THE TREATMENT OF SUBSTANCE ADDICTS - A JUDGMENT ANALYSIS OF THERAPISTS MATCHING STRATEGIES

This study deals with the arguments therapists give for assigning subs tance addicts to specific treatments. It is conducted within the frame work of Judgement Analysis (Hammond and Brehmer, 1973), and takes acco unt of the notions about client-treatment matching research that has b een developed during the last decade. After briefly discussing these d evelopments we introduce Judgement Analysis as a means to study the wa y in which individual therapists apply matching strategies. In an empi rical study we investigate the consistency of individual matching stra tegies and the agreement among therapists in matching strategies. The results show that therapists have consistent but idiosyncratic matchin g strategies, leading to substantial disagreement among therapists abo ut treatment advice. Furthermore, therapists' matching strategies are based on less information than they assert to consider relevant. (C) 1 998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.