Therapeutic Communities The therapeutic community

The therapeutic community (TC) as a treatment method for drug addiction has existed for approximately 40 years. Generally, treatment patients live in a drug-free residential setting that provides a high degree of social structure and treatment protocols. The primary difference between therapeutic communities and other drug addiction treatment programs is that TCs use the community as the key agent of change.

Essentially, TC staff and patients interact in ways that are intended to influence the patients' attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors about drug use (NIDA, 2001). The TC treatment perspective holds that drug abuse is a disorder of the whole person and the addiction is a symptom rather than the essence of the disorder. The primary goal of TC treatment, therefore, is to change negative patterns of behavior, thinking, and feeling that predispose people to abuse drugs. TC treatment believes the people with serious drug-abusing patterns of behavior can be changed into productive members of society as a result of their TC experience. The TC's principle aim , therefore, is to change an addict's thinking to produce a person who abstains from alcohol and illicit drugs, does not engage in antisocial conduct, and who holds "employable" and "pro-social" attitudes and values (Nielsen & Scarpitti, 1997, p. 279.).

Most TCs use common program components to achieve their goals. Most rely on individual and group counseling. Generally, the focus of the TC

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Inciardi, Martin, Butzin, Hooper and Harrison (1997, p. 261) have surmised that one result of the war on drugs of the 1980s and early 1990s has been the increased numbers of drug-involved offenders coming to the attention of the criminal justice system. In fact, Inciardi et. al. note research that reports that possibly as many as two-thirds of the people who enter state and federal penitentiaries have substance abuse histories. Thus, they contend that criminal justice settings offer excellent opportunities to assess the treatment needs of drug-related offenders and to provide efficient and clinically sound treatment programs (Inciardi, Martin, Butzin, Hooper & Harrison, 1997, p. 261). Many researchers who see criminal justice settings as good opportunities for drug treatment assessment and programs also find the TC to be "one of the most viable forms of treatment for drug-involved offenders, particularly those whose criminality results in incarceration" (Inciardi, Martin, Butzin, Hooper & Harrison, 1997, p. 261). In jail or prison settings, the TC program is isolated from the rest of the prison population. This removes patients from the drugs, violence, and other aspects of prison life that often hinder rehabilitation. Genera

Category: Psychology - T