Katherine Albertson

Recovery and desistance: what the emerging recovery movement in the alcohol and drug area can learn from models of desistance from offending

Abstract In the last 20 years, the recovery movement in alcohol and other drugs has emerged as a major influence on alcohol and drug policy and practice in the UK, US and Australia. In roughly the same period of time, the desistance movement has become increasingly prominent in academic criminology, and is increasingly influential in criminal justice practice, particularly in the area of probation. Furthermore, the populations involved in recovery and desistance research have significant overlap, yet there has been little shared learning across these areas. The current article explores the evolution of thinking around desistance and what lessons it might offer conceptual models of recovery. It will be argued that one of the most important shared assumptions relates to identity change, and the extent to which these identity changes are intrinsically social or ‘relational’. The paper will advance a social identity model as a mechanism for understanding the journey to recovery or desistance and the centrality of reintegration into communities for a coherent model and public policy around addiction recovery.

Veterans and violence: An exploration of pre-enlistment, military and post-service life:

Despite growing criminological interest in the many ex-service personnel mired within the UK’s criminal justice system, there remains a paucity of qualitative research studies examining the (violent) veteran offender. In response, this paper mobilizes the voices of veterans to explore the key life events that can shape their offending behaviour. Countering reductionist explanations of violent crime committed by ex-service personnel, we contend that veterans’ violence may be rooted within personal biographies and psyches, conditioned by military experiences and represent the psychosocial consequences of the socioeconomic transformations of advanced capitalism.

The role of the arts, humanities and social sciences in forming and informing responses to contemporary social change

Modern, liberal societies face a number of overarching challenges: demographic changes, increasing inequality, unemployment and under-employment, political instability, austerity and ecological, social and economic unsustainability are challenging established paradigms of political-economy. Current political discourse emphasises market-based approaches to these stressors: we contend it is rather the disciplines of the social sciences, arts and humanities that have more to say about the resolution of these externalities. In the following we seek to broaden the discourse regarding the role of these disciplines in interpreting and beginning to address social challenges. Our consideration of human values as a complement of monetary values is illustrated practically by three indicative projects conducted by the authors. In each case, we focus on the qualitative impact of these disciplines’ approaches on the participants and their environment. We suggest these activities have transformative potential through providing a platform for reflexion, collaboration and the building of communities.