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There is considerable literature indicating the importance of social connectedness and its relationship to wellbeing. For problem substance users, a similar literature emphasises the importance of the transition from a social network supportive of use to one that fosters recovery. Within this framework, the therapeutic community (TC) is seen as a critical location for adopting a transitional identity (i.e. from a “drug user” to a “member of the TC”), as part of the emergence of a “recovery identity” following treatment. The purpose of this paper is to outline a model for conceptualising and measuring identity based on the theories of social identity and recovery capital, and pilots this model within a TC setting.

A social identity mapping was used with TC residents to test their identification with “using” and “TC” groups, and their relationship to recovery capital.

The network mapping method was acceptable to TC residents, and provided valuable insights into the social networks and social identity of TC residents.

This paper explores issues around mapping social identity and its potential in the TC and other residential settings.

The paper integrates a number of conceptual models to create a new framework for understanding transitions in social networks during treatment and reports on a novel measurement method underpinning this.

Despite a renewed interest in processes which help organizations to harness social capital, it is apparent that practical efforts to achieve this rarely focus on employees who are members of low status groups. In large part this is because such employees tend to be skeptical of, and to resist, engagement in intervention programs on the basis of previous adverse experience regarding the benefits achieved and lack of trust. This paper presents evidence that, among hospital staff, work groups who felt they were devalued displayed higher levels of cynicism regarding the potential efficacy of a stress intervention program. Within the organization, devalued groups were characterized by lower levels of organizational identification and members of these groups reported under‐utilization of their skills by the organization. Thus, there is evidence that organizations are failing to realize the social capital of specific groups. The ASPIRe model of organizational development is discussed as an appropriate vehicle to provide devalued groups with genuine opportunities for development and empowerment. To the extent that such a program receives genuine institutional support, we argue that it has the potential to unlock key enclaves of social capital that tend otherwise to be overlooked.

The utterly un-nostalgic person is probably a non-existent being. At both a personal and collective level, we explore how nostalgia is experienced and in demand during times of transition, disjuncture, conflict and uncertainty. This chapter explores the emotion of nostalgia and connects it specifically to the current corona pandemic – the challenges of lockdowns and social distancing measures on interaction, feelings of loneliness and a generalised sense of uncertainty and despair, and also a rise of nostalgia as a possible response to these challenges. The predominant view of nostalgia put forth in this chapter is that nostalgia has the capacity to provide a great deal of benefit (meaning, hope, direction and purpose) to individuals, groups, institutions and societies at large. Indeed, nostalgia can be a tranquil feeling in a fearful world. We relate nostalgia to studies and experiences from the pandemic period and speculate on how the so-called ‘corona crisis’ may impact feelings of nostalgia in the post-pandemic world – perhaps even a nostalgia and longing for the pandemic period itself.

If the corona pandemic has in fact sparked a new (or renewed) interest in nostalgia in contemporary society due to the corona pandemic, it may indeed prove to be a positive thing, particularly if it makes it easier for people to deal with current feelings of adversity and anxiety. We suggest the nostalgia mood that is generated and perpetuated by the continuing twists and turns of the corona pandemic may – in the short and long run – prove useful in coping with and giving meaning to the problems and perplexing circumstances of life, rather than being a regressive phenomenon. Perhaps, something good may, in the end, grow from something bad?