‘I can sleep at night’: examining the intersection of housing stability, addiction, and recovery among mothers who use drugs

Research on the housing crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand largely overlooks mothers who have substance use disorders, and their experiences of housing. In a study on mothers’ experiences of a residential parenting and drug rehabilitation programme, housing was consistently discussed as crucial to recovery in terms of the ability of wāhine (women) to envision a secure future. Individual and group interviews were conducted during six one-day wānanga (place of learning or gathering for discussion), where participants engaged in traditional Māori art while sharing experiences leading up to and in treatment. Dialogical Narrative Analysis was used to examine how societal and cultural narratives influenced their stories. Arthur Frank’s ‘wounded storyteller’ narrative typologies—chaos, restitution, and quest—provided a foundation to analyse stories of struggle and recovery. Findings revealed that housing instability before entering treatment exacerbated substance use, and unsafe housing conditions increased the risk of relapse once a recovery journey was initiated. Housing and child protection services were viewed as punitive and neglectful. Findings evidence the complex relationship between motherhood, substance use and housing insecurity, which should be used to inform policies and practises aimed at increasing housing and supporting well-being for this demographic.