Knowledge exchange: collaborative reflexivity on self-medicated victims of crime

Collaborative research projects with service providers and their clients are becoming increasingly important for capturing a more comprehensive understanding of criminological matters. This article examines the role of academic–practitioner dialogue and collaboration in framing the concepts and protocols for an empirical study of self-medication among victims of crime. It reflects on the dynamic and nuanced encounters between criminologists, a victim support agency and victims of crime who identified as having self-medicated. Drawing from critical realist reflections on multi-agency partnerships, we offer a discussion of the benefits and hindrances for victims of such engagements, and identify the ethical implications of the practice of victim research and academic–practitioner collaboration. We reflect on the problems of authorisation, empowerment and unexpected outcomes of such research, in particular how the victims in our study appeared to place the researchers on the therapeutic continuum and what this means for victim research.