Belief, Behavior, and Belonging: How Faith is Indispensable in Preventing and Recovering from Substance Abuse

Brian J Grim,Melissa E Grim

doi:10.1007/s10943-019-00876-w

Abstract

This study reviews the voluminous empirical evidence on faith’s contribution to preventing people from falling victim to substance abuse and helping them recover from it. We find that 73% of addiction treatment programs in the USA include a spirituality-based element, as embodied in the 12-step programs and fellowships initially popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous, the vast majority of which emphasize reliance on God or a Higher Power to stay sober. We introduce and flesh out a typology of faith-based substance abuse treatment facilities, recovery programs, and support groups. This typology provides important background as we then move on to make an economic valuation of nearly 130,000 congregation-based substance abuse recovery support programs in the USA. We find that these faith-based volunteer support groups contribute up to $316.6 billion in savings to the US economy every year at no cost to tax payers. While negative experiences with religion (e.g., clergy sex abuse and other horrendous examples) have been a contributory factor to substance abuse among some victims, given that more than 84% of scientific studies show that faith is a positive factor in addiction prevention or recovery and a risk in less than 2% of the studies reviewed, we conclude that the value of faith-oriented approaches to substance abuse prevention and recovery is indisputable. And, by extension, we also conclude that the decline in religious affiliation in the USA is not only a concern for religious organizations but constitutes a national health concern.

Highlights

America is in the midst of an acute alcohol and drug addiction crisis
The evidence we have reviewed and presented above shows that religious beliefs, practices, and belonging as well as spiritual programs inspired by faith in a Higher Being significantly contribute to the prevention of and recovery from substance abuse
This study finds that 73% of substance abuse recovery programs in the USA include a spirituality-based element, as embodied in the 12-step programs and fellowships, the majority of which emphasize reliance on God or a Higher Power to stay sober

Summary

Introduction

America is in the midst of an acute alcohol and drug addiction crisis. Life-saving medicines and psychological interventions are important components of rescue and recovery. Evidence-based studies have found that youths who are spiritually active, participate in a faith community, and invest in a prayerful relationship with their God are less likely to use or abuse drugs and alcohol and engage in related criminal activity (Johnson et al 2015, 2016a, b; Lee et al 2014, 2017; Post et al 2015, 2016). As we have just demonstrated, does faith offer personal and social resources helping people avoid and/or recover from substance abuse, its impact is often made manifest at the local congregational level, as places of worship host spiritual or religious 12-step type fellowship meetings. The study put the annual contribution in dollar terms, with a mid-range estimate of nearly $1.2 trillion This includes the fair market value of community services provided by religious organizations such as an estimated 129,680 congregational substance abuse recovery programs This represents only a portion of the faith-based work addressing the addiction crisis

Findings

Discussion

Conclusions