AUTHOR=Itzhaki-Braun Yael , Gavriel-Fried Belle 

TITLE=Using societal conditional regard to cope with drug use in the ultraorthodox community and the unintended consequences

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1344832

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1344832

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=A developing theoretical framework for the investigation of tight cultures' reaction toward members who violate communal norms is societal conditional regard (SCR). Using a qualitative interpretive approach, in the current study we investigated the way the Ultraorthodox Jewish community uses SCR to cope with substance use disorders (SUDs), which considered to be a norms violation in closed religious communities. We did so by drawing on in-depth interviews with 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD and were in recovery. Divided into four themes, the findings highlight the process in which SCR develops and is implemented: (a) There is only one path; (b) The contingency of god's love; (c)The emotional and behavioral practices used to convey SCR; and (d) Unintended consequences. Findings shed light on how tight cultures cope with the threat of deviation of communal norms.