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The therapeutic community (TC) in the United Kingdom was built out of a merging of the democratic TC tradition pioneered by Maxwell Jones and others immediately after the Second World War and after the American drug-free TC originating in the Synanon experiment in the late 1950s. This latter tradition traces its roots back through the mutual-aid fellowship Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This article examines how AA principles were adapted for the TC and how this new approach impacted upon the early drug treatment network in the United Kingdom. The evidence base for TC methodology is briefly described along with a short analysis of the marginalization of the approach in the past two decades and the future possibilities for modified TCs for special populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: It is the goal of this study to investigate the first development of the drug-free therapeutic community (TC) in Europe. The paper aims at systemizing information, scattered all over Europe and is the first stage in an ongoing study to record the development of the European TC movement and its influences. Design: After a study of the grey (hidden) literature, TC pioneers and experts per country were contacted to further elaborate the first findings. Subsequently, a preliminary summary of our findings was published in the Newsletter of the European Federation of Therapeutic Communities (EFTC), inviting additional information and corrections. The authors completed the results for this article with relevant first-hand information, obtained through interviews with European pioneers. Findings: The findings are summarized under three topics: chronology, interconnections and European identity. It was found that from 1968 until 1989, a new therapeutic approach arose all over Europe, modeled after Synanon, Daytop and Phoenix House, New York, through Phoenix House, London and Emiliehoeve in the Netherlands. Therapeutic communities were established in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland as well. These communities were closely-knit and interconnected in their reaction against psychiatric and methadone treatment. The European TCs developed an own identity compared to the American ones. Conclusions: The European TCs adapted the model of their American predecessors to their own culture, influenced more by milieu-therapy and social learning. Instead of harsh behaviorism, more emphasis was placed on dialogue and understanding. Professionals occupied a more pivotal role and took over the dominant position of ex-addicts. Research, executed by TC professionals gradually entered the TC. A generic network of TC connections, through which the development evolved, was uncovered, and clear regional trends can be observed. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The correction-based therapeutic community (TC) is one of the most described treatment modalities for (substance abusing) incarcerated offenders. The origins and development of the therapeutic community have been traced back to two independent traditions: the American hierarchical concept-based TC and the British democratic Maxwell Jones-type TC. Both branches have developed independently, targeting different people end tackling diverse problems. Aims: To demonstrate that there are clear and undeniable similarities between the 'two' prison-based therapeutic communities. Method: A comparative historical review of the literature and a critical discussion and comparison. Results: The links between the democratic and hierarchical therapeutic communities are summarised under five headings: social learning and behavioural modification; permissiveness and modelling; democracy and hierarchy; communalism and community as method; reality testing and 'acting as if'. Conclusions: The 'two' correction-based therapeutic communities are on converging pathways. Far from being oppositional models, they can be regarded as being complementary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of concept-based therapeutic communities, based upon the model pioneered by Charles Dederich with the Synanon community in California, was a significant development in the evolution of drug treatment provision in the UK. For a short period in the 1970s, these communities enjoyed unparalleled influence in the development and direction of treatment approaches across the whole spectrum of services. This article considers the developments in psychiatry and social care that prepared the ground for that phenomenon. In addition, the article considers the subsequent demise in the importance of therapeutic communities to the direction of drug policy and the implications that this might have for future development of residential treatment services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]