Connie Francesca Pike she/her

Connie Pike is a Criminal Justice PhD Researcher from Liverpool John Moores University.

From under- to post-graduate, Connie’s research projects have examined perceptions towards substance use, the impact of COVID-19 on residential rehabilitation services across the UK, and most recently, conducting a Realistic Evaluation of a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation programme within a Specialist Family Service in Scotland.

Connie’s PhD research is ethnographic in nature, and she is developing a rudimentary methodological framework for ‘Recovery Ready Research’ which explores the ways in which we approach research within recovery environments. This framework accounts for both the researcher and participants’ experiences.

Connie recently presented this research framework at the European Working Group on Drug-Oriented Recovery Research in Trinity College Dublin, October 2023. Alongside her academic career, she has also occupied numerous voluntary and practitioner roles within the Third Sector, including a most recent role as Criminal Justice Recovery Worker.

Upon completing her PhD research, Connie hopes to contribute to the development of rehabilitation programmes for families and advocate for the role of research in bridging the knowledge gap between academia and practice in the recovery context, providing an opportunity for the co-creation of knowledge to inform future practice.

Recent Publications: 

Pike, C. (2023). Reflections on conducting research in a specialist family Therapeutic Community in Scotland. Phoenix Futures Website. [Online].

Pike, C. & Gosling, H. (2021). Delivering residential drug treatment during a global health pandemic. Exploring the impact, management and lessons from COVID-19. Official submission of research findings to Phoenix Futures (registered charity number 284880).

Pike, C. (2021). Redefine, re-establish and rehabilitate. The changing face of residential drug treatment in the midst of COVID-19. A summary of findings for Clinical Governance, Phoenix Futures (registered charity number 284880).

Keywords: Addiction, Rehabilitation, Therapeutic Community, Realistic Evaluation