Rehabilitation Work ─ Supporting Desistance and Recovery

Rehabilitation continues to attract considerable attention as a key response to people caught in cycles of crime and addiction. Yet not enough is known about the cultures and conditions in which rehabilitation practices and processes occur, or how different workers support individuals towards recovery and desistance. Away from the dominant focus on the subjects of rehabilitation, closer examination of practitioner discourses and workforce data exposes some troubling trends. Why is it that significant numbers of practitioners are leaving the alcohol and other drugs field, while disproportionate numbers of criminal justice practitioners areon leave?

This book offers evocative insights into the colourful world of what happens behind the closed doors of prisons, probation and parole offices, drug rehabs, treatment centres and other recovery support services. It describes the changing cultures and pragmatic realities encountered by those who work and live there. Importantly, it features the voices and experiences of those at the frontline to reveal distinct differences between the literature and official accounts of rehabilitation work, and what practitionersactually do in practice.

Hannah Graham (PhD) is a Research Fellow in Criminology in the School of Applied Social Science at the University of Stirling, and a member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR).