Self- and ideal-self-perception of drug addicts in therapeutic communities

Assessment of drug abuser treatment needs in Rhode Island

BACKGROUND

Rhode Island's Division of Substance Abuse asked us to assess the State's drug treatment needs and make recommendations regarding its treatment system for the next three years.

METHODS

We used a statewide telephone drug use survey of 5,176 households supplemented by drug-related hospital discharges, Division of Drug Control statistics, and interviews with providers, state officials, and out-of-state experts. Drug abuse was measured with items from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Abusers were asked if they were receiving or wanted to receive treatment.

RESULTS

Survey responses, used to estimate the unmet need for drug treatment, indicated a need to triple drug treatment services. Regression models using survey data indicated that the treatment network was overly centralized in the Providence area. Interviews with state officials, clinicians, and out-of-state experts provided material for recommendations on reimbursement policy, treatment mix, quality assurance, and cost containment.

CONCLUSIONS

The RI Department of Health's certificate-of-need program adopted our overall recommendation for tripling the drug treatment system as its guideline in evaluating proposals for new treatment facilities. With State funding of a new adolescent center and expansion of outpatient slots in the private sector, this recommendation has now been fully implemented.

The effects of two therapeutic communities on illicit drug users between 6 months and 1 year after treatment

Thirty former residents of two different therapeutic communities for illicit drug users were interviewed between 6 months and 1 year after terminating treatment to determine how successfully they had been in adjusting to society. Two findings of this research concerned the amount of time the former residents spent in their therapeutic communities: Time in treatment was associated with fewer arrests once they graduated from these programs and was also associated with less drug use.

The Therapeutic Community Involvement Scale: an instrument for assessing the staff perceptions of the therapeutic involvement of illicit drug abusers

The Therapeutic Community Scale is described. This instrument has two subscales: the Participation Scale and the Self-Disclosure Scale. Counselor ratings of residents on this scale improved, the longer residents remained in two therapeutic communities.

Changes in treatment-related concepts of illicit drug abusers related to time in treatment in two residential treatment programs

This research investigated the effects of two residential drug treatment programs on changing the attitudes the residents had toward three treatment-related concepts over a 10-month time period. The semantic differential evaluative and potency scales of the concepts Therapeutic Community, Counselor, and Group Therapy were administered to the residents of these programs after they were residents for set periods of time. The results of this research showed that the residents rated the evaluative and potency scales of Group Therapy and Counselor higher the longer they remained in the program.