PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION OF A THERAPEUTIC-COMMUNITY MODEL FOR OFFENDERS IN DRUG-TREATMENT

This paper reports the participant observation of a Brazilian psycholo gist and a Brazilian psychiatrist during a 1-month period in two thera peutic communities (TCs) for drug-using offenders. A description of th e activities undertaken by the prisoners who are sewing their sentence s at the Multi-Purpose Criminal Justice Facility in Wilmington, Del., is complemented with a theoretical understanding of the process. Clini cal and developmental psychological approaches are used to explain the functioning of TCs when applied to a correctional environment. The th eory of scripts and the use of metacommunication as a therapeutic tool are used in the explanation of these therapeutic procedures.