Supporting Drug-using Individuals on Probation Through the Lens of Vulnerability Theory and an Ethics of Care

This thesis is concerned with the role of vulnerability and how it can be operationalised within the probation service to strengthen support for drug users. Currently, it is an ambiguous concept, with no universal understanding or consistent approach. When considering the position of the drug user under supervision, support is inadequate, and drug treatment is rooted within coercive measures. Vulnerability Theory (VT) has been adopted as a conceptual tool to challenge the position of the probation service and the role it plays in responding to vulnerability. The probation service is equipped with the necessary skills and experience, providing support across social welfare and the community, occupying a space where they can make meaningful change to negate the life-threatening consequences for the drug user under supervision. To do so, there must be a widespread acknowledgement of vulnerability, facilitated by a more expansive government that takes responsibility for both the drug user under supervision and the strain on the probation service that hinders their ability to individualise responses. This thesis analyses the lack of clarity within policy, which reinforces problematising assumptions around the liberal subject. Policy must appreciate the differences in embodiment and respond based on the individual. Producing the vulnerable subject in this context requires adaptation to VT, integrating an ethics of care which embeds therapeutic practice and is built upon a person-centred collaborative model. This requires joint working, a focus on whose voice counts and ultimately reinforcing the probation services' foundational values ‘advise, assist, befriend’. This thesis highlights the value in problem-solving models, finding that they can adopt both VT and an ethics of care if they remove the coercive measures and emphasise agency and collaboration. This directs attention to the individual, contributing to the growing literature calling for better support for drug users under supervision.