Sleep during recovery from drug and alcohol dependence: a sociological study of embodied change

Previous studies conducted by Dr Jo Neale and Professor Sarah Nettleton, found sleep to be a critical issue for drug users. Their findings prompted further empirical questions such as: How, why and in what ways do sleep, drug dependence and recovery interact, and with what consequences?  

This research explores these issues. Although many of these questions have been addressed by biomedical scientists, to-date their work has not been matched by any detailed sociological research. This project rests on the idea that:

1. If we are to answer these questions, novel conceptual models are required which situate sleep, drug misuse and recovery as embodied social actions that are embedded within social contexts
2. Novel methods are required which recognise that sleep is a liminal state.