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Persons with serious alcohol and drug problems who are attempting to maintain abstinence often lack an alcohol- and drug-free living environment that supports sustained recovery. Residential recovery homes, called “sober living houses” in California, are alcohol- and drug-free living environments that offer long-term support for persons with addictive disorders. They do not offer formal treatment services but usually encourage or mandate attendance at self-help recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The approach involved analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of different research designs for studying residential recovery homes. Alternatives to randomized designs that are able to capture “real world” data that are readily generalized are described and understudied topics are identified.

A significant limitation of traditional randomized designs is they eliminate mutual selection processes between prospective residents and recovery home residents and staff. Naturalistic research designs have the advantage of including mutual selection processes and there are methods available for limiting self-selection bias. Qualitative methods should be used to identify factors that residents experience as helpful that can then be studied further. Innovative studies are needed to investigate how outcomes are affected by architectural characteristics of the houses and resident interactions with the surrounding community.

Use of the recommended strategies could lead to findings that are more informative, intuitively appealing, and interpretable.

Recovery homes and similar programs will be more responsive to consumers.

This paper represents one of the first to review various options for studying recovery homes and to provide suggestions for new studies.

Persons in the USA who are incarcerated for drug offenses are increasingly being released into the community as a way to decrease prison and jail overcrowding. One challenge is finding housing that supports compliance with probation and parole requirements, which often includes abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Sober living houses (SLHs) are alcohol- and drug-free living environments that are increasingly being used as housing options for probationers and parolees. Although a few studies have reported favorable outcomes for residents of SLHs, little is known about resident experiences or the factors that are experienced as helpful or counterproductive. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This study conducted qualitative interviews with 28 SLH residents on probation or parole to understand their experiences living in the houses, aspects of the houses that facilitated recovery, ways residence in an SLH affected compliance with probation and parole, and ways the houses addressed HIV risk, a widespread problem among this population. Interviews were audiotaped and coded for dominant themes.

Study participants identified housing as a critically important need after incarceration. For residents nearing the end of their stay in the SLHs, there was significant concern about where they might live after they left. Residents emphasized that shared experiences and goals, consistent enforcement of rules (especially the requirement of abstinence) and encouragement from probation and parole officers as particularly helpful. There was very little focus in HIV issues, even though risk behaviors were fairly common. For some residents, inconsistent enforcement of house rules was experienced as highly problematic. Research is needed to identify the organizational and operational procedures that enhance factors experienced as helpful.

Data for this study are self-reported views and experiences. Therefore, the study may not tap into a variety of reasons for resident experiences. In addition, the data set was small (n=28) and limited to one city in the USA (Los Angeles), so generalization of results might be limited. However, SLHs represent an important housing option for criminal justice involved persons and knowledge about resident experiences can help guide organization and operation of houses and identify areas for further research.

This paper is the first to document the views and experiences of persons on probation or parole who reside in sober living recovery houses. These data can be used by SLH operators to develop houses that are responsive to factors experienced as helpful and counterproductive. The significance of this paper is evident in the trend toward decreasing incarceration in the USA of persons convicted of drug offenses and the need for alcohol- and drug-free alternative living environments.

Roughly half a million persons in the USA are homeless on any given night and over a third of those individuals have significant alcohol/other drug (AOD) problems. Many are chronically homeless and in need of assistance for a variety of problems. However, the literature on housing services for this population has paid limited attention to comparative analyses contrasting different approaches. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors examined the literature on housing models for homeless persons with AOD problems and critically analyzed how service settings and operations aligned with service goals.

The authors found two predominant housing models that reflect different service goals: sober living houses (SLHs) and housing first (HF). SLHs are communally based living arrangements that draw on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. They emphasize a living environment that promotes abstinence and peer support for recovery. HF is based on the premise that many homeless persons with substance abuse problems will reject abstinence as a goal. Therefore, the HF focus is providing subsidized or free housing and optional professional services for substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, and other problems.

If homeless service providers are to develop comprehensive systems for homeless persons with AOD problems, they need to consider important contrasts in housing models, including definitions of “recovery,” roles of peer support, facility management, roles for professional service, and the architectural designs that support the mission of each type of housing.

This paper is the first to consider distinct consumer choices within homeless service systems and provide recommendations to improve each based upon architecture and community planning principles.

Population worldwide has experienced several challenges related to sustainable development, such as scarcity of natural resource, unsustainable consumption, poverty, injustice, violence, social inequality and natural disaster (including floods, tsunami and landslide). These issues interfere in sustainable development and target to achieve societal balance, structuring without compromising economic and environmental resources of future generations. The higher educational institutions are included in this context because they play a role in professional training and in education to promote sustainable practices. The higher educational institutions can assume a prominent position in the 2030 Agenda implementation for sustainable development of the United Nations, especially in the Goals 4 and 10, quality education and reduced inequalities, respectively. The purpose of this research study aims to develop a literature review and analyze the higher educational and sustainable themes, involving the Brazilian scenario.

This research study develops a literature review based on researches that involve higher educational and sustainable themes in the Brazilian scenario. Inclusion criteria are papers in English, with the search equations in their titles, and peer-reviewed papers. Paper publication year was not an exclusion criterion. This research aimed to understand opportunity and challenge processes in the Brazilian higher educational institutions and their actions, so that the Sustainable Development Goals are completely achieved and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is fulfilled. For this, a research central question was established: What are the opportunities and the challenges to achieve the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in the Brazilian higher education?

A total of 636 papers were recovered. The “Higher Education AND Opportunities,” “Higher Education AND Challenge,” “Higher Education AND Challenges,” “Higher Education AND Opportunity,” “Brazilian AND Higher Education” and “Brazil AND Higher Education” search equations found, respectively, 165, 146, 131, 74, 62 and 25 papers, involving 94.8% of the total number of the papers found. The papers recovered enabled the vision of five clusters: policy; inclusion; culture; relationship; and environment, society and economy. The paper analyses found that innovation process, sustainable practical implementation and holistic look, involving professors and students, can allow the 2030 Agenda achievement.

The authors of this research study presented a framework based on the literature analyzed through five clusters: policy; inclusion; culture; relationship; and environment, society and economy, considered from opportunity and challenge perspectives. The authors introduced and discussed the Brazilian higher educations and their opportunities and challenges. The Brazilian panorama was linked with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, in specific, with the Goals 4 and 10. Implications of this research study are related to the higher educational opportunities and challenges in policy, inclusive, cultural, sustainable and relationship contexts, involving governmental and nongovernmental sectors, professors and students for the Brazilian educational improvement.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between psychiatric severity and stress among persons utilizing medication assisted treatment (MAT), and there is a need to identify resources that promote resilience against these risk factors. Although recovery homes might complement pharmacological interventions for persons using MAT, a lack of homophily (e.g. similar experiences) among residents could produce stress and increase psychiatric severity. The purpose of this paper is to examine stress and psychiatric severity in relation to recovery outcomes, and whether homophily moderated these relationships.

A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among recovery home residents who were recruited from the USA, including those using (n = 40) and not using (n = 132) MAT. Participants’ levels of psychiatric severity, stress, abstinence self-efficacy and quality of life were assessed in addition to whether residents using MAT were living with at least one other resident who used MAT. Moderated mediation analyses were conducted to examine whether homophily among residents using MAT would moderate the mediating effects of stress on the relationships between psychiatric severity and recovery outcomes (abstinence-self efficacy, quality of life).

Mediating effects were observed but they were significant only through homophily. Although stress increased the negative effects of psychiatric severity among residents using MAT, significantly lesser effects were observed among those living with residents using MAT.

Although psychiatric (problem) severity and stress threaten recovery for persons with substance use disorders, little is known how they impact recovery among those living in community-based settings such as recovery homes. In addition, there is a need to identify community resources that would complement MAT protocols, as patients who use MAT face unique stressors related to their sense of shared interests and experiences (i.e. homophily) when developing social bonds with others in recovery.

This study suggests the social networks within recovery homes reduce the effects of psychiatric severity and stress, and that these effects are lessened for residents who use MAT when they live with others who also use MAT.

Little is known about recovery home residents who use MAT and have high psychiatric severity. Findings suggest homophily among persons using MAT living in recovery homes who have high psychiatric severity can promote resilience.

Many studies have developed the corporate sustainability topic. The United Nations has implemented the 2030 Agenda and has brought “quality education” and “industry, innovation, and infrastructure” as two of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The educational processes in higher education can be focused on adding brand value and social value, and they can be promoting the social inclusion. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to answer some questions related to the corporate sustainability practices under the 2030 Agenda lenses in the Latin American higher educational scenario. After the literature review analysis, a conceptual framework was developed.

This exploratory research study proposes an educational conceptual framework, improving the corporate sustainability under the 2030 Agenda lenses. A literature review was developed, involving the seven variables: “Latin America,” “higher education,” corporate social responsibility,” “personal social responsibility,” “corporate sustainability,” “governance” and “sustainability.” A matrix was developed with 25 variable combinations, connecting the seven variables. Three questions have been proposed and answered: “How much research has been developed in the Latin American higher education?” “How can the corporate social sustainability be applied in higher education?” and “Which perspectives can be considered?”

The results of the literature review are presented through the number of papers found with the analysis of the year of publication and the conceptual background. A total of 524 papers were found. Of these studies, 49 addressed the Latin American panorama, 33 had a general approach and 16 promoted interactions between Latin American and European countries, as well as between regions and continents. Six topics emerged from the literature analysis: digital inclusion, internationalization, innovation, research, servitization and social inclusion. These topics are connected in the “discussion” section, and the educational conceptual framework shows the corporative perspectives on sustainability in higher education.

This research study presents “A conceptual framework for the corporate sustainability higher education in Latin America” and it brings some discussion topics: digital inclusion, internationalization, innovation, research, servitization and social inclusion. These topics were identified through the literature analysis, and they were applied in the conceptual framework to improve the quality of education. The implications of this study are connected with the conceptual framework to promote the discussion topics. The implications involved the public and private governance spheres, third sector, as well as the professors, students and other stakeholders of higher educational institutions. These implications can represent an agent of positive change in the Latin American scenario.

The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth account of how individuelas with a mild intellectual disabilitiy or borderline intellectual functioning (MID-BIF; IQ 50–85) perceive their group climate in a secure forensic setting. Giving voice to these service users may provide relevant insights for secure forensic settings.

The interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore what individuals with MID-BIF experience with regard to their group climate.

In the interviews about the four domains of group climate (i.e. repression, support, growth and atmosphere), five overarching dimensions appeared, namely, autonomy, uniformity, recognition, competence and dignity. Depending on the person and the (treatment) context in which he/she resides, these five dimensions relate to all four factors of the group climate instrument.

From the perspective of individuals with MID-BIF, this study contributes by providing a framework to “fine-tune” group climate on five dimensions. Training socio-therapists to be sensitive to interpret ambiguous signals on these dimensions can contribute to optimizing group climate in secure forensic settings.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how social identity change can support the TC objective of promoting “right living”. This is compatible with the literature on addiction recovery which has shown that identity change is central to this process. While much of the earlier literature focussed primarily on an individual analysis of change, there is a growing body of research showing the important contribution that social networks, social group membership and associated social identities make to sustainable change.

The paper describes baseline data for a multi-site prospective cohort study of 308 clients entering therapeutic community (TC) treatment and characterizes the presenting profile of this cohort on a range of social identity and recovery measures at the point of TC entry.

The sample was predominantly male with a mean age of 35 years, with the large majority having been unemployed in the month before admission. The most commonly reported primary substance was methamphetamine, followed by alcohol and heroin. The sample reported low rates of engagement in recovery groups, but access to and moderate degrees of social support was also reported in the period prior to admission.

The paper highlights the important role that TCs play in facilitating identity change and in promoting sustainable recovery.

The paper discusses opportunities for working with social identities both during residence and in community re-integration, and highlights what TCs can do to support and sustain recovery.

The paper brings to light the potential contribution of social group membership and social identity change to management of recovery in TC settings.

The study described provides an innovative way of assessing TC effectiveness and testing novel questions about the role of social identity and recovery capital as key predictors of change.

Briefly outlines the role of new distillation technology in the recovery and management of natural flavours. Often processing leads to the loss or deterioration in the flavour characteristics of foods and drinks, especially when compared with fresh starting materials. Aims to show that some of these effects can be mitigated by good process engineering; and uses the role of spinning cone distillation processes, on which the author currently is researching, to illustrate the argument. Summarizes the principal features of spinning cone technology, together with the advantages of the technology for flavour recovery: these include high selectivity and efficiency, mild operating conditions, low residence times and multistage operation, which, inter alia, allow low stripping rates, while producing flavour concentrates. Briefly mentions some current applications including flavour management in the production of fruit concentrates, the production of reduced alcohol drinks, and, in the context of clean technologies, the use of the technology for flavour recovery and odour removal.

This paper aims to examine how neighborhood characteristics (income, population composition) and individual building attributes (ownership) affect the recovery period of single-family housing and determine their correlations with property abandonment and changes in residential land use after natural disaster.

This empirical study focuses on Valley Fire, one of the California’s most destructive wildfires in 2015, and uses assessor, community, demographic and sales data to measure recovery of a panel of single-family houses located in Lake County in California between 2012 and 2020. Several regression and correlation models will be developed to test different hypotheses.

This study found that: Recovery period is longer than what expected in most existing literature; ownership status significantly affects recovery period; income level is not a significant factor for shortening the recovery period; and minorities may need more assistance for constant recovery. Findings of this research will help identify at risk communities to avoid uneven housing recovery and lower the rate of property abandonment.

Housing recovery is key to revitalizing communities following major natural disasters. The sociodemographic characteristics of each neighborhood have significant impact on the duration of recovery and possible property abandonment. Understanding how home and neighborhood characteristics affect recovery will help planners prevent long-lasting adverse effects of natural disasters.