Milieu approaches and other adaptations of therapeutic community method: past and future

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the application of therapeutic community (TC) method in non-TC environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Milieu treatment is defined and differentiated from TC “proper”. Literature is reviewed covering attempts to use TC methods in inpatient wards, across hospitals, and more recently in the criminal justice system and more widely through the enabling environments initiative.

Findings

It is unclear whether TC milieu treatments proved helpful in acute ward environments in their heyday in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, in particular those involving people suffering from acute psychosis, and the changing landscape of psychiatric provision may make further investigation difficult. The reasons for this, and for the difficulties reaching a firm conclusion, are outlined. In contrast, TC milieu interventions appear to be demonstrating usefulness more recently in less mixed populations without the implementation of full TC “proper”.

Research limitations/implications

Much of the research is old and the methodology poor, which limits the conclusions that can be drawn.

Practical implications

Recent innovations pick up in a more accessible way principles of therapeutic communities that can inform and improve care in a variety of contexts. They are sufficiently well defined to lend themselves to research, which should now be a priority.

Originality/value

After a gap in developments in the field, recent innovations are reintroducing elements of TC functioning to new contexts including criminal justice settings, inpatient wards, homeless shelters and city communities.

Citation

Pearce, S. and Haigh, R. (2017), "Milieu approaches and other adaptations of therapeutic community method: past and future", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 136-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-02-2017-0007