MEANINGS CONSTRUCTED BY DRUG USERS ABOUT THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES INPATIENT TREATMENT

Abstract

Therapeutic Communities are a resource frequently used in the treatment of problematic drug use. This study aimed to comprehend the meanings constructed by people that had undergone internation in Therapeutic Communities. This was a qualitative and descriptive study based on a social constructionism theoretical framework. A total of 10 semi-structured interviews were carried out with people after their internation in Therapeutic Communities. Three themes were constructed after conducting thematic content analysis: 1) Psychosocial care network and places of internation, addressing the restrictions experienced throughout the internation process in TCs, highlighting some repertoires used to refer to this treatment. 2) The naturalization of internation as a care ideal, discussing how TCs and social distancing are constructed as inevitable routes for people who use drugs, naturalizing existing processes of rights violations; 3) What remains after the internation, the theme which deals with the complexity related to the inpatient leaving the treatment in CTs and challenges that are amplified due to the lack of preparation of the institutions and the lack of a support network that assists in this process. Although the patients described the TCs as a space of internation and punishment and highlighted the challenges encountered by them after the internation, this type of treatment is naturalized as an inevitable route for the drug user’s life. The problematic use of alcohol and other drugs is a complex field (social, health, cultural and economic) and the focus on long inpatient models has led to different forms of exclusion and violations, combined with a lack of investment in practices that cover the complexity of the issue.