Selected Papers of William L. White www.williamwhitepapers.com Collected papers, interviews, video presentations, photos, and archival documents on the history of addiction treatment and recovery in America. williamwhitepapers.com 1 Citation: Evans, A.C., Achara, I., Lamb, R. and White, W. (2012). Ethnic-specific support systems as a method for sustaining long-term addiction recovery. Journal of Groups in Addiction and Recovery. 7(2- 3), 171-188. Posted at www.williamwhitepapers.com Ethnic-specific Support Systems as a Method for Sustaining Long-term Addiction Recovery Although addiction recovery mutual aid support groups have grown dramatically and now span secular, spiritual, and religious frameworks of recovery, most of what is known from the standpoint of science about these groups is based on the early participation of treated populations in Alcoholics Anonymous. Many questions remain about the effects of participation in other mutual aid groups and different pathways and styles of recovery within and across diverse ethnic groups. This paper reviews existing data on ethnic group participation in recovery mutual aid groups, summarizes the history of culturally indigenous recovery movements within Native American and African American communities in the United States, and describes strategies aimed at increasing recovery prevalence and the quality of life in recovery for persons of color in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KEYWORDS: Addiction recovery, mutual aid, race, ethnicity, racial disparities, recovery support, recovery mutual aid Introduction The prevalence of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and related problems and access to and participation in treatment and recovery support resources are not equally distributed across racial/ethnic groups in the United States (Caetano, Baruah, & Chartier, 2011; Chartier & Caetano, 2011; Mulia, Ye, Greenfield, & Zemore, 2009; Wallace, 1999). Although non-Whites experience remission from substance use disorders at rates comparable to Whites (Arndt, Vélez, Segre, & Clayton, 2010), AOD problems within communities of color have been historically portrayed in the mainstream media through a lens of pathology rather than through the perspectives of resilience, resistance, and recovery (White & Sanders, 2008). Pejorative racial stereotypes long imbedded within anti-drug campaigns in the United States have misrepresented the source, scope, and solutions to AOD-related problems within communities of color (Helmer, 1975; Leland, 1976; Musto, 1973; Neuspiel, 1996). If there is a yet untold addictions-related story at public and professional levels, it is the rich tradition through which communities of color have actively resisted the infusion of alcohol and drugs into their cultures,