‘Not Everything is Going to Work for Everybody’: How Peers’ Understanding of Self-Determination Shapes Their Conceptualizations of Peer Respite Centers

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how Washington State peer advocates’ self-described purposes of peer respite centers influence their specific articulations of the model and associated organizing efforts. A critical inquiry was conducted with leading peer advocates (N=4) through two in-depth interviews with each participant. Mad Studies and critical feminist theory informed thematic analysis of subsequent data. Findings showed participants’ universal focus on the value of self-determination in describing the purpose of peer respite centers. Although they shared a commitment to autonomy and choices for peer respite guests, participants’ detailed conceptualizations of the model varied according to how they sought to maximize these values at peer respite centers. The range of participant perspectives on clinical involvement and permitted substance use at the centers indicate potentially irreconcilable differences in peer respite center definitions that parallel historical divisions in U.S. peer movements. The study has implications for future iterations of peer respite centers and their degree of peer control in Washington and beyond.