The issue of 'recovery' has been increasingly prioritised by policymakers in recent years, but the meaning of the concept remains ambiguous. This edited collection brings together the thoughts and experiences of researchers, practitioners and service users from the fields of health, addiction and criminal justice and centres on current developments in addiction policy and practice.

Tackling Addiction examines what recovery, addiction and dependence really mean, not only to the professional involved in rehabilitation but also to each individual client, and how 'coerced treatment' fails to take account of recovery as a long-term and ongoing process. Chapters cover the influence of crime and public health in UK drug policy; the ongoing emphasis on substitute prescribing; the role of recovery groups and communities; and gendered differences in the recovery process and implications for responses aimed at supporting women.

Tackling Addiction will be essential reading for practitioners, researchers, policy makers and students in the fields of addiction, social care, psychology and criminal justice.

This book is useful as a tool of reflection about policy direction, focus of treatment and the client's goals continuing to be across a broad range of objectives. It encourages broad thinking about incorporating recovery into policy development, program design and supporting recovery as a client objective in treatment. -- Drug and Alcohol Review
Tackling Addiction is a great addition to the ongoing debate on how to best help and meet the needs of people with drug addiction. -- Metapsychology Online Reviews
The chapters of 'Tackling Addiction: Pathways to Recovery' embody the interdisciplinary nature of the subject area. Drawing together knowledge from a range of experts in the field, the narratives of academics, researchers, practitioners and drug users are blended to construct a comprehensive and interesting insight into the ambiguous concept of recovery... The book deals with the complex issue of recovery in an accessible and thought provoking way... The book deals with this interesting but complex debate in an accessible and edifying manner... The book draws the information on recovery together into one easily accessible and comprehensive source, which for many is an invaluable resource in an area where the literature is extremely fragmented and widely dispersed across a range of disciplines. -- British Journal of Community Justice
This is a powerful book, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to refresh their motivation to work therapeutically in addiction. -- Clinical Psychology Forum

Rowdy Yates is Senior Research Fellow in Scottish Addiction Studies, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling. Rowdy co-edited Therapeutic Communities for the Treatment of Drug Users, with Barbara Rawlings. Margaret S. Malloch is Senior Research Fellow in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Stirling. She is also the author of Women, Drugs and Custody.