“I’m not a pervert too… right?”: Othering and Belonging in a Twelve-Step Sex Addiction Program

• In Event: Recovery: Substance Use, Sex Addiction, and Digital Sexuality

Abstract

Theories of stigma and shame suggest that people may bond with others who share similar experiences and feelings. In this same vein, people may also shame others with their same trait as a defense mechanism to externalize their own insecurities and/or distance themselves from the stigma. Sometimes stigma results in the formation of communities where people feel accepted and validated by other members. One example of such a community is Twelve-Step addiction programs, where members come together to share their “experience, strength, and hope”. Twelve-Step programs exist for many addictions. In this study, I focus on Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA). Through ethnographic observation of online meetings and in-depth interviews with members, I explore how participants relate to and find community among other members. Many members express their gratitude for SAA and its members, describing the group as a “life raft” or the thing that “saved them” from addiction. Simultaneously, though, some members draw boundaries between their own struggles and other people’s more “problematic” behaviors. In this way, members simultaneously bond with and distance themselves from others. This research builds on existing literature about SAA and the Twelve-Step model, highlighting members’ role in the stigmatization of and recovery from sex addiction.

Author

• Bryce Kushmerick-McCune, Sam Houston State University