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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Recovering Women: Intersectional Approaches to African American Addiction

Carpenter, Tracy
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252849140

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Comparative Studies.
This dissertation uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the sociopolitical impact and ideological work of stereotypes that stigmatize people with intersecting identities. Focusing on the Crack Mother icon, I first examine how misrepresentations in films, media and literature influence legislation and policies that target poor women of color for punishment. I contextualize the Crack Mother as part of a continuum of cultural icons that represent African American women as deviant. I then incorporate data from ethnographic research among African American Narcotics Anonymous groups to offer an alternative version of African American women’s experience with drug addiction and use of twelve-step recovery approaches. Positing self-representation at the forefront prioritizes perspectives that challenge dominant narratives of addiction. The presentation of African American women as conscientious participants within a folk culture that values determined living turns on its head Western notions of expertise, organization, temporality, illness and so forth. The project is grounded in cultural studies, folklore, and African and African American studies. I incorporate critical race theory when conducting discourse analysis with films and literature from popular culture. I use alignment theory to flesh out participants’ footing in racial, social, gender, religious and other identities using data gathered from ethnographic interviews with 10 African American women members of twelve-step programs with two and more years of continuous abstinence. I also conduct analyses of addiction surveys distributed to 23 African American women, more than 10 taped speeches from Narcotics Anonymous events, and observations at over 500 Narcotics Anonymous meetings in two mid-sized, U.S. cities over five years. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous program literature was used to show connections between participants’ narratives and program ideology.
Amy Shuman (Advisor)
Nina Berman (Committee Member)
Maurice Stevens (Committee Member)
Valerie Lee (Committee Member)
543 p.
African Americans; American History; American Studies; Black History; Criminology; Cultural Anthropology; Families and Family Life; Folklore; Gender; Linguistics; Literature; Mass Media; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Personal Relationships; Religion; Rhetoric; Social resea
African American women; addiction; substance abuse; recovery; twelve step programs; Narcotics Anonymous; representation; stereotype; film analysis; intersectionality

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Carpenter, T. (2009). Recovering Women: Intersectional Approaches to African American Addiction [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252849140

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Carpenter, Tracy. Recovering Women: Intersectional Approaches to African American Addiction. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252849140.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Carpenter, Tracy. "Recovering Women: Intersectional Approaches to African American Addiction." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252849140

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1252849140
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.