ABSTRACT
In a traditional pathology approach to addiction, treatment effectiveness is often assessed not in terms of cure or remission (or even quality of life or wellbeing), but in public health and public safety indicators such as blood borne virus and offending rates. While recovery from AOD has often been described as having benefits for families and communities, the primary definitions (from Betty Ford Institute Consensus Group, the UK Drug Policy Commission and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) have defined recovery in very personal and individual terms – quality of life, sobriety and community participation. What the current chapter explores is the evidence around community impacts of recovery, with particular emphasis on the family, and how we might consider metrics and measurement of recovery as something that should be measured at a community level. The chapter will use new research data and existing published literature to consider recovery impact as a family and a community concept, drawing on ideas from positive psychology and positive criminology.
