Drug Misuse: Taking a Narrative Approach as a Means of Exploring ‘Self-Change’

In this paper I explore the personal narrative of Jennifer; a woman who for the
past ten years had been using ‘hard’ drugs. When interviewed Jennifer had
been ‘sentenced’ to take part in an enforced treatment programme which aimed
to facilitate ‘self-change’. The concept of ‘self-change’ would appear to
convey a particular understanding of transitions, and changes in behaviour,
rooted in assumptions around motivation, cognition and internal forces. In the
research reported here the way in which someone ‘storied’ into a narrative of
‘self-change’ metaphorically represents her progress will be explored.