Addiction, Behavioral Change and Social Identity ─ The Path to Resilience and Recovery

Changing health-related behaviour is for many people a lonely and isolating experience. Individual willpower is often not enough, particular in addressing addictive behaviour, but research increasingly points to the potential of group identity to shape behaviour change and support recovery.

This important collection explores the social and cognitive processes that enable people who become part of recovery groups to address their addictive issues. In an era of increasing concern at the long-term costs of chronic ill-health, the potential to leverage group identity to inspire resilience and recovery offers a timely and practical response.

The book, which includes empirical research, examines the theoretical foundations to a social identity approach to address various addictions, and the potential for recovery groups to de-pathologize behavioural change more generally.

Supported online by a range of models of implementation with practical guidance, it will be essential reading for students, researchers and policy makers across health psychology, social care, as well as anyone interested in behavioural change and addiction recovery.

Sarah A. Buckingham is a casual Senior Research Fellow based at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Previously Sarah has worked as an integrative psychotherapist in the NHS and as a Froebel trained primary school teacher. She is also a practicing artist.

David Best is Professor of Criminology and Head of Research in the Department of Law and Criminology at Sheffield Hallam University, UK and is Associate Professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.