Narcotics Anonymous: A Vision of Hope on the Inside;
Living the Vision on the Outside
Theme: Narcotics Anonymous: A self-help resource
in the correctional setting and a way of sustaining recovery upon
release into the community
Presented at American Correctional Association Conference,
August 1999
Introduction
Thank you for your interest in the Narcotics Anonymous program and its
volunteer efforts. Our presentation will share information regarding
NA. volunteers in the correctional system. Their function is to
introduce inmates, who are substance abusers, to recovery in Narcotics
Anonymous. Additionally, we will highlight the importance of
community-based recovery programs that assist felons with living
drug-free upon their release. Emphasis is placed on providing an
alternative to substance abusers that may help reduce their
recidivism.
What is Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous is a nonprofit fellowship. Our membership is free.
We offer a program of recovery to anyone who has a desire to stop
using drugs. By following the program of recovery offered in Narcotics
Anonymous, our members have found a way to live drug-free as
responsible and productive citizens of society. The program of NA
consists of guiding principles, as outlined in our literature, It
Works How and Why and the Twelve Concepts for NA Service. Outlined in
It Works How and Why are the Twelve Steps that are for individual
members to use as a personal program of recovery and the Twelve
Traditions that are principles for the groups. The Twelve Concepts
serve as guiding principles for our organizational structure.
Narcotics Anonymous is not affiliated with other
organizations, including other Twelve Step programs, treatment centers
or correctional facilities. As an organization, we do not employ
professional counselors or therapists. Narcotics Anonymous has no
residential facilities or clinics and does not provide vocational,
legal, financial, psychiatric or medical services.
We recognize that NA is but one organization among many
addressing the problem of drug addiction/drug dependency. Our members
have significant success in addressing their own addiction, but
Narcotics Anonymous does not claim to have a program that will work for
all addicts under all circumstances or that its therapeutic views should
be universally adopted. In order to maintain its focus on a program of
recovery, NA does not express or endorse anything outside its own
specific sphere of activity. NA does not express opinions, pro or con,
on religion and civil, social, medical, or legal issues such as
criminality, law enforcement, drug legalization, prostitution, HIV and
free needle programs. We keep our focus to what we believe is our realm
of expertise-that of one recovering addict helping another. If Narcotics
Anonymous can be useful to the inmates in your facility, and we are
available in your area, we welcome the opportunity to be of service.
Narcotics Anonymous Growth
The rapid growth of registered Narcotics Anonymous meetings in
recent years and the rapid spread of NA outside of North America are
prime indicators of the program's success. In 1978, there were fewer
than 200 groups in three countries. By 1983, the Narcotics Anonymous
program of recovery had reached more than a dozen countries with 2,966
registered meetings. In 1998, we knew of groups holding 24,685 weekly
meetings in ninety (90) countries.
Primarily due to NA's emphasis on protecting the
anonymity of our members, no comprehensive survey of the Narcotics
Anonymous membership has been completed to date. In 1989, we conducted
an informal poll of our members and had 5,000 respondents. The
information gleaned was of gender and age of our members. Our members
were 64% male and 36% female. The predominant age was between 30 and 45
(48%) followed by 20 to 30 year olds (37%).
How Narcotics Anonymous Works
Narcotics Anonymous believes that one of the keys to its success is the
therapeutic value of recovering addicts helping each other, and in
particular helping the new member. The most common venue that affords
this assistance is the NA meeting. In meetings, each member shares
personal experience with living life drug-free with others who are in
attendance at meetings. Formats may vary (topic, speaker, book study)
from meeting to meeting but all essentially have one thing in common, an
atmosphere of hope and empathy. Meetings may be classified as
"open" to anyone or "closed" to members and those
who believe they have a drug problem.
A fundamental suggestion is for members to seek a
sponsor. A sponsor is an experienced member who offers informal
assistance to a new member on how to remain drug-free and gives
suggestions on how to work a program of recovery.
The Narcotics Anonymous program of recovery uses a simple,
experience-oriented 'disease concept' of addiction. Narcotics
Anonymous does not qualify its use of the term 'disease' in any
medical or specialized therapeutic sense, nor does NA make any attempt
to persuade others of the correctness of its views. Rather, the NA
fellowship asserts that its members have found acceptance of addiction
as a disease to be effective in helping them in their recovery.
NA Volunteers - What Services Do They Provide?
NA volunteers provide services based upon the type of request and the
number of available volunteers On many occasions the request is for
information about NA and how to obtain NA literature. However, the
most common request is for volunteers to make a presentation to a
facility's administrative staff and/or residents or inmates. Our
volunteers' primary purpose is to advance awareness of the NA program
to anyone seeking recovery from drug addiction.
We provide support to those inmates who think they have a drug
problem or a history of chemical dependency. The volunteers from the
NA program share their personal experiences about utilizing the NA
program to live a drug-free life. This exposure to the NA program and
NA members can have an appreciable effect in reducing recidivism by
reassuring the incarcerated individual that upon release there will be
support in helping to continue their recovery. Our experience as a
fellowship has shown that this identification and association are
vital. Narcotics Anonymous provides an opportunity to each individual
to improve the quality of his/her life, both inside the facility and
after release from the facility.
Hospitals and Institutions (H&I) Meetings
H&l meetings/presentations, except for those in longer-term
facilities, are intended to simply introduce some of the basic
principles of the NA program to inmates who have a history of
substance abuse and who do not have full access to regular Narcotics
Anonymous meetings in the outside community. In many cases, the NA
H&I meeting complements the facility's substance abuse program by
providing contact with other recovering addicts and an atmosphere to
share experience, strength, and hope with living life drug-free.
Sometimes correctional administrators and/or substance abuse
program staff will contact NA through a local NA helpline/phoneline
number and request to have an H&l meeting/presentation in their
institution. Once we are contacted, a representative usually calls
back to set up an appointment. If we are unable to support a
meeting/presentation at that time, we explain that at the appointment
and that we will nevertheless, maintain communication. We may also
provide NA literature, our product catalog, and inform them about some
of our publications, one of which - The Institutional Group Guide - is
specifically designed for starting and sustaining meetings in an
institutional setting. At other times the local H&l subcommittee
will approach a facility to propose a meeting/presentation but this
will occur only if they are prepared to provide the members to support
such a meeting.
How Narcotics Anonymous H&I Meetings are Conducted
NA H&l meetings in correctional facilities will vary in format
from one facility to another. Facilities will have different policies
that we must take into consideration when planning a format or
bringing NA volunteers to the H&l meeting. Our goal is to provide
an atmosphere where the NA message of recovery is carried and shared.
We have experience carrying the message of recovery in both short
and long-term facilities. We use the phrase "short-term" to
refer to facilities in which inmates are held for less than one year,
and includes some city and county jails, work farms, honor farms, and
privately owned prisons. Because these inmates will be held for a
period of some months, we usually share about experiences in early
recovery. We feel it is important to give practical information about
the NA program of recovery since inmates tend to get involved in
discussing what they are going to do about recovery when they get out.
We feel that recovery need not depend on, nor require, a particular
living situation. We try to impart the understanding that we can
remain drug-free under all situations and that the time to begin
recovery is now.
We consider facilities in which addicts are sentenced for more than
one year to be "long-term" facilities. Inmates in these
facilities are more likely to maintain their recovery while
incarcerated, so in this type of setting we encourage increased
participation and sharing by the inmates. Their participation can be
anything from setting up the chairs for the meeting to starting the
meeting. In a long-term facility this H&l meeting may be the only
NA recovery these addicts will experience for years. Encouraging them
to be more directly involved helps them follow the program throughout
their incarceration. The type of profound changes in an individual's
attitude, thinking, and behavior, brought about by working the NA
program can have a positive affect on others around him/her. Inmates
who become involved in their recovery get the opportunity to start
practicing a new way of life before their release. And, by following a
daily program, transition to the community can be a more positive
experience.
Transition from Incarceration to the Community and How NA Helps
An inmate's chance of sustaining recovery and avoiding recidivism is
enhanced with a planned community transition. Some of the practical
information provided by our NA H&l volunteers will help this. We
strongly encourage that inmates make a change in what we call
"playmates, playgrounds and playthings" since these familiar
surroundings can lead to relapse. To help support the recovering
addict we provide meeting directories, NA phoneline numbers, and urge
them to attend a meeting the first day upon release so they can become
connected to new associations immediately. Sometimes NA members in the
community choose, as individuals, to arrange to meet inmates upon
release. This is not a service provided by our NA H&l volunteers.
But once an inmate arrives at their first NA meeting in the community,
phone numbers are given and exchanged among members. We suggest that
the recently released addict find a sponsor - a more experienced NA
member who will share their suggestions for following the NA program.
Attending daily NA meetings also will help acclimate them to this new
way of living without drugs and provide needed support in coping with
"life on life's terms."
NA H&l meetings also are available to work release, halfway
houses, honor camps, and those facilities which house inmates after
their release from jail or prison and before they are allowed to fully
re-enter society. Because their program schedules allow for limited
attendance at outside NA meetings, such facilities usually have a low
priority for H&l subcommittees. In that event, we still provide
information and access to the NA program through local meeting
directories and the World Service Office Product Catalog. For a copy
of our product catalog please contact our international headquarters
listed below:
World Service Office
PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409
Phone: (818) 773-9999
Fax: (818) 700-0700
Email: wso@na.org
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