About us


Our vision
Drugs, Policy and Social Change (DPSC) is a new research group within the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
DPSC studies alcohol and other drugs from within the social sciences. This includes the study of drug trends, patterns and cultures across the market incorporating use, supply, cultivation, and production.


Our vision seeks to better understand the meaning of drugs within contexts, cultures and communities and connect this knowledge to societal responses, including approaches to policy, practice, and media discourse.
The team draws on a broad interdisciplinary theoretical framework which includes, criminology, sociology, economics, social psychology and cultural studies.


DPSC strives to promote positive social change within affected communities and impact the work of policy makers, treatment and support services, advocacy and activist groups and drug policy reform networks.
We adopt a collective approach to research, specialising in ethnography; participatory methods; creative methodologies, and narrative approaches.
