After treatment for substance abuse, whether by prison, hospital-based treatment programs, or therapeutic communities, many patients return to former high-risk environments or stressful family situations. Returning to these settings without a network of people to support abstinence increases chances of relapse (Jason, Olson & Foli, 2008). As a consequence, alcohol and substance use recidivism following treatment is high for both men and women (Montgomery et al., 1993). Alternative approaches need to be explored, such as abstinence-specific social support settings (Vaillant, 2003).

• Kim, Davis, Jason, and Ferrari (2006) examined the impact of relationships with parents, significant others, children, friends and co-workers on substance use and recovery among this national sample of Oxford House residents.
• For many individuals with substance abuse problems, entry into the existing continuum of services begins in a detoxification program.
• Substantial reductions in recidivism rates have been found when in-prison Therapeutic Communities (TCs) are combined with community transition programs (Hiller, Knight, & Simpson, 1999; Wexler et al., 1996).

You need somewhere safe you can go after treatment, a place where you’ll be free of triggers and surrounded by social support. Some operate for several years and then, because of expiration of a lease, dissatisfaction with the facilities, or simply the finding of a better location, the members of a particular House will move into a new location. In both cases, financial assistance is in the form of a loan having a pay back schedule, not to exceed one year, defined up front. (Since 1989, many new Oxford Houses have taken advantage of state revolving loan programs.

ACCESS TO RECOVERY

It has been the experience of Oxford House that participation in AA and NA is extremely high in an environment where one individual can see another individual, with the same disease, reaping great benefits from AA and/or NA participation. We were also interested in exploring whether rates of crime increased in locations where there were Oxford Houses. We investigated crime rates in areas surrounding 42 Oxford Houses and 42 control houses in a large city (Deaner, Jason, Aase, & Mueller, 2009).

They are called “halfway” houses because those living in this sort of environment are transitioning halfway between a full-care facility to permanent living in society. Addicted individuals help themselves by helping each other abstain  from alcohol and drug use one day at a time. Oxford Houses cater to individuals in early recovery seeking a drug-free and safe environment that encourages personal responsibility and growth.

Alcohol Detox Stages: How Long Does Alcohol Detox Take?

Abstinence-specific social support may be critical to facilitating abstinence among persons with substance use disorders. Such social support is often acquired and utilized through participation in mutual-help groups (Humphreys, Mankowski, Moos, & Finney, 1999), where individuals are likely to develop peer networks consisting of abstainers and others in recovery. Investment in abstinence-specific social support was reported to be one of the best post-treatment prognostic indicators of recovery (Longabaugh et al., 1995; Zywiak, Longabaugh & Wirtz, 2002). One of the largest examples of a community-based, mutual-help residential community for high risk substance abuse individuals is Oxford House.

Many psychologists are involved in the delivery of services to those with substance abuse addictions. Each year, 600,000 inmates are released back into communities, and many are released with ongoing drug addictions (substance abuse within correctional facilities ranges from 74 to 82%; Keene, 1997). One of the strongest predictors of criminal recidivism is substance use (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005). Of those with substance use addictions/dependence, only about 10% even reach any type of substance abuse treatment. This suggests a large need for creative new types of screening methods to identify patients in need of treatment. Almost all medical problems are first identified by primary care and referred to specialists, but this is not the case with substance abuse disorders, where most individuals first approach specialist substance abuse treatment settings.

Q. Can both men and women live in the same Oxford House?

An important part of why Oxford House has been so successful is that accountability and responsibility are given to the recovering individuals themselves. As a group they behave responsibly and out of that “group responsibility” the individuals what is an oxford house develop a new responsible lifestyle free of alcohol and drug use. Since Oxford Houses are self-supported, they are the most cost-effective way to deal with recovery from alcoholism, drug addiction and co-occurring mental illness.

By the time many of us had stopped drinking, we had lost jobs; we had lost families, and some of us either had no place to live or no place to live which was not an invitation to start drinking again. Oxford House was founded not only to put a roof over our head, but also to create a home where the disease of alcoholism was understood and the need for the alcoholic to stay away from the first drink was emphasized. The bond that holds the group together is the desire to stop drinking and stay stopped.

We were not only dependent upon alcohol and/or drugs, but were also dependent on many others for continuing our alcoholic and/or drug addicted ways. When we stopped drinking or using drugs, we began to realize just how dependent we had become. For those of us who had been in institutions or half-way houses, resentments against authority were common. Second, only a lease to the House https://ecosoberhouse.com/ as a group accurately reflects that the House is responsible as a group. The property is being used by the group as a treatment for alcoholism for the benefit of the group. As discussed in the previous section, Who is Responsible, an integral element of Oxford House’s efficacy as a treatment for alcoholism is the “group responsibility” that the Oxford House model requires.