Therapeutic communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 303-304
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Communities

Participant Observation of a Therapeutic Community Model for Offenders in Drug Treatment

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cátia Olivier Mello ◽  
Flavio Pechansky ◽  
James A. Inciardi ◽  
Hilary L. Surratt
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Therapeutic Tool ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Community Model ◽  
Therapeutic Procedures

This paper reports the participant observation of a Brazilian psychologist and a Brazilian psychiatrist during a 1-month period in two therapeutic communities (TCs) for drug-using offenders. A description of the activities undertaken by the prisoners who are serving their sentences at the Multi-Purpose Criminal Justice Facility in Wilmington, Del., is complemented with a theoretical understanding of the process. Clinical and developmental psychological approaches are used to explain the functioning of TCs when applied to a correctional environment. The theory of scripts and the use of metacommunication as a therapeutic tool are used in the explanation of these therapeutic procedures.

Legal Pressure in Therapeutic Communities

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
George De Leon
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abusers ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Treatment Retention ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Compulsory Treatment ◽  
Differential Outcomes ◽  
Retention In Treatment ◽  
Legal Pressure ◽  
Indirect Relationship

Therapeutic community (TC) studies are reviewed to assess the effects of legal referral on treatment retention and outcome. The main findings reveal little evidence for differential outcomes between legally referred and non-legally referred clients in TCs, although legal referrals to TCs remain longer in treatment than do “voluntary” clients. Thus, there is an indirect relationship between legal referral and outcome which is mediated through retention in treatment. Issues are discussed which have confounded interpretation of research on the efficacy of compulsory treatment, e.g., definitions, client perception of pressure, implementation of legal referral procedures and the complexity of the recovery process itself. It is hypothesized that legal pressure can have a limited but potent role in the recovery process for appropriately identified substance abusers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document