A Qualitative Analysis of the Impact of a Self Defense Program for Female Postmethamphetamine Users to Increase Perceived Community Support

Female postmethamphetamine users often feel stigmatized by their communities and isolate themselves from others to recover from addiction. Because recidivism rates continue to be high, community support during recovery is imperative to decrease recidivism numbers. The potential benefit of a cost effective, short term program in self defense instruction was examined in this study to determine the effects of increasing the sense of community support for female postmethamphetamine users' physical and psychological well-being. This study was rooted in Bandura's social cognitive theory and work regarding perceived self-efficacy. A qualitative analysis was conducted for a 6-week self defense course taught to 8 female postmethamphetamine users. Data in the form of pre- and post-instruction interviews of the participants and observations were collected, coded, and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Findings suggest that self-defense instruction may support female postmethamphetamine users during recovery. Implications for social change include the potential for using self-defense instruction as a method for supporting the recovery of postmethamphetamine addicts. Self defense programs could help postmethamphetamine addicts (and potentially other drug addicts) to increase self-esteem and self-advocacy and thus reduce recidivism rates. Communities would then benefit from reduced recidivism rates as there would be less criminal activity, which is often costly for communities to endure.