Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
Spring 5-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Name
Master of Marriage and Family Therapy
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Lisa Merchant
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dale Bertram
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Lisa Powell
Abstract
Addiction is a rapidly growing problem for many couples, but most treatment plans focus solely on the individual with a substance abuse diagnosis rather than taking a systemic approach. Investigating the power dynamics of couples who have been through addiction and recovery could assist future treatment plans to include underlying factors in relationships instead of only addressing symptoms of the problem. This grounded theory research study strives to understand the power shift within couples when one partner goes from being in active addiction to being sober for one year or more. Power is viewed through the four aspects that Knudson-Martin and Mahoney (2009) developed, which include relative status, well-being, attention to the other, and accommodation patterns. Interviews were conducted using four grand tour questions based on Knudson-Martin and Mahoney’s (2009) characteristics of power, then data was analyzed using the four-step process described by Charmaz (2006). The resulting model illustrated how power changes as this couple transitioned from active addiction to recovery.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Brack Marketto, Carly, "Power Shift within a Couple’s Journey through Addiction" (2019). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 134.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/134
Included in
Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons