The Five R’s of Citizenship

The Five R’s are the foundation of citizenship: rights, roles, resources, responsibilities, and relationships.

The Five R’s overlap and interconnect, creating a dynamic conceptual matrix through which to consider citizenship.

In a healthy society, the Five R’s are freely available to all citizens via public and social institutions and through people’s interactions with each other.

Due to the profound life interruptions and losses they have experienced, individuals with mental health, addiction, and/or incarceration histories may not have had opportunities to gain access to the Five R’s. In the Citizens Collaborative, we work to identify and disseminate practices and strategies to help people in recovery reclaim the Five R’s in their lives and thus a sense of belonging to their communities, however they define those communities.