Addiction in the family

Addiction recovery is not a solitary journey. It involves several factors at a macro [society/community], meso [familial] and micro [individual] level. Although the individual and collective family recovery journey is often forgotten and overshadowed by that of the community and/or society, it is an important, ongoing issue that needs highlighting both empirically and practically. Particularly when addiction and criminality crosses paths leading the family to often be viewed as responsible for their loved one’s addiction, and the acts that fuel it. In this chapter, I will reflect on my family member’s addiction challenges and recovery; addiction’s impact on my life and the lives of my family members and finally our family’s interaction with both the addiction and criminal justice systems. These reflections will form an empirical argument consisting of the positionality of the family in the criminal justice system and the tenuous positionality of addiction as a concept both within the justice and medical systems. Finally, I will conclude by using these debates as a basis to construct recommendations for forensic social work so that the voice of the family can be heard within both systems moving forward.