Between the three of us, we have been involved with the issue of drug use in prisons and promoting recovery for many, many years. As with so many people, we all have experienced or know someone close to us who has encountered problems with using drugs, and who is now studying, working with or living in recovery. To have no exposure to this issue appears to be an exception to the rule.
When we talk about a drug, we mean any substance that when consumed causes a temporary physiological and often psychological change in the body and mind. This includes alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine, cannabis, medicines and synthetic chemicals. This special edition is concentrating on overcoming drug addiction and promoting recovery from drug use in prison. However, the notion of recovery is very personal to each individual. It is a personal journey filled with learning and discoveries which help rebuild and reconnect people with their strengths and aspirations. It helps them live meaningful and satisfying lives. Recovery therefore can be applied to a range of issues such as mental health and getting better from a physical illness and is a holistic process of growth and change. It’s not just about stopping drug use; it’s about promoting overall wellbeing—a state characterised by good health, happiness and social satisfaction.
Drug use is an emotive subject. There is no escaping that there are different responses to those who use drugs across society whether they be supportive or punitive. Each person who uses drugs is first and foremost a person, or as the front cover reminds us, they are human. At times this vital point can be lost. Therefore, being able to devote a whole edition to recovery is both a honour and tremendous opportunity because we know that recovery happens every day. We know that when we have environments that allow recovery to grow and become visible that it is contagious moving from person to person.
So for this special issue of the PSJ, we decided to examine some of the different constituent parts that help us understand why and how people recover and how this can be used to promote recovery in prison. We have invited contributions from a wide range of people with knowledge and experience of the subject. In the first section, you can read about what we mean by recovery. The second section discusses practises within prisons that can help develop our ideas about how to respond and promote recovery. In the final section we explore the operational context in order to better understand and use it to adapt our responses. We have also provided a voice for people in recovery to contribute to this process and to tell us about their experiences. It was not possible, of course, to include articles about every relevant issue. We intend to publish studies related to recovery activity in the next edition of the PSJ as well as inspire more contributions about recovery in order to maintain a profile in forthcoming issues of this Journal.
We would like to thank all the authors who responded so positively to the invitation to contribute. We hope you find it useful and thought provoking. Drug use and recovery is multifaceted. There is no single solution. We all need to work together and get involved if we are to make a difference. Can recovery in prison happen? We believe it can.
Acknowledgments
There are many people to thank for helping us to get to where we are today. Ian Blakeman (HMPPS) and Julie Dhuny (NHS England) for their support and faith in recovery concepts; Chris Dyer (Governor) for trusting us to work within HMP Holme House; Kate Davies (NHS England) and Becky Wyse (MoJ) for leading the DRP Governance Group; Mark GillyonPowell (NHS E) and Kieran Lynch (PHE) for ongoing support; Alpa Parmar and Ben Hall (MoJ) for taking care of the policy implications; Maria Angulo (MoJ) for helping figure out how to evaluate the DRP programme; and the DRP Programme Team for their dedication.Cover inspiration: Brad McLeod.
