................................................................3
1.3 A Critical Medical Anthropology Approach to Addiction Recovery and
Urban Homelessness ..........................................................................................4
2 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................5
2.1 Homelessness: A Definition and Overview ......................................................5
2.2 Inequality: the Case of Homelessness and Dual-Diagnosis .............................6
2.3 Kinship ..............................................................................................................6
2.4 Structural Violence and Psychosocial Stress ...................................................7
2.5 Socioeconomic Status .......................................................................................8
2.6 Medicalization of Homelessness .......................................................................9
2.7 Evolutionary Medicine: Stress, Addiction, and Psychiatric Disorders ........ 10
2.8 Institutional Racism and Housing in Atlanta ................................................ 12
2.9 Criminalization of Homelessness in Atlanta .................................................. 13
2.10 A Complex Problem .................................................................................... 16
3 THEORY ............................................................................................................... 16
3.1 Agency and the Agent..................................................................................... 16
vii

3.1.1 Symbolic Violence ..................................................................................... 17
3.1.2 Symbolic Love ........................................................................................... 19
3.1.3 The Changing Social Self .......................................................................... 22
3.2 Recovery Narratives: Ongoing Constructions of Meaning ........................... 23
3.3 Personal Experience as an Interpretive Tool ................................................ 24
4 METHODS ............................................................................................................ 25
4.1 Ethnographic Inquires into Homelessness, Mental Health and Addiction .. 25
4.2 Addiction and Recovery: Definitions ............................................................ 28
4.3 Research Locations ......................................................................................... 30
4.3.1 Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless ............................................ 30
4.3.2 The Open Door Community ..................................................................... 31
4.4 Interviews ....................................................................................................... 34
4.4.1 Homeless Individuals Recovering from Addictions .................................... 34
4.4.2 Leaders of Homeless Advocacy Groups ...................................................... 36
4.4.3 Medical Professionals ................................................................................ 36
4.4.4 Analysis ...................................................................................................... 37
4.4.5 Open Door Community .............................................................................. 39
4.4.6 Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless .............................................. 43
4.5 Ethical Challenges .......................................................................................... 45
4.6 Limitations ...................................................................................................... 48
viii

PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING ADDICTION RECOVERY ON THE STREETS……..50
5 RECOVERY COMPONENTS ............................................................................. 50
5.1 Recovery as a Decision ................................................................................... 51
5.1.1 Embracing the Shadow: Recognition of Mortality ..................................... 52
5.1.2 Embracing the Light: Recognition of Hope ............................................... 57
5.1.3 Summary .................................................................................................... 59
5.2 Recovery as a Practice .................................................................................... 60
5.3 Recovery as Stability and Inclusion ............................................................... 64
5.3.1 Homeless Urban Environment: Material and Social Correlates of Drug
Use and Recovery ...................................................................................... 64
5.3.2 Places and Things ...................................................................................... 66
5.3.3 People ......................................................................................................... 67
6 A NARRATIVE OF RECOVERY: RECOVERY AS A PROCESS ................... 71
6.1 Donny .............................................................................................................. 73
6.2 Donny’s Narrative .......................................................................................... 73
6.2.1 Analysis ...................................................................................................... 79
PART TWO: PAIN AND RELIEF ............................................................................. 82
7 PAIN AND SELF MEDICATION ........................................................................ 82
7.1 Childhood Pain ............................................................................................... 82
7.2 Pain on the Streets .......................................................................................... 84