The majority of therapeutic communities treating drug users are ''concept-based'': they are hierarchical, and the staff and residents form a chain of command. Staff are often qualified for their work by virtue of having been residents in such a community themselves. This study explores the most significant differences including the hierarchical structures, confrontational group sessions and total prohibition of drugs. The book also aims to bridge the historical gap between these concept-based communities and democratic therapeutic communities and contribute to the on-going debate between them.
Introduction, Barbara Rawlings and Rowdy Yates. Part One: Background. I. Therapeutic Communities for drug users: description and overview, Eric Broekhaert, University of Ghent, Belgium. 2. Democratic and concept-based Therapeutic Communities and the development of community therapy, Salvatore Raimo, CEIS Verona, Italy. Part Two: Situation Worldwide. 3. The history of Therapeutic Communities: a view from Europe, Martien Kooyman, Emiliehoeve Therapeutic Community and Erasmus University, the Netherlands. 4. Therapeutic Communities for substance abuse: developments in North America, George De Leon, Center for Therapeutic Community Research, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New York. 5. Therapeutic Communities for the treatment of addictions in Australia, Clive F. Lloyd and Frances V. O'Callaghan, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. Part Three: Life in the Therapeutic Community. 6. The staff member in the Therapeutic Community, Alan Woodhams, New Directions Therapeutic Community, HMP Chamings Wood, England. 7. Self-help or sink-or-swim? The experience of residents in a UK concept-based Therapeutic Community, Keith Burnett, CAN, Northampion, England. 8. The ex-resident experience of working as a staff member in a Therapeutic Community, Staff from the Ley Community, Oxford, England. Part Four: Modifications to the Therapeutic Community Model. 9. Therapeutic Communities for drug-misusing offenders in prison, Peter Mason, Diana Mason and Nadia Brooks, PDM Consulting, London. 10. The modern Therapeutic Community: dual diagnosis and the process of change, Rowdy Yates and Jane Wilson, University of Stirling, Scotland. 11. The significance of resettlement support on completion of a drug rehabilitation Therapeutic Community program, Paul Goodman and Karen Nolan, the Ley Community, Oxford, England. Part Five: Research and Evaluation. 12. Evaluative research in Therapeutic Communities, Barbara Rawlings. 13. An outcome study of a Therapeutic Community based in the community: a five-year prospective study of drug users in Norway, Edle Ravndal, National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, Norway. 14. Therapeutic Communities in prisons and work release: effective modalities for drug-involved offenders, James A. Inciardi, Steven S. Martin and Hilary L. Surratt, Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies, University of Delaware, USA. References. Index.
The purpose, origins, development and potential future of therapeutic communities are all covered in this book. It offers a view of the infamous US Synanon therapeutic community, how it emerged via contact with Alcoholics Anonymous members, its worldwide export and its influence on treatment for alcohol and other drug addictions. I recommend this book, if only as a reference volume. But to use it solely as such might deny the reader the experience of some excellent qualitative chapters, particularly by Burnett and a former resident staff member of the Ley community in Oxford.
