Recovery Capital in Prisons Book

Edited by Dr. David Patton, Andi Brierley & Mike Wheatley

Share Your Journey to Inspire Change! 

We are launching a series of books exploring recovery pathways. This book will explore recovery pathways in prison.  

The Prison Reform Trust recently stated that:

“In 2020–21, a government-commissioned independent review of drugs estimated that people with a serious drug addiction occupy one-third of prison places. They are generally serving veryshort sentences and have an extensive offending history. The review concluded that drug prevention, treatment and recovery across all public services (including prisons) was “not fit for purpose and urgently needs repair.” It recommended an additional £552 million of investment over the next five years, including funding to improve quality of in-prison treatment, increased diversion from custody, and seamless post-release support for addiction recovery from day one of release.”

The book will explore how prisons can either help or hinder someone's journey to recovery. The book will offer perspectives based on personal experiences. It's aimed at researchers, policymakers, people who work in this field, and those going through recovery themselves, giving them insights and understanding to make things better for those who will enter the prison system in the future. 

We are looking for 10 people who are currently in recovery who experienced a drug and/or alcohol addiction or were in recovery whilst in prison.  You must not be currently in prison or on licence from prison. 

Are you ready to make a difference? We want to hear YOUR story and how being in prison impacted your recovery journey (positively or negatively). We would like to invite you to write a chapter for this book based on your person experiences.  Your experiences, collected with others, has the potential to help shape future approaches and support others on their journey.

Share your insights on:

1. Barriers: What factors hindered your recovery whilst in prison?  Lack of resources available at the prison?  Unfriendly or unsupportive staff? Stigma from other prisoners?

2. Facilitators:  What helped your journey whilst in prison? Being on a drug recovery wing in a prison, offered specialist support or peer support from other prisoners.

When considering both areas we would like you to think about:

What personal resources factors affected your recovery journey whilst in prison:  your health, mental health, self-esteem, levels of hope or hopelessness, sense of empowerment in your own ability to make changes for yourself etc.

What were your relationships like during this time and how this impacted your recovery whilst in prison: Consider the role of friendships and family support in your recovery journey whilst in prison as well as your relationships with prison staff and professionals working within the prison.

What institutional resources and support services were available to you.  Discuss any services, programmes, or interventions you were offered or were available to you.  Did you have access to a counsellor?  A gym? Discuss any stigma you encountered from prison inmates, prison staff, friends, family, other professionals, and your local community whilst in prison.

Chapter Structure:

- Introduction (500 words, approx. 1 page): Introduce yourself and where you are now in your journey.

- Barriers (1000 words): Discuss barriers you faced and how you overcame them.

- Recovery supports (1000 words): Share what supported you along the way.

- Final Reflections and recommendations (1000 words): Reflect on your journey, lessons learned and share your perspectives on what can be done to strengthen or enhance the things that worked for you whilst in prison as well as reduce or eliminate those things which were harmful or stalled your recovery.

Contributor Guidelines:

- No writing experience needed! We'll guide you through the process.

- Chapters ideally 3,000 - 5,000 words, but flexible to fit your story.

- Use your own language and style to express your experiences authentically.

- Protect privacy by changing names and other identifying details if and where needed.

Collaborative Approach:

- We value your input! Help co-create the book series by sharing your ideas and suggestions.

- Together, let's change the system, break the stigma and build a supportive approaches for all.

A 4-step process?

Step 1: Ready to share your story? So we can keep track of who is committed to contribute a chapter please sign up using this link:

https://forms.office.com/e/J56p0TC1jF

Visit the link below for more details on the vision behind New Central Media

https://www.drdavidpatton.co.uk/new-central-media

Step 2: have a go at writing a first draft

You would write and submit a first draft using the guidance above.

We are happy to meet with you to discuss your progress and answer any questions and read and give feedback on part or a whole draft before you submit your first draft. Please can you aim to have your first submissions ready by Friday 30 June.  

Step 3: editors will review your chapter:

The Editors will then look at the draft and provide feedback.  This may involve us sending the draft back to you and asking for more information. Or we may suggest some changes.  

Step 4: make any amends and re-submit

You can either accept any changes made and/or add any additional info requested.  You will then re-submit the revised chapter using the same link ready for final review.

This will be resubmitted no later than Friday 6 September.

Feel free to email any questions to d.patton@derby.ac.uk

Let's inspire positive change together! #PrisonRecoveryPathways #RecoveryJourney #InspireChange