Name: Liam Kelly

ID Number: 18195939

Module: EN3082: Research & Reflective Practice

Title of Assignment: Final Reflective Assignment: ‘The Role of

Adult and Community Education as a Source Recovery Capital
from Substance Use’

Due of Submission: 24 April 2019

Word Count: 2084

EN: 3082 Research & Reflective Practice AY 18/19

Final Reflective Assignment.

Title: ‘The Role of Adult and Community Education as Capital in Recovery from
Substance Misuse’

When reflecting for this assignment, I studied Kolb’s (1988) experiential learning cycle and
applied it to my choice of education as part of the recovery capital needed to stay abstinent
after treatment or to achieve abstinence through natural recovery.

My insights came from reviewing daily logs, the modules and reflecting on solutions that
were seldom highlighted in the diploma or were not yet noticed by this student until the final
reflective assignment was reached.

Specific logs noted were: EN3072, Session 3 – Agency Visit, when I noticed, that the ALDP
and other such Projects provided no post-recovery, educational supports. In fact, the only
project that provided an educational service, proven to work is Soilse. Reviewing EN3061, I
considered sessions 1 and 2, the likely hood of substance use being higher among persons
from the poorest socio-economic backgrounds, where early school leaving is high and
environment factors play a role in the persons resorting to substance abuse. Socio-economic
background, parental influence at a young age and the local environment are factors that are
out of the control of any young person.

Finally I reflected on my logs for EN3052. Nowhere did I find any references to formal
education being part of the solution to achieving and maintaining abstinence but to allow the
opportunity to gain formal qualifications or training, leading a career and making a positive
contribution to society – the ultimate mark of success of any recovery strategy.

With regard to my beliefs, values and attitudes; upon reflection, my values are unchanged, I
still believe judge-mentalism solves nothing, but due to the knowledge I obtained from the
diploma, my beliefs have modified due to awareness of the pyscho-social alternatives that
exist and must be expanded. My attitude to those in charge of Drug Projects has become
more critical, believing that they should be subject along with prescribing GPs to more
supervision with regard to success versus failure rates.

I felt, we had what could be a very significant contributor to recovery and having evaluated it,
adult and community education should be a key arm of the government’s rehabilitation
strategy.

They latest research, studying community education in 28 EU countries stated that Ireland put
a strong emphasis on equitable access to adult education, but that more effort is needed for
the inclusion of disadvantaged groups in the Irish adult education system, which still benefits
employed people more than others. Facing financial difficulties, the community education
sector is still struggling to develop further. (Adult Education EAEA, Country Reports, pp 31-
32. (2018).

Also, the QQI re-engagement fee of 5,000 Euros for community education providers will
limit equal opportunities for educating disadvantaged groups. The imposition of fees will
result in them not having the ability to provide accredited programmes, to the detriment of
learners and their communities.

There is uncertainty regarding the future of accredited provision by community education

groups, with the proposed QQI re-engagement fee which will have a detrimental effect on the
ability of community education organizations in their efforts to reach the most underserved
segments of society.

Therefore, AONTAS will be ramping up its efforts to seek fee waivers for program validation
fees charged by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI).

Another challenge is that education providers are not receiving the support they require to be
effective. In order to improve equity of access to learning for learning opportunities for
disadvantaged adults, including recovering substance users is required.
Many in substance abuse or in recovery are typically from the backgrounds mentioned. My
reflection has brought me to believe that while substance users and their families are seen to
be on the fringes of society, they are unlikely to receive education or training necessary to
progress their lives.

According to Cloud and Granfield (2008) recovery capital is the sum of resources necessary
to initiate and sustain recovery from substance misuse.

There are four dimensions to recovery capital;

1 Social capital = the sum of resources that each person has as a result of their relationships,
support from and obligations to groups to which they belong.
2 Physical capital = tangible assets such as property and money that may increase recovery
options.
3 Human capital = personal skills and education, positive health, aspirations and hopes; key
aspects of human capital
4. Cultural capital = values, beliefs and attitudes that link the individual to social attachment
and to fit into dominant social behaviour.

Interviewees, selected by Martin Keane in a 2011 study were assisted to locate and sustain
meaningful employment through their relations with friends who provided a network of
contacts and opportunities that opened occupational doors, facilitating the pursuit of career
aspirations.

The process of self-resolution rarely occurs in isolation. Instead, personal transformation is is

greatly influenced by the social context in which an individual is located; their motivations,
cessation strategies, opportunities to change, and their ultimate success at recovery are largely
a product of their social interactions and the related social capital derived from these
relationships. (Cloud and Granfield, 2004: 194).

According to the authors, these personal attributes such as good education, sustained
employment, and membership of a professional society along with the environmental and
contextual conditions, the capacity to build renewed structure in their lives, draw on non-
using networks to draw space between themselves and the ‘drug world’ constitute a set of
formidable resources. (Cloud and Granfield, 2001:p.97) stated that such attributes and
conditions are resources, or forms of capital, that increase an individual’s capacity to recover.
We refer to such capital as ‘recovery capital’.

This study of 20 people in self-reported recovery combined with the study of other sources,
from substance addiction by this student, has demonstrated the contribution that education
can make in developing recovery capital, to illustrate the different resource dimensions that
can assist with recovery from substance addiction.

Recovery capital is the sum of resources consisting of social, physical, human and cultural
capital that is necessary to initiate and sustain recovery from addiction. Education can play a
role on all four dimensions; it can improve social capital by opening up opportunities to
develop new networks of friends outside the confines of formal treatment and self-help
groups, it can improve physical capital by improving career options and job opportunities
which can improve living standards and it can improve cultural capital by exposing people to
new values, beliefs and attitudes and instilling a revised work ethic grounded in the demands
of educational pursuits.

Finally, education can contribute to recovery capital through improving human capital;
empowering people to look after their health, become a more effective parent, reappraise in-
grained negative belief systems, develop achievable goals and improve day-today functioning
and personal efficacy.

Official treatment programmes can play a vital role in halting addiction and promoting
recovery and can benefit people on a number of therapeutic levels. However, when people
emerge from treatment, they need to transfer these benefits into day-to-day living and also
navigate their way into and through real-life situations.

Adult education can enable people in recovery to build sufficient recovery capital to assist
them on this journey. Drug policy and practice can be strengthened by giving emphasis to the
role of education in developing recovery capital among individuals in recovery from
substance addiction.

A subsequent paper which presented an analysis of data derived from interviews with 46
people outline the conditions that facilitated what they termed ‘natural recovery’ and which
represent the components of recovery capital which these people brought with them into their
recovery. (Granfield and Cloud (2001).

The analysis pointed to the degree of stability that interviewees brought with them into
substance use and how the maintenance of relative stability was supported by regular and
stable work lives and avoiding involvement with the criminal justice system. None displayed
major mental health problems and none were embedded in the ‘street’ subculture that
surrounds substance use.

.
Interviewees were assisted to locate and sustain meaningful employment through their
relations with friends who provided contacts and opportunities that opened doors and
facilitated the pursuit of career aspirations.

Being supported with social relationships that were capable of providing resources such as
access to meaningful employment was critical to respondents’ recoveries, facilitating their re-
commitment to the conventional world of work (Granfield and Cloud (2001: p.1561).

Another study of 20 people in self-reported recovery from substance addiction has

demonstrated the contribution that education can make in developing recovery capital, and
how that can assist with recovery from substance addiction.

Education can play a role in recovery capital; it can improve social capital by opening up
opportunities to develop new networks of friends outside the confines of formal treatment
and self-help groups, it can improve physical capital by improving career options and job
opportunities, improving living standards, it improves cultural capital, exposing people to
new values, beliefs and attitudes and instilling a revised work ethic grounded in educational
pursuits. Finally, education can contribute through improving human capital; empowering
people to look after their health, reappraise in-grained negative belief systems, develop
achievable goals and improve personal efficacy.

There have been few attempts to explore the meaning of community and adult education
among people in recovery from substance use. Therefore it is not possible to directly compare
my reflection with comparative studies. Nonetheless, there are a number of important issues
that merit discussion in the context of the emergence of the adult and community education
component of recovery capital as a motor of addiction recovery.

Another study referred to the attributes and conditions that facilitated natural recovery from
substance addiction among 46 people interviewed. They people were well educated; with
most having attended college and several obtaining degrees. (Granfield and Cloud; 1999,
2001; Cloud and Granfield 2004)

They found the possession of educational and employment histories enabled them to manage
their addiction, retain important supports among professional colleagues and friends and
retain some level of investment in family life.

In contrast of those who started their lives in poverty; most were early school-leavers and
some had poor literacy and numeracy skills. Nearly all had experienced repeated episodes of
family conflict when they were young.

Their narratives suggest they drifted into addiction from various experimental episodes with
drugs. Official treatment programmes such as methadone, detoxification and residential
rehabilitation played a modest part in their recovery. They were caught in the dilemma of
‘multiple recoveries’ by not just recovering from addiction but also from a lifetime of
emotional turmoil and a fractured identity.

These activities were the basis on which they constructed new meaning in their lives and
were instrumental in sustaining their cessation of substance use.
This suggests that education can be used as a resource to initiate and sustain efforts to
overcome substance dependence without using formal treatment or self-help groups.

Despite the dearth of studies on the role of education in developing recovery capital among
people in recovery from substance addiction, it can be concluded by that those engaged in
employment, training, volunteering and household duties were happier and functioning better
than those not engaged in these activities Best et al (2011).

Official treatment programmes can play a vital role in halting addiction and promoting
recovery and can benefit people on a number of therapeutic levels. However, when people
emerge from treatment, they need to transfer these benefits into day-to-day living and also
navigate their way into and through real-life situations.

Returning to adult education enables people in recovery to build sufficient capital to assist
them on this journey and help them to reproduce their recovery. Drug policy and practice can
be strengthened by giving renewed emphasis to the role of education in developing recovery
capital among individuals in recovery. Finally, engaging with adult and community education
while in recovery from substance addiction can open up opportunities for people that may
provide them with rewards which they will not risk losing; legitimate income, sustainable
housing, improved relations with family and a sense of belonging. These are important
components of sustained recovery.

Recovery will only occur if drug users believe that abstinence has more to offer than
addiction. Accordingly, recovering drug users must find a purpose in their drug-free lives. To
this end, they need meaningful roles and activities that offer them self-respect and pride, and
daily routines that do not involve criminal or drug using activities…the conditions that seem
likely to facilitate successful rehabilitation are the same kinds of conditions that probably
prevent drug misuse in the first place. That is, access to a decent income, adequate housing,
employment opportunities; family relationships and being connected to community networks.
These are key factors that motivate most non-addicted members of society. (Neale 2002,
p.219).
References:

Alcohol and Drug Research Unit of the Health Research Board (2009) Treated problem drug
use in Ireland: figures for 2008 from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System.

Adult Education in Europe 2018 – A Civil Society View. European Association for the
Education of Adults.

Best D, Gow J, Knox T, Taylor A, Groshkova T and White W (2011) Mapping the recovery
stories of drinkers and drug users in Glasgow: Quality of life and its associations with
measures of recovery capital. Drug and Alcohol Review,

Cloud W and Granfield R (2001) Natural recovery from substance dependency: Lessons for
treatment providers. Journal of Social Work Practices in the Addictions, Vol. 1 (1), 83-104

Cloud W and Granfield R (2004) A life course perspective on exiting addiction: the relevance
of recovery capital in treatment. In Addiction and Life Course (eds) Rosenqvist P,

Doyle, J. and Ivanovic, J. (2010). National drugs rehabilitation framework document. Health
Service Executive, Dublin.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Working group on drugs
rehabilitation (2007) National Drugs Strategy 2001–2008: rehabilitation. Dublin: Department
of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Keane M. (2011) The role of education in developing recovery capital in recovery from
substance addiction. Dublin. Soilse Drug Rehabilitation Programme (Dublin).

Granfield R and Cloud W (1999) Coming clean: overcoming addiction without treatment.
New York: New York University Press
Granfield R and Cloud W (2001) Social context and ‘natural recovery’: The role of social
capital in the resolution of drug-associated problems. Substance Use and Misuse, 36(11),
1543-1570 49

White W and Cloud W (2008) Recovery capital: A primer for addiction professionals.
Counselor, 9(5), 22-27

Verster A and Solberg U (2003) Social reintegration in the European Union and Norway.
Lisbon: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Working group on drugs rehabilitation (2007) National Drugs Strategy 2001–2008:

rehabilitation. Dublin: Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Working group on drugs
rehabilitation (2007) National Drugs Strategy 2001–2008: rehabilitation. Dublin: Department
of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
Name: Liam Kelly

ID Number: 18195939

Module: EN3082: Research & Reflective Practice

Title of Assignment: Final Reflective Essay

Due of Submission: 24 April 2019

Word Count:
EN3082: Research and Reflective Practice.

The interesting and challenging aspects of this module were based in the choice of
assignment and the challenge of going back to the experiential models of learning and
making a genuinely tough decision based on insight, instinct and an understanding of my own
strengths, failings and preferences with regard to the assignment subject.

My initial instinct was to play safe and go for a subject about policymaking, it efficacy, it’s
implementation, who makes policy and on what basis. I also had to challenge myself on the
topic of alcohol. Most of my concentration has been on the Drugs aspect of the diploma. I
had to ask that maybe alcohol and the recent act in relation to it’s sale could be at least part of
my final reflection assignment. Has it made the stated impact?, did vested interests from the
Vintners lobby have an undue influence on the framing of the final legislation and has the
final Act had any effect on curbing drinking in Ireland. This gave me much to reflect on.

Other subjects I considered were the effects of stigma in preventing service users getting
public treatment and gaining access to community education programmes necessary to build
upon their recovery and return to the labour market.

In the end, I chose to study community and adult education, a clear cut, yet not fully
recognized, recover capital asset. I chose this subject for the assignment, partially based on
my own experience, coming from a low-income family with little formal education in its
history and how it provided me with opportunities to do and achieve things that would not
have been possible without it.

Again, as part of my recovery, with remaining abstinent as my primary daily goal, I have
been availing of educational and training opportunities with the aim of re-skilling for a new
career, which not is leading to greater understanding of myself but also of others with similar
histories. No form of education or training is ever wasted in my opinion. Adult and
community education and training must be a core component of the continuum of care for
anyone attempting not just full recovery but to contribute positively to society and
community.
The Working Group on Drugs Rehabilitation (2007) recognizes that accessing education is an
essential step in the continuum of care for recovering drug users.

The National Drugs Rehabilitation Framework published in 2010 highlighted the importance
of meeting the educational need of former and recovering drug users. There is even evidence
that education programmes designed to educate prisoner about self employment, post their
release has proved popular and beneficial.

My concerns are that the availability and delivery of community and adult education to
substance users is not well advertised and is often not tailored towards their individual skills,
talents and aspirations. There is even a touch of elitism amongst free or subsidised higher
education in Ireland. The much advertised Springboard Programme provided free higher
educational qualifications to those who already have the, albeit they must be unemployed to
avail of them.

If the same investment of provision and advertisement was given to the community and adult
education sectors, especially among marginalised and vulnerable groups such as substance
users, either active or abstinent, their chances of turning their personal and professional live
around would be substantially higher.

-oOo-