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15 - Adolescent therapeutic communities: future directions for practice and research

from Part IV - Empirically based interventions for adolescent substance abuse: research and practical implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2009

By
Nancy Jainchill
Edited by
Howard A. Liddle  and
Cynthia L. Rowe
Nancy Jainchill
Affiliation:
National Development and Research Institutes, New York, USA
Howard A. Liddle
Affiliation:
University of Miami School of Medicine
Cynthia L. Rowe
Affiliation:
University of Miami School of Medicine
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Summary

The therapeutic community (TC) began as a mutual-help approach for the treatment of substance abuse outside of mainstream psychiatry, psychology, and medicine. Today, the TC is a recognized treatment approach for individuals with substance use and abuse problems. The primary agent for change remains mutual help; however, the TC has evolved to incorporate the participation of professionals into the therapeutic and organizational structure to address the increasingly complex needs of clients admitted for treatment. The current chapter presents a case for the role of the TC as a critical treatment option for adolescents with substance use/abuse and concomitant problems. The model is described and a review of the empirical basis for the approach is presented. The question of “What's next?” will be addressed, both in terms of directions for research and for clinical innovations.

Background and history

The TC views substance abuse as a disorder of the whole person, involving the possibility of impeded personality development with associated deficits in social, educational, and economic/survival skills (De Leon, 1986, 2000). This global perspective of the problem supports a multidimensional rehabilitative approach that occurs in a 24-hour setting. The community itself, consisting of member–residents and staff, and all of the community activities, are designed to produce therapeutic and educational change in the participants, who are also the mediators of these changes (De Leon, 1997).

Type
Chapter
Information
Adolescent Substance Abuse
Research and Clinical Advances
 , pp. 313 - 332
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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