{"id":{"repo_id":"city-london","oai_identifier":"oai:openaccess.city.ac.uk:8726"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/city-london/oai:openaccess.city.ac.uk:8726","repository":{"repo_id":"city-london","name":"City University of London","base_url":"https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Heroin Addiction and Longing to Belong","abstract":"This study explores the lived experience of being parented in childhood and adolescence in individuals with a long history of heroin/crack cocaine dependence. This investigation uses attachment theory (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980) as a central pillar of the explanatory framework, while also drawing upon psychodynamic concepts to illuminate and interpret participants' narratives. The avowed aim of this research is to contribute towards a psychodynamic phenomenology of parental relationships in childhood, and in particular that of the mother-child dyad. The study also endeavours to begin to make up for the paucity of studies about the relationship between attachment and heroin addiction, while using a constructivist-interpretative epistemological position to examine how individuals' early life experiences may shape and influence them through later life. In this study, a clinical sample of six individuals stabilised on a low-dose methadone maintenance programme underwent three separate interviews, and analysis was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. This focused on emergent themes, retaining a strong epistemological commitment to interpretations firmly embedded in the data. Three major themes emerged: 'I was always the outsider', and perceptions of not fitting in socially or with family; 'I wanted an ordinary mum and got Supermum', and the notion of a mother who was not mentally attuned with the growing child; and 'my search for a new, improved sense of self, where the child attempts to extinguish their negative self-image. These findings are then discussed, using theoretical literature as explanatory support, in an attempt to improve our understanding of the experience of being parented in a child who went on to become a heroin addict.","abstract_html":"This study explores the lived experience of being parented in childhood and adolescence in individuals with a long history of heroin/crack cocaine dependence. This investigation uses attachment theory (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980) as a central pillar of the explanatory framework, while also drawing upon psychodynamic concepts to illuminate and interpret participants' narratives. The avowed aim of this research is to contribute towards a psychodynamic phenomenology of parental relationships in childhood, and in particular that of the mother-child dyad. The study also endeavours to begin to make up for the paucity of studies about the relationship between attachment and heroin addiction, while using a constructivist-interpretative epistemological position to examine how individuals' early life experiences may shape and influence them through later life. In this study, a clinical sample of six individuals stabilised on a low-dose methadone maintenance programme underwent three separate interviews, and analysis was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. This focused on emergent themes, retaining a strong epistemological commitment to interpretations firmly embedded in the data. Three major themes emerged: 'I was always the outsider', and perceptions of not fitting in socially or with family; 'I wanted an ordinary mum and got Supermum', and the notion of a mother who was not mentally attuned with the growing child; and 'my search for a new, improved sense of self, where the child attempts to extinguish their negative self-image. These findings are then discussed, using theoretical literature as explanatory support, in an attempt to improve our understanding of the experience of being parented in a child who went on to become a heroin addict.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Paine, J."],"institution":"City University London","degree_name":"phd","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-09","date_published":"2009-09","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:17Z","subjects":["BF Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Paine, J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2009-09"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-09"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Psychology & Neuroscience","Doctoral Theses","School of Health & Medical Sciences Doctoral Theses","Psychology"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["City University London"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/8726/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["phd"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["BF Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/8726/1/Heroin_Addiction_and_Longing_to_Belong.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study explores the lived experience of being parented in childhood and adolescence in individuals with a long history of heroin/crack cocaine dependence. This investigation uses attachment theory (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980) as a central pillar of the explanatory framework, while also drawing upon psychodynamic concepts to illuminate and interpret participants' narratives. The avowed aim of this research is to contribute towards a psychodynamic phenomenology of parental relationships in childhood, and in particular that of the mother-child dyad. The study also endeavours to begin to make up for the paucity of studies about the relationship between attachment and heroin addiction, while using a constructivist-interpretative epistemological position to examine how individuals' early life experiences may shape and influence them through later life. In this study, a clinical sample of six individuals stabilised on a low-dose methadone maintenance programme underwent three separate interviews, and analysis was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. This focused on emergent themes, retaining a strong epistemological commitment to interpretations firmly embedded in the data. Three major themes emerged: 'I was always the outsider', and perceptions of not fitting in socially or with family; 'I wanted an ordinary mum and got Supermum', and the notion of a mother who was not mentally attuned with the growing child; and 'my search for a new, improved sense of self, where the child attempts to extinguish their negative self-image. These findings are then discussed, using theoretical literature as explanatory support, in an attempt to improve our understanding of the experience of being parented in a child who went on to become a heroin addict."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Heroin Addiction and Longing to Belong"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Paine, J."],"dc:date":["2009-09"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-09"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study explores the lived experience of being parented in childhood and adolescence in individuals with a long history of heroin/crack cocaine dependence. This investigation uses attachment theory (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980) as a central pillar of the explanatory framework, while also drawing upon psychodynamic concepts to illuminate and interpret participants' narratives. The avowed aim of this research is to contribute towards a psychodynamic phenomenology of parental relationships in childhood, and in particular that of the mother-child dyad. The study also endeavours to begin to make up for the paucity of studies about the relationship between attachment and heroin addiction, while using a constructivist-interpretative epistemological position to examine how individuals' early life experiences may shape and influence them through later life. In this study, a clinical sample of six individuals stabilised on a low-dose methadone maintenance programme underwent three separate interviews, and analysis was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. This focused on emergent themes, retaining a strong epistemological commitment to interpretations firmly embedded in the data. Three major themes emerged: 'I was always the outsider', and perceptions of not fitting in socially or with family; 'I wanted an ordinary mum and got Supermum', and the notion of a mother who was not mentally attuned with the growing child; and 'my search for a new, improved sense of self, where the child attempts to extinguish their negative self-image. These findings are then discussed, using theoretical literature as explanatory support, in an attempt to improve our understanding of the experience of being parented in a child who went on to become a heroin addict."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/8726/1/Heroin_Addiction_and_Longing_to_Belong.pdf"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Psychology & Neuroscience","Doctoral Theses","School of Health & Medical Sciences Doctoral Theses","Psychology"],"dc:publisher.institution":["City University London"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/8726/"],"dc:subject":["BF Psychology"],"dc:title":["Heroin Addiction and Longing to Belong"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["phd"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:17Z"}