An Assessment of Religion In the Substance Abuse Treatment Process

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of substance abuse professionals regarding the role of religion in the substance abuse treatment process, and to identify perceived advantages and disadvantages of including religion in the substance abuse treatment process in a behavioral health center in a southern state. Perceptions of substance abuse professions were obtained from data collected from a twenty four item interview tool. Qualitative data was collected from audio taped interviews of ten substance abuse professionals employed for a behavioral health center in a southern state. The researcher categorized and analyzed all data compiled in the audio taped interviews by using content analysis. The transcripts were read and re-read to find emerging themes and to develop categories. The study concluded that there are both advantages and disadvantages relative to including construct of religion in the substance abuse treatment process, but advantages of religion in the process far outweigh the disadvantages. Additionally, findings showed that substance abuse professionals have both likes and dislikes of including religion in the substance abuse treatment process. The features of including religion in the substance abuse treatment process that substance abuse professionals like best primarily involved the nexus between religion and sobriety. The features concerning religion in the substance abuse treatment process that substance abuse professional like least include the idea that religion is very complex, controversial, and questionable as well as the many restrictions associated with religion that exist in the treatment process.