Therapeutic Community Substance Abuse Program

This program has been in existence since 1958, a period when alternative treatment means like psychiatry or use of general medicine could not assist as expected for alcohol addiction. Among the early centers where TC centers were built in California is a place called Synanon by an individual named Chuck Dederich (Bunt, 2008). The founder had the aim of helping the addicts to rebuild their lives to avoid addiction by using models such as learning models in conjunction with AA principles. All along the objective of TC has been the promotion of living holistically by promoting a healthy lifestyle and coming up with corrective behavior that can be changed by the addicts. Some of the factors which have been identified over the years for improvement include the negative behaviors which affect individuals socially, psychologically and emotionally (Bunt, 2008).

They found a right path in life, promoting ethical behavior, education, and harmony in communities involved. In this review, our concern will be to find out if the Therapeutic community substance abuse program is a necessity in our society. Literature Review There exist some successful cases of adolescent TC graduates. Some people believe TCs have done a great deal in helping some youths to stop using marijuana. Reduction in the amount of substance abuse and other criminal activities that they involved themselves earlier on. Law and courts can form a reasonable basis and a requirement if most TCs are to work as expected (Carr, 2014). A quick review of our literature materials brings a good observation about the difference in motivation between adults and adolescents to be in such institutions.

According to Bunt, in the article "The Therapeutic Community: An International Perspective. Substance Abuse", young people are likely to stay longer in TCs if they find a great sense of motivation by staying in TCs (Bunt, 2008). If there was a way the recruiters could gauge the level of motivation while admitting the new clients, they could be able to prevent dropping out rates. Most of the teenagers are third-generation drug abusers who have grown in an environment where substance abuse is a common thing. They also come, abusive families, where they are physically or psychologically abused hence going to a TC center proves to help a lot (Carr, 2014). Majority TC institution usually has strict guidelines that are to be adhered to by everyone; they prohibit drug abuse, sexual activities any form of violence so that whoever that comes to the facility feels safe.