Research group: Substance use and associated behaviours (SUAB)
Leading research into substance use and associated behaviours through local, national and international collaboration that inspires change in policy and practice.
About
About our research
We are a multi-disciplinary team working collaboratively to highlight the reality and complexity of substance use for individuals, families, communities and the wider public.
Our research informs and is led by policy and practice concerns, and involves a wide range of community partners.
And we have a well-developed practice and international reputation for co-producing research with people with lived experience.
We bring together academics and postgraduate students from disciplines including sociology, criminology, nursing, public health, social work, mental health, chemical analysis, social care and psychology.
Our wider international network encompasses academics, people with lived experience, practitioners and policymakers from across the UK, Europe, North and South America and Australia.
Our expertise
We conduct research and apply it to policy and practice on a range of topics, including:
- end of life care for people using substances and their families
- homeless populations
- people engaged in the criminal justice system
- anabolic steroids and associated image and performance enhancing drugs
- drug and alcohol policy
- domestic and sexual abuse
- children and young people
- drug markets and trends
Our research informs both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in sociology, criminology, social work and social care.
We also supervise postgraduate research students, with recent PhD topics focusing on:
- the impact of parental substance use on children and young people
- reasons for non-attendance at community alcohol services
- an ethnographic study with people who use and supply cannabis
- women’s use of online sober communities
Events
We host monthly webinars with speakers and delegates from across the globe.
Details of upcoming events will be published here after they have been announced.
Email us to join the mailing list.
Watch our webinars
Browse recordings of previous events.Contacts, publications and responses
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Key publications
- Askew, R and Williams, L (2020) Rethinking enhancement substance use: A critical discourse studies approach. International Journal of Drug Policy, 95, pp102994-102994
- Fox, S and Berg, K (2022) Multiple Recoveries – Trauma and Substance Use in Galvani, S, Roy, A and Clayson, A (eds) Long-term recovery from substance use: European perspectives. Policy Press:UK
- Gray, P, Ralphs, R and Williams, L (2021) The use of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) within the homeless population: motivations, harms and the implications for developing an appropriate response. Addiction Research and Theory, 29(1), pp1-10
- Gibbs, N, Salinas, M and Turnock, L (2021) Post‐industrial masculinities and gym culture: Graft, craft, and fraternity. The British Journal of Sociology, 73, pp220-236
- McVeigh, J, Salinas, M and Ralphs, R (2021) A sentinel population: The public health benefits of monitoring enhanced body builders. International Journal of Drug Policy, 95, pp102890-102890
- Ralphs, R, Gray, P and Sutcliffe, OB (2021) The impact of the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act on synthetic cannabinoid use within the homeless population: Markets, content and user harms. International Journal of Drug Policy, 97, p.103305
- Templeton, L, Galvani, S and Peacock, M (2021) When ‘Good Enough’ Isn’t Good Enough: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Caring for Adults Using Substances at the End of Life. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
- Webb, L, Clayson, A, Duda-Mikulin, E and Cox, N (2020) “I’m getting the balls to say no”: Trajectories in long-term recovery from problem substance use Journal of Health Psychology
- Witham, G, Yarwood, G, Wright, S and Galvani, S (2019) An ethical exploration of the narratives surrounding substance use and pain management at the end of life: a discussion paper. Nursing Ethics
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Downloadable resources
Websites and resources
- Anabolic steroids UK
- Drug policy voices
- End of life care for people who use substances
- Greater Manchester: Testing and Research on Emergent and New Drugs
Reports, strategies and guides
- Involving People with Lived Experience in Research and Knowledge Exchange (PERKE) – strategy
- New Psychoactive Substance Use in Manchester: Prevalence, Nature, Challenges and Responses – report
- Supporting Punjabi People with Alcohol Problems – guidance on setting up a specialist project
- Substance use and domestic abuse, essential information for social workers – British Association of Social Workers pocket guide
- Will a new approach to end-of-life care for people who use substances improve their access to, and experience of, palliative and end-of-life care? – report executive summary
- Specialist alcohol services for people from minority ethnic or migrant communities – spreadsheet
Contact us
You can contact individual members of the team through their staff profiles.
For general enquiries or to join our mailing list, please email us.