DARC as a Community Preventing the Maximization of Individual Variables:

A Sociological Examination of a Drug Addiction Recovery Facility

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which drug addiction intervention and recovery support are performed at DARC, drug addiction recovery facilities.

Drug addiction has existed through the ages and remains a social problem inside and outside Japan. Drug addiction intervention and recovery support are conducted largely through two approaches—one, a legal model, and the other, a medical model. DARC, the subject of this paper, represents a third approach, one in which intervention and support efforts are led by recovering addicts. Since it was established in 1985 by a recovering addict, DARC has used communal living arrangements to aid recovery from drug addiction. DARC is unique in that it is managed by recovering addicts, relies primarily on a 12-step program as a path to recovery, and was originated in Japan.

Research for this paper was initiated in April 2011. Focusing on two DARC facilities located in metropolitan areas, it consists of fieldwork and interviews with 31 people. Among the findings is the conclusion that DARC is a community that is managed according to principles different from those underpinning modern society at large. More specifically, applying an argument made by the anthropologist Gregory Bateson, this paper concludes that DARC is a community in which the maximization of any particular variable (e.g., money, popularity, authority) is prevented.