The Characteristics of Alcoholics in Self-Help Residential Treatment Settings

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study describes the demographic and intake information collected on 858 men and women Oxford House residents from 11 States and Washington, DC, from 1988 to 1994 (compliance rates = >70% per sample). Across samples, most residents were young, male, never married, educated, employed, Caucasian, poly-drug users who had made several attempts at sobriety before entering an Oxford House, involved in criminal activities before their start of the Oxford House program, but only some residents indicated they had been homeless at some time in their life. Given the self-help, sense of fellowship-community of Oxford Houses, it seems that this form of recovery program may provide an ideal setting to examine the effects of peer social support on long-term abstinence.