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4. USING INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS a 59 Construction of the addict identity is based on the redefinition of self (and triggered by the experience of the ,,rock bottom”); thus, one is no longer the user of the drug (a particular kind of addict) but simply an addict (a particular kind of person) (Larkin & Griffiths, 2002). Simultaneously, the user self is replaced by the addict identity in order to understand and explain the struggles derived from addiction (Rodriguez & Smith, 2014), which promote the formation of the identity of recovery (Larkin & Griffiths, 2002). In recovery the addict identity helps to stay vigilant against the constant temptation of addiction, as it is often suggested in the AA literature: ,,once an addict, always an addict” (Shinebourne & Smith, 2011a). Therefore, recovery is a lifelong process, which requires constant work (Larkin & Griffiths, 2002; Laudet, 2007). The addict identity and the identity of recovery are parallel, and have an important role in the therapy of recovery: one can keep a distance from the old user self through this ‘double’ identity (Hill & Leeming, 2014; Larkin & Griffiths, 2002). According to Hill and Leeming (2014), distancing the unaware user self prevents the user from his or her self being impacted by this old user self. Thus, the accepted addict identity was rather a sign of self-awareness than social deviance. Due to the particular effects of SCs, such as the predominance of negative experiences and their strong mental influence, the identity work of SC users may be very difficult. However, little is known about the identity work of SC users, and how and whether they could fit into the recovery process experienced by psychoactive drug addicts. In this study we utilized IPA to assess how self and identity formation is affected by the use of SC. 4.2. METHODS Based on the methodology of IPA, a purposive sample was recruited (Smith et al., 2009). The current study was conducted in two drug rehabilitation centres, that work with a recovery approach, and involved six male patients (aged 20-27 years) who were self-identified SC users. Before the analysis, they had been using SCs for at least 2-6 years, and at the time of the study they had been abstinent for at least 1 month. It was assumed that SCs were the dominant components of the substance that they smoked. For this study semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. We analysed data using IPA, which works with ‘double hermeneutics, where the participants try to interpret their experiences, and the researcher tries to interpret the participants interpretation of their experiences (Smith et al., 2009). The analysis focuses on how the participants perceive their identity (Smith & Osborn, 2007). During the analysis initial notes or comments were added upon close reading of the interview transcript and
