6. Wasted': the complex trajectories from incarceration to recovery. A personal experience

Mark Johnson is a leading social entrepreneur, author and commentator on crime, addiction and homelessness.

Mark’s expertise stems from his lived experience of these issues, documented in his bestselling autobiography 'Wasted', through his professional experience of advising government, charities and providers internationally, and from starting up a number of charities and social business, including User Voice, all employing the people they serve. Method/ approach Personal biography

'Wasted' documents Mark’s personal experiences of a deeply traumatic childhood, resulting in hopeless addiction, a journey in and out of the justice system, and ultimately lifelong and long-term recovery. Mark will give a compelling personal account of this journey, the complex personal reasons why people end up addicted to drugs and alcohol, the often-inevitable entry into the justice system, how the system currently fails people, and what support the system needs to provide.

This insight is not only based on Mark’s personal journey, but from the journeys of over 150,000 people that User Voice has engaged within over 10 years, the many peer research projects he has led and the work that he has done with senior health and justice politicians and officials in this period.