“Respect and Suspect” – Perceptions and Experiences of Women in Recovery from a Substance Use Disorder of their Relationships with Men

Women in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) face multiple, specific challenges. Establishing healthy and close relationships can contribute to women’s mental health and enhance their recovery. Unhealthy relationships with men are a key factor in women’s onset of drug use, relapse, and attempts to recover from a SUD. Given their frequent personal history of sexual trauma, violence, and abuse caused by men, women recovering from SUD need to cope with multiple relational issues. This study explored the perceptions and experiences of women in recovery from SUD as regards their relationships with men. Fourteen women treated in women-only residential programs for SUD were interviewed using a qualitative-naturalistic approach. Inductive content analysis identified four categories: (1) From disgust and mistrust to attraction to boys and men in the context of abuse, (2) Exploitative relationships: use and be used, (3) The absent predator: justifications for the absence of men in women-only residential treatment program, and (4) Old patterns alongside new insights into recovery. These categories were contextualized conceptually in terms of the dialectic between “Respect and Suspect”. The findings, as interpreted through the lens of Relational Agency theory, highlight changes in power dynamics within relationships over the course of recovery. Clinical social workers should be aware of the multifaceted nature of attitudes towards relationships with men in women with SUD, to better help these women establish healthier, more secure relationships as a part of their recovery.