The aim of this diploma thesis is to depict the uniqueness of a person suffering from alcoholism, including a self-reflection of his own life before joining the AA group and after. Moreover, the thesis focuses on the perception of a person's addiction and especially his search for sobriety. The next objective is the identification of specific kinds and sources of social support for each individual in the context of AA group. The theoretical part concerns the concept of social support, the topic of self-help and self-helping groups, focusing on a self-help AA group. This part of the thesis also includes the characteristics of addictive behavior with the specifications of alcohol addiction. A qualitative research and a method of semi-structured interview have been chosen for the purposes of the empirical study. The analysis and interpretation of the data was inspired by the principles of the grounded theory. This empirical study is based on primary research areas: a description of active alcoholic's life perception, a strategy of the struggle with addiction, a way to abstinence through the self-help groups of AA and a reflection of the alcoholics' lives in sobriety.

There has been an increase of research in the area of forgiveness, particularly since the early 1980’s; however, there has been far less research done in the field of addiction and how forgiveness or the lack of forgiveness impact’s a person’s recovery. The profession of social work has a wide array of fields and services, and it is not uncommon for a social worker to work with a person abusing substances at some point in his or her career. While there are many aspects of treating and assisting client’s in their recovery, one topic that may not be discussed with clients is the subject of forgiveness. However, forgiveness renders itself as pertinent in a person maintaining sobriety and thus it is imperative while conducting treatment for social workers to not shy away from this subject with their clients. This study utilized a qualitative analysis consisting of interviews with ten participants who share their experiences of forgiveness in their own recovery. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of forgiveness on 12 step group attendees in order to gain an awareness of how forgiveness or the lack of forgiveness affects one’s ability to maintain sobriety. The findings of this research will be used to increase social workers’ understanding of utilizing forgiveness as a treatment modality, impact future social work policy, practice and research.

Failure in treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) leads to continued addiction, but practitioners need to learn which factors predict better outcomes in AA to make better referrals. Here, the predictive relationship between spirituality and perceived social support with success in AA was examined based on Frankl's theory on meaning in life. A quantitative, correlational design was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant predictive relationship between spirituality, as measured by the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments, and perceived social support, as measured by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, with success in AA, as measured by the binomal sobriety variable with either totally sober over the last 90 days or not. Data were collected using an anonymous online and in person survey, and logistic regression was used to analyze the data on the final sample of 93. Inclusion criteria was adult age, U.S. residency, and former or current AA membership. The new model's classification table was nonsignificant without improving classification of cases as sober/nonsober. The overall model was significant per the chi-square results and the spirituality odds ratio was significant in predicting sobriety. Therefore, there was a significant predictive relationship found between spirituality and success in AA, but not for perceived social support. Recommendations include AA's value despite spirituality or social support level for recovery and spirituality as still a tool in recovery. Positive social change implications include better understanding of the factors leading to success in AA, and therefore better referrals to AA or other such adjunctive support services needed, which can improve outcomes for clients struggling with alcohol addiction.

L’entreprise est une liberté ambigüe, elle est autant un facteur de progrès que de risque. La crise écologique actuelle conduit les entreprises à prendre conscience des effets de leurs activités sur la société dans son ensemble et l’environnement. Pressées par de nouvelles normes sociales de la société civile, les entreprises sont amenées à modifier leur comportement, notamment à travers une démarche de responsabilité sociétale et environnementale. C’est alors la société commerciale - enveloppe juridique de l’entreprise, non définie par le droit quant à elle - qui est interrogée dans sa définition et sa fonction sociale. En témoigne la récente réforme du contrat de société commerciale pour y intégrer la prise en compte d’enjeux sociaux et environnementaux. C’est surtout l’adoption d’engagements volontaires qui participe d’une modification de la société commerciale à travers l’élaboration par des personnes de droit privé, de normes de droit souple, c’est-à-dire dénuées de la contrainte. Phénomène qualifié de droit post-moderne, les engagements volontaires amènent l’entreprise à hisser son comportement standard à un degré de responsabilité supérieur au droit "de lege lata", permettant éventuellement d’aboutir à l’engagement de sa responsabilité juridique par l’introduction d’une action en justice. Aussi, le développement des formes sociétaires de l’économie sociale et solidaire et l’apparition de sociétés inspirées de modèles étrangers sont une première brèche dans l’approche classique de la société commerciale. Constatant l’insuffisance de la RSE et des formes sociétaires de sociétés commerciales responsables à prendre véritablement en considération les enjeux environnementaux, il est proposé de conceptualiser une « entreprise sobre ». Un travail de réflexion sur la sobriété, concept juridique émergent, est effectué à partir de la terminologie déjà présente dans la législation. La définition juridique de la sobriété et plus précisément, ce qui constitue un comportement sobre doit permettre de fournir une aide à l’intégration de l’environnement dans l’entreprise. Ou pour le juge, de caractériser le standard juridique du comportement sobre. Des instruments de caractérisation d’un comportement sobre sont envisagés à travers une relecture des éléments du contrat de société commerciale (associé, apport, bénéfice, objet social et intérêt social). Ces développements soulevés à l’appui d’une dynamique de changement de la société commerciale, doivent permettre de mettre en exergue la nécessité de définir l’entreprise à partir de sa fonction sociale et comme un système en vue de satisfaire des intérêts communs. / Business is an ambiguous idea of freedom, it is as much a vehicule of progress as a risk. The current ecological crisis is leading enterprises to take into account the effects of economic activity on society and environment. Pressured by new social standards, enterprises are led to change their conduct, especially through a societal and environmental responsibility approach. Then, it is the commercial company – the legal entity of the enterprise, not defined by french law – that is questioned in its definition and its social function. This is reflected in the recent reform of the french commercial company contract to consider social and environmental issues. It’s mainly the adoption of voluntary commitments that contributes to a change in the commercial company through the elaboration by private law persons of soft-law, i.e. norms devoid of coercion. As a post-modern law phenomenom, voluntary commitments lead the company to raise its standard behaviour to a higher degree of responsibility than de lege lata law, may succeed to the engagement of its legal liability. Also, the development of the social and solidarity economy’s corporate forms and the emergence of enterprises inspired by foreign models are a first breach in the classical commercial company approach. Noting the inadequacy of CSR and the corporate forms of responsible commercial companies to really take into account environmental issues, it is proposed to conceptualize a « sober enterprise ». A reflection on sobriety, an emerging legal concept, is carried out on the basis of the terminology already present in the legislation. The juridical definition of sobriety and more precisely, what constitutes sober behaviour, must make it possible to provide support for the integration of the environment into the enterprise. Or for the judge, to characterize the legal standard of sober behaviour. Instruments for characterizing sober behaviour are considered through a review of the elements of the commercial company contract (associate, contribution, profit, social purpose and social interest). These developments are raised in a dynamic of change of the the commercial company and should highlight the need to define the enterprise : both on its social function and to reach to satisfy common interests.

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) generally are understood as disordered behaviors, and recovery from AUDs frequently is regarded in terms of positive and constructive changes in those behaviors. However, a large proportion of recovering individuals describe the experience of recovery from AUDs as consisting of both behavioral and affective changes. The affective changes that characterize recovery have been referred to as constituting “emotional sobriety,” which can be understood as a type of dynamic equilibrium with respect to the variability of the valence and intensity of affective experiences. Here, we describe neuroanatomical and behavioral correlates of emotional sobriety, as well as sex differences, through three independent but complimentary studies. In Study 1, we examined the association between the duration of abstinence (DOA) from alcohol and volumetric measures of the Brain Reward System (BRS) and its subregions, among groups of normal control (NC; n = 60) and AUD participants (n = 60). We found volumetric differences of BRS regions known to be involved in affective processing in association with different DOA. For example, long-term abstainers (greater than five years) exhibited less volume in the cingulate cortex, relative to NCs, and AUD women exhibited higher insular volume than AUD men in association with abstinence. In Study 2, we examined the association between abstinence and differences in affective states. Short-/mid-term abstainers (less than five years) exhibited affective dysregulation, relative to NCs, whereas long-term abstainers exhibited relatively normal affective states. AUD women exhibited higher positive affect than AUD men in association with abstinence. In Study 3, we examined the independent influence of mutual-help organization (MHO) activity upon affective states, over and above the effect observed in association with abstinence. Greater degrees of MHO activity were observed to be associated with increases in measures of positive affect, and sex differences also were detected in this association, with AUD women exhibiting higher positive affect than AUD men. Altogether, the findings of this dissertation indicate that the behavioral and affective changes that characterize recovery from AUDs emerge together in a dynamic, recursive interrelationship that is mediated through discrete corresponding neuroadaptations at the level of the BRS.

Vi undersökte i denna uppsats substansmissbrukares erfarenhet av vändpunkter. Bakgrunden till detta är att vi ville se om specifika vändpunkter kunde användas i preventionsbyggande syfte för att förhindra att individer hamnar i ett missbruk. Detta gjorde vi genom en kvalitativ undersökning med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Vårt urval bestod av fem individer som alla hade haft ett substansmissbruk men som lyckats upprätthålla en drogfrihet under olika långa perioder fram till idag. Intervjuerna genomfördes digitalt via Teams på grund av den pågående pandemin. Vi delar upp empirin från intervjuerna utifrån fyra ämnesområden. Dessa är Vägen in i missbruk, Det aktiva missbruket, Vändpunkter och vägen ut ur missbruket samt Upprätthållandet av drogfriheten. I resultatet framkom det att vändpunkter är betydelsefullt, men att det är individuellt hur stor påverkan som vändpunkterna har på individerna. Det finns alltså ingen specifik vändpunkt som gör att en individ upprätthåller sin drogfrihet eller som kan förebygga början på ett missbruk. Vändpunkterna startar dock ett förändringsarbete hos individen och med hjälp av resurser i samhället kan en rehabilitering påbörjas.

The study is about Eskilstuna GUIF, which has a background within the temperance movement IOGT between the years 1900–1940. The purpose of this study is to shed light on how GUIF went from being an association with a sobriety ideal to becoming a sports association. The temperance movement lost many members during the 20th century when the law to ban alcoholic beverages did not pass in 1922. This resulted in the sports movement becoming larger and the GUIF joined the executive board. The source material for this study consists of board reports and annual reports from GUIF's section. This gives the study an overall understanding for the reader to get an overall picture for the reader.The method selected for this study has been a narrative method as it has the function of deciphering GUIF's annual reports and board reports. The selected method fitted in very well in this type of research as the selected material for this study is in the form of stories. This results in the stories fulfilling a function in that it raises different perspectives. The selected theories for this study are movement entrepreneur and movement ideology. The purpose of these theories is to examine how the GUIF went from being a normal sobriety association to starting to bet on handball.The results of this study showed that Eskilstuna GUIF, which started as a sobriety association but did sports on the side, changed. GUIF offers sports as it can lead to more people being able to do sports and stay away from alcohol. This was during the heyday of the temperance movement but in 1922 there was a referendum to remove alcoholic beverages. This referendum did not go the way of the temperance movement, which resulted in the temperance movement losing many members and the sports movement becoming big in the country instead. This resulted in sports becoming the priority within the association. The young people began to get more involved in sports and were not interested in lodge matters. This results in handball becoming the biggest sport in the association over time.

The primary goals of this research were: 1) to develop an alcohol intoxication detection aid (IDA) that can be used to estimate reliably and accurately another person's level of alcohol impairment; 2) to evaluate the effect of alcohol on a computer-controlled critical tracking task (CTT), which assesses skills important to driving a vehicle; and 3) to examine the relationships between these two instruments and measured blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Teplin and Lutz (1985) developed an alcohol intoxication checklist for use in a hospital emergency room. Their results indicated a high correlation (.85) between actual BAC and intoxication estimates obtained by applying their checklist. This thesis refined and extended this prior checklist procedure for use with college populations, and included procedures to measure its validity and reliability. The CTT is a computer task which requires a subject to make a response to a brief digital display. Dependent measures include subjects' response time and error rate. Subjects' performance was consequently correlated with their BAC. The subjects were university students (n = 232) consuming alcoholic beverages at three regularly scheduled weekend fraternity parties. Subjects were recruited for testing from among those in attendance at these parties. Subjects were of legal drinking age. Results for both instruments were instructive and encouraging. Although reliability and validity coefficients for use of the IDA during the first party were unacceptably low. the changes made in the experimental methodology after this testing proved beneficial. Results of IDA use at the third party showed substantial increases in both interrater reliability and correlation with actual BAC. These results, however, were found to vary across individual judges. With CTT performance, mean response time and mean error rate were both reliable indicators of intoxication, and results stood up fairly well under a signal detection approach to the data analysis. Implications for use of both instruments in real-world settings are discussed. / Master of Science

Vilka faktorer som främjar återhämtning från substansberoende kan vara komplex. Olika faktorer så som uppväxtvillkor och sociala färdigheter samspelar. I arbetet med substansberoende personer kan främjande faktorer och individuella förutsättningar förbises. Ökad kunskap skulle bidra till att förbättra vården av dessa personer. Syftet med den här studien var att belysa tidigare substansberoende personers upplevelser av främjande faktorer för återhämtning och bibehållen drogfrihet utan behandling med metadon eller buprenorfin. I studien intervjuades tre män och tre kvinnor med tidigare substansberoende. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. I resultatet beskrev intervjupersonerna sina upplevelser från tidig återhämtning fram till många års drogfrihet. De berättade om att de stärkts genom inre förändring, att de utvecklat sunda relationer och fått gemenskap, att de blivit en del av samhället och att de utvecklats som individer. Slutsatsen är att det är viktigt att lyfta fram dessa erfarenheter för att förbättra vården av personer med substansberoende.

[pt] A partir das considerações de Bill Nichols sobre a histórica relação entre o documentário e os discursos de sobriedade, e as de Jean-Louis Comolli sobre a capacidade do documentário de estar aberto à alteridade do real, que o perturba e o convoca, este trabalho investiga representações do real durante a década de 1980 no Brasil, momento decisivo da chamada transição política pós-ditadura militar. Para tal, analisa os filmes Terra para Rose (1987, Tetê Moraes), Linha de Montagem (1981, Renato Tapajós), Céu Aberto (1985, João Batista de Andrade), Que bom te ver viva (1989, Lúcia Murat), Cabra marcado para morrer (1984, Eduardo Coutinho), Jânio a 24 quadros (1981, Luiz Alberto Pereira), Mato Eles? (1982, Sérgio Bianchi), e a série de quatro episódios (produzida para a TV Manchete), Japão: uma viagem no tempo (1986, João Moreira Salles). A hipótese apresentada é que esse conjunto de filmes expressam, em sua diversidade, o choque geracional que os anos 80 trazem ao Brasil, seja pela entrada do vídeo como nova forma de linguagem, seja pelo desgaste dos discursos de sobriedade, seja pelo desgaste do pensamento sobre o Brasil. / [en] This dissertation starts with the Bill Nichols s considerations about the historical relationship between documentary and the discourses of sobriety, and also Jean-Louis Comolli thoughts on the documentary s abilities of being open to the otherness of the real, which disturbs it and convokes it, this paper investigates representations of the real during the 1980 s in Brazil, a decisive moment of the so called political transition that took place after the end of the militar dictatorship. To do so, it analyzes the films Terra para Rose (1987, Tetê Moraes), Linha de Montagem (1981, Renato Tapajós), Céu Aberto (1985, João Batista de Andrade), Que bom te ver viva (1989, Lucia Murat), Cabra marcado para morrer (1984, Eduardo Coutinho), Jânio a 24 quadros (1981, Luiz Alberto Pereira), Mato Eles? (1982, Sérgio Bianchi) and the four episodes series (made by TV Manchete), Japão: uma viagem no tempo (1986, João Moreira Salles). The hypothesis presented is that these films express, in their diversities, the generational shock that the 80 s bring to Brazil, whether by the introduction of video as new form of language, whether by the wear of the discourses of sobriety, whether by the wear of the thoughts about Brazil.