The Evolution of a UK Evidence Base for Substance Misuse Recovery

Abstract

This article examines the academic sources and origins of the „recovery movement” in the drugs field in the United Kingdom and considers a series of disparate evidence sources that have been applied and used in this regard. Only two of these originate in traditional addictions materials—treatment outcome and cohort studies—with the remaining studies reviewed coming from a range of other areas. In particular, the sources include a switch in focus from the specialist treatment clinic to the community, and from the therapeutic to the more broadly social. The framework for this approach is explicitly developmental and attends to the published research around crime careers and addiction careers. The final sections of the article review recent UK addiction recovery research and assess where we are and what we currently know—and as a consequence the key gaps and the methodological questions that need to be addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• recovery
• addiction
• evidence base