Staff profile

I am interested in the criminalisation of poverty and the role power, stigma, and social harm play in generating social and health inequalities. My research is broadly concerned with a key long-term vision of social justice for those facing the greatest social and health disadvantages in society. I focus on social harm and the experiences of people subjected to marginalisation, minoritisation, and oppression - particularly around gender, class and ‘criminalisation’. I have been Co-I, PI, and project lead on a range of research studies that have included working with people who use illicit drugs, detainees in police and prison custody, women in probation, street homeless, and policymakers and practitioners. I am on the board of UK Alliance ‘Is it a Crime to be Poor?’ which brings together voices across academia and the general public, policy and practice to discuss key issues about the criminalisation of poverty. I'm HEI co-lead for People and Knowledge Exchange, N8 Policing Research Partnership. I am an associate member of Fuse and involved with the School for Public Health Research - Health Inequalities Programme (HIP) to progress research in these areas. 

I was PI of a recently completed Wellcome Trust study examining health, stigma and social inequalities amongst people who use drugs. I am currently deputy-PI of our new large ESRC project (PI - Dr Steph Scott; £1.64 million): 'Disentangling involvement in and the impact of integrated health and criminal justice systems: A North of England Research Consortia'. I am guest editing a special issue for the international journal IJERPH called 'Substance Use, Stigma and Social Harm' (Addison, McGovern and Proudfoot). I'm Co-I on an ESRC funded study (PI – Dr Gethin Rees; £569,494): ‘What is 'Equivalence' in Police Custody Healthcare?’, exploring how detainees are treated in the criminal justice system in comparison to a person at liberty.

As a first-generation student myself, I have always been curious about ‘who gets to belong, and why?’. I was awarded funding by the ESRC Festival of Social Science as well as a Teaching Excellence Grant to explore the impact of ‘imposterism’ amongst students in Higher Education. Feeling ‘out of place’ in certain spaces and around certain people because of ‘who you are and where you’re from’ emerged as a painful everyday experience for some people. The unfairness and inequity of this means I am passionate about inclusivity in education, particularly in my role as the Programme Director of our MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice degree programme.

My publications are international and inter-disciplinary in focus - see here. I am lead editor of Drugs, Identity and Stigma (Palgrave, 2022); Dr Kelly Stockdale and I are co-editors of Marginalised Voices in Criminology (Routledge, 2024). I'm lead editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education and my monograph Social Games and Identity in the Higher Education Workplace: Playing with Gender, Class and Emotion (2016) was nominated for three awards, named in the Times Higher 'Book of the Year 2016 listings' and covered by the THES. As a co-author, I was recently involved in the Women of the North: Inequality, Health and Work 2024 NHSA report which exposes vast social, economic and health inequalities faced by women in the north of England.

Esteem Indicators

• Editorial Board (2022-present): The British Journal of Criminology 
• Associate Editor (2022-present): International Journal of Police Science and Management
• Strand co-lead for People and Knowledge Exchange (2023 - present), N8 Policing Research Partnership
• Committee Member of Social Harm Policy Group - Social Policy Association (SPA) 
• Invited Grant Application Reviewer and Advisory Group - Career Development Awards and Discovery Awards: The Wellcome Trust, (2021 – present)
• Member of the ESRC Peer Review College
• Invited Peer Reviewer: The Medical Research Council (2022 - present)
• Invited Peer Reviewer: Research for Patient Benefit Social Care Competition, (NIHR, 2018 – present)
• Invited Commissioning Panel member for the Policy Research Programme (PRP), Department of Health and Social Care, (2018 – present); and NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, (2021 – present)
• Health Equity North NHSA Member Representative 
• Guest Editor of IJERPH Special Issue: 'Substance Use, Stigma and Social Harm' (Addison, McGovern, Proudfoot)
• Board Member of ‘Is it a Crime to be Poor?’ – a UK Alliance of academic, policymakers and practitioners
• Journal Peer Reviewer: The British Journal of Criminology; Gender and Education; Drugs, Education, Prevention & Policy; Journal of Public Health; British Medical Journal; International Journal of Police Science and Management; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; Addiction; International Journal of Drug Policy; Social Science and Medicine; European Journal of Public Health; Social Forces; Journal for Cultural Research
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Member of British Society of Criminology (BSC)
• Associate Member of Fuse - the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health

Research Grants

Mead, R. (PI) Scott, S. Addison, M. (Co-I) Cooper, C. (2024 - 2026) CREATE: 'Co-creating safe spaces and belonging with marginlised communities in contact with support services using an intersectional lens', SPHR-NIHR, £187,194.62

Scott, S. (PI), Addison, M (dep-PI)., Bambra, C., Ramsey, S., O’Donnell, A., MacDonald, S., King, H., Jobe, A., Stockdale, K., Munford, L., Jackson, K. (2023 – 2027), Disentangling involvement in and the impact of integrated health and criminal justice systems: A North of England Research Consortia, ESRC £1,640,997.00

Salway, S. (PI) et, al. Scott, S., Addison, M. (Co-I) (Jan 23 -Dec 23) Co-creating knowledge partnerships with minoritized & marginalised communities/groups; School for Public Health Research, NIHR,£240,684.00

McGovern, W., (PI) Addison, M., Alderson, H., Cavener, J., Lhussier, M., McGovern, R., and Muir, C., (2023) Combatting and Responding to Stigma, Trauma, Substance Use and Violence. Funder Newcastle City Council, £9250 

Addison, M. (PI), Boliver, V., Meadhbh Murray, O. (Co-Is) (Jan 2023 – Dec 23) ‘How does imposter syndrome impact the academic learning and teaching experience of students at Durham University?’ Durham Centre for Academic Development, Durham Univsity - £4710

Rowe, M. (PI) (et, al.) Addison, M. (2022-2023) ‘The impact of Covid-19 measures on Criminal Exploitation and Serious Violence (CESV) in vulnerable communities, Newcastle-upon-Tyne', funded by Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police; £52,000

Rees, G.(PI); McKinnon, I.; Finch, T.; Addison, M.; Bell, M. (2021-2024) What is 'Equivalence' in Police Custody Healthcare?, ESRC Open Call, £569,494.93

Alderson, H. (PI) et, al. Addison, M. (2020-2021) PROTECT COVID 19: Exploring lived experiences of the impact of intimate partner violence and abuse on children, affected family members and perpetrators during the COVID- 19 global pandemic. N8 Policing Research Partnership, £25,000

Addison, M. (PI) (2019-2022) ‘A pilot study exploring health inequalities amongst illicit substance users’, The Wellcome Trust, £52,300

Addison, M.; Taylor, Y.; and Breeze, M. (2019) ESRC Festival of Ideas - Network Event, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

 Addison, M. (PI) and Stephens-Griffin, N. (2019-2020) The impact of Imposter Syndrome on students’ learning experience: A qualitative pilot study, Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund 

Stockdale, K. (PI), Kaner, E., Addison, M. (2018-2019) Exploring Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use and its consequences within a prison setting, Funded by York St John University

Bambra C (PI), Kaner E, Whitehead M, Salway S, Addison M, Moffatt S, Carr S, Powell K, Barr B, Holland P, Taylor-Robinson D, Popay J, Hatton C, Orton L, Collins M, Johnson P. (2018-2019) Equal North 2: Taking forward the Due North research agenda. NIHR SPHR £91,793

McGovern, R (PI); Kaner, E.; Gilvarry, E.; Lingham, R.; Addison, M.; Geijer-Simpson; Alderson, H,; Minos, D. (2016-2017) 'Addressing the impact of parental substance misuse on children', Public Health England, £59,903.37

Addison M. (PI) Kaner E; Hogan, L.; McGovern R.; Crowe L.; McGovern, W.; McKinnon I. (2016-2017) Exploring Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use and its consequences for police officers and substance users in the North East of England. Funded by N8 Policing Research Partnership, £24,674

Addison, M. (2010-2014) 1+3 ESRC Doctoral Funding, £72,875

Selected Impact & Media Coverage

New Fuse Blog - Stigma: Where's the Harm? Available here - Fuse open science blog by Dr Michelle Addison

Presented evidence on NPS use to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs: Custody-Community Transitions, 2018

Co-authored Policy Briefing: Understanding Pathways to Stimulant Use: User and non-user perspectives on which individual, social and environmental factors shape amphetamine type stimulant use over time, for the Department of Health and Social Care

Universal Credit study (PI M. Cheetham): Professor Phillip Alston’s UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights; The Guardian; The Huffington Post; The Independent; Research presented to House of Commons Work and Pensions select committee

Fuse Blog: 'Please mind the health gap: turning complex equations into a call for action' Heather Brown and Michelle Addison 

Northern Power Women Podcast: 'Health Inequalities' sponsored by Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA)

Fuse Blog: 'Novel Psychoactive Substances: “Cheap drug, better buzz for your money”'

The Palgrave Handbook of Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education: BSA Network Magazine (2020); 

Social Games and Identity research: THES Book of the Year list 2016; Times Higher Education Supplement; 

• Criminalisation of Poverty / crimes of poverty
• Intersectionality, Zemiology / Social Harm, Bourdieu, cultural class framework
• Lived experiences of people who use illicit drugs
• Marginalisation
• Mechanisms of stigma
• Social & Health Inequalities
• ‘Crimes’ of the powerless / powerful

Authored book

• Addison, M. (2016). Social games and identity in the higher education workplace: Playing with gender, class and emotion. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51803-3

Chapter in book

• Stockdale, K., Addison, M., & Ramm, G. ‘Navigating Custodial Environments: Novel Psychoactive Substance Users Experiences of Stigma’. In M. Addison, W. McGovern, & R. McGovern (Eds.), Drugs, Identity and Stigma. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
• Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (in press). Placing Research: City Publics and the Public Sociologist. In Y. Taylor (Ed.), The Entrepreneurial University. Public Engagements, Intersecting Impacts (242 - 260). Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
• Breeze, M., Addison, M., & Taylor, Y. Situating Imposter Syndrome In Higher Education. In M. Addison, M. Breeze, & Y. Taylor (Eds.), Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education Handbook. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
• Addison, M. Unpaid Labour. In Z. Strange, M. Strange, K. Oyster, & J. Sloan (Eds.), The Multimedia Encyclopaedia of Women in Today’s World. Thousand Oaks: Sage
• Stockdale, K. J., & Addison, M. (2024). Final Reflections. In K. J. Stockdale, & M. Addison (Eds.), Marginalised Voices in Criminology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003260967-16
• Addison, M., & Stockdale, K. J. (2024). Introduction: Marginalised Voices in Criminology. In M. Addison, & K. J. Stockdale (Eds.), Marginalised Voices in Criminology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003260967-1
• Macdonald, S. J., & Peacock, D. (2024). Dis/ableist Criminology: applying disability theory within a criminological context. In K. J. Stockdale, & M. Addison (Eds.), Marginalised Voices in Criminology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003260967-3
• Breeze, M., Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (2022). Imposter Agony Aunts: Ambivalent Feminist Advice. In M. Addison, M. Breeze, & Y. Taylor (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan
• McGovern, W., Addison, M., & McGovern, R. (2022). Negotiating “self-stigma” and an “Addicted Identity” in Traditional 12 Step Self-Help Groups. In M. Addison, W. McGovern, & R. McGovern (Eds.), Drugs, Identity and Stigma (247-269). Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
• Addison, M., & Stephens-Griffin, N. (2022). The Canary in the Coalmine: The impact of Imposter Syndrome on students’ learning experience at University. In M. Addison, M. Breeze, & Y. Taylor (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education (107-123). Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
• Addison, M. (2012). Knowing your way within and across classed spaces: The (re)making and (un)doing of identities of value within higher education in the UK. In Y. Taylor (Ed.), Educational Diversity: the subject of difference and different subjects (236-256). Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137271129
• Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (2010). (Re)constituting the past, (re)branding the present and (re)imagining the future: women’s spatial negotiation of gender and class. In R. Macdonald, T. Shildrick, & S. Blackman (Eds.), Young People, Class and Place. Routledge

Edited book

• Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (Eds.). (in press). Queer Presences and Absences. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
• Stockdale, K. J., & Addison, M. (Eds.). (2024). Marginalised Voices in Criminology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003260967
• Addison, M., McGovern, W., & McGovern, R. (Eds.). (2022). Drugs, Identity and Stigma. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98286-7
• Addison, M., Breeze, M., & Taylor, Y. (Eds.). (2022). The Palgrave Handbook of Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86570-2

Journal Article

• Adley, M., Alderson, H., Jackson, K., McGovern, W., Spencer, L., Addison, M., & O'Donnell, A. (online). Ethical and practical considerations for including marginalised groups in quantitative survey research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 27(5), 559-574. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2023.2228600
• Addison, M., Scott, S., Bambra, C., & Lhussier, M. (in press). Stigma and the Inverse Care Law: Experiences of ‘care’ for people living in marginalised conditions. Sociology of Health & Illness,
• McGovern, W., Addison, M., & McGovern, R. (2024). The Adoption of a “Diseased Identity” in Traditional 12-Step Groups: Exploring the Implications of These Processes for Individuals and Practitioners in Health and Social Care Services. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(10), 1297. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21101297
• Lochhead, L., Addison, M., Cavener, J., Scott, S., & McGovern, W. (2024). Exploring the Impact of Stigma on Health and Wellbeing: Insights from Mothers with Lived Experience Accessing Recovery Services. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(9), Article 1189. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091189
• Addison, M., Lhussier, M., & Bambra, C. (2023). Relational Stigma as a Social Determinant of Health: "I'm not what you__________ see me as". SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 4, Article 100295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100295
• Addison, M. (2023). Framing Stigma as an Avoidable Social Harm that Widens Inequality. Sociological Review, 71(2), 296-314. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261221150080
• McGovern, R., Newham, J., Addison, M., Hickman, M., & Kaner, E. (2022). The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions at reducing the frequency of alcohol and drug use in parents: findings of a Cochrane review and meta-analyses. Addiction, 117(10), 2571-2582. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15846
• Adams, E., Spencer, L., Addison, M., McGovern, W., Alderson, H., Adley, M., McGovern, R., Gilvarry, E., Kaner, E., & O'Donnell, A. (2022). Substance use, health, and adverse life events among different amphetamine type stimulant users in North East England: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12), Article 6996. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19126996
• Alderson, H., Barrett, S., Addison, M., Burns, S., Cooling, V., Hackett, S., Kaner, E., McGovern, W., Smart, D., & McGovern, R. (2022). Parental intimate partner violence and abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic - learning from remote and hybrid working to influence future support. Women's Health, 18, https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057221129399
• McGovern, R., Newham, J., Addison, M., Hickman, M., & Kaner, E. (2021). Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for reducing parental substance misuse. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2021(3), https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd012823.pub2
• Addison, M., Kaner, E., Spencer, L., McGovern, W., McGovern, R., Gilvarry, E., & O’Donnell, A. (2021). Exploring pathways into and out of amphetamine type stimulant use at critical turning points: a qualitative interview study. Health Sociology Review, 30(2), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2020.1811747
• Spencer, L., Addison, M., Alderson, H., McGovern, W., McGovern, R., Kaner, E., & O'Donnell, A. (2021). 'The drugs did for me what I couldn’t do for myself’: A qualitative exploration of the relationship between mental health and amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 15,
• McGovern, W., Addison, M., & McGovern, R. (2021). An exploration of the psycho-social benefits of providing sponsorship and supporting others in traditional 12 step, self-help groups. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052208
• McGovern, R., Gilvarry, E., Addison, M., Alderson, H., Geijer-Simpson, E., Lingam, R., Smart, D., & Kaner, E. (2020). The Association Between Adverse Child Health, Psychological, Educational and Social Outcomes, and Nondependent Parental Substance: A Rapid Evidence Assessment. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 21(3), 470-483. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018772850
• McGovern, R., Crowe, L., Addison, M., Hickman, M., Kidger, J., McColl, E., Newbury-Birch, D., & Kaner, E. (2020). Containment and care? A qualitative interview study exploring police custody staff views about delivering brief alcohol interventions to heavy drinking arrestees. Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy, 27(6), 436-444. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687637.2019.1684445
• Martens, M.-S., Zurhold, H., Rosenkranz, M., O'donnell, A., Addison, M., Spencer, L., McGovern, W., Gabrhelík, R., Petruželka, B., Rowicka, M., Liebregts, N., Degkwitz, P., Kaner, E., & Verthein, U. (2020). Using life course charts to assess and compare trajectories of amphetamine type stimulant consumption in different user groups: A cross-sectional study. Harm Reduction Journal, 17(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-019-0339-x
• Cheetham, M., Moffatt, S., Addison, M., & Wiseman, A. (2019). Impact of Universal Credit in North East England: A qualitative study of claimants and support staff. BMJ Open, 9(7), https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029611
• Rosenkranz, M., O'Donnell, A., Verthein, U., Zurhold, H., Addison, M., Liebregts, N., Rowicka, M., Barták, M., Petruželka, B., Kaner, E., & Martens, M.-S. (2019). Understanding pathways to stimulant use: a mixed-methods examination of the individual, social and cultural factors shaping illicit stimulant use across Europe (ATTUNE): study protocol. BMJ Open, 9(8), https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029476
• Addison, M., Kaner, E., Johnstone, P., Hillier-Brown, F., Moffatt, S., Russell, S., Barr, B., Holland, P., Salway, S., Whitehead, M., & Bambra, C. (2019). Equal North: How can we reduce health inequalities in the North of England? A prioritisation exercise with researchers, policymakers and practitioners. Journal of Public Health, 41(4),
• O'Donnell, A., Addison, M., Spencer, L., Zurhold, H., Rosenkranz, M., McGovern, R., Gilvarry, E., Martens, M.-S., Verthein, U., & Kaner, E. (2019). Which individual, social and environmental influences shape key phases in the amphetamine type stimulant use trajectory? A systematic narrative review and thematic synthesis of the qualitative literature. Addiction, 114(1), 24-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14434
• Addison, M., Stockdale, K., McGovern, R., McGovern, W., McKinnon, I., Crowe, L., Hogan, L., & Kaner, E. (2018). Exploring the intersections between novel psychoactive substances (NPS) and other substance use in a police custody suite setting in the north east of England. Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy, 25(4), 313-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687637.2017.1378620
• Addison, M., Mcgovern, R., Angus, C., Becker, F., Brennan, A., Brown, H., Coulton, S., Crowe, L., Gilvarry, E., Hickman, M., Howel, D., Mccoll, E., Muirhead, C., Newbury-Birch, D., Waqas, M., & Kaner, E. (2018). Alcohol screening and brief intervention in police custody suites: Pilot Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial (AcCePT). Alcohol and Alcoholism, 53(5), 548-559. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agy039
• Mcgovern, R., Addison, M., Newham, J., Hickman, M., & Kaner, E. (2017). Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for reducing parental substance misuse. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(10), https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd012823
• Addison, M. (2017). Overcoming Arlie Hochschild's concepts of the ‘real’ and ‘false’ self by drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus. Emotion, Space and Society, 23, 9-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2017.01.003
• Addison, M., & Victoria, G. (2015). Talking the talk and fitting in: Troubling the practices of speaking ‘what you are worth’ in higher education in the UK. Sociological Research Online, 20(2), https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.3575
• Addison, M., & Roy, S. (2011). Winning and short-listed entries from the 2009 feminist and women's studies association annual student essay competition. Journal of international women's studies, 12(2), 1-2
• Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (2011). Placing research: 'City publics' and the 'public sociologist'. Sociological Research Online, 16(4), https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.2423
• Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (2009). Introduction: Winning and short-listed entries from the 2007 feminist and women's studies association annual student essay competition. Journal of international women's studies, 11(3), 1-3
• Taylor, Y., & Addison, M. (2009). (Re)constituting the past, (re)branding the present and (re)imagining the future: women's spatial negotiation of gender and class. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(5), 563-578. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260903083372

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Addison, M. (2022). Stigma: Where's the Harm? available at: http://fuseopenscienceblog.blogspot.com/