About us

Icon of a green capsule pill, a blue policy icon, a pink icon representing a person and a green oval icon with 2 arrows, representing change on a dark green background.

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.

Icon of a pink wine glass and a green capsule pill on a dark green background.
Icon of a green capsule pill, a blue policy icon and a red arrow pointing forward, on a dark green background.

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.

Icon of a multi-coloured network diagram on a dark green background, representing a broad interdisciplinary theoretical framework.
Icon of a fuchsia plus sign, a pink icon  representing a person, and a green oval icon which represent positive social change, on a dark green background.

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.

Icon of 2 speech bubbles, one is lime green and one blue, on a dark green background, representing narrative approaches and participatory methods.