Italian and British therapeutic communities: common threads from the 1960s to the 2010s
Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities
ISSN: 0964-1866
Article publication date: 15 November 2022
Issue publication date: 30 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe Italian and UK therapeutic community developments during 1960–2021.
Design/methodology/approach
Historical review and personal experience.
Findings
After significant divergence in the nature of “therapeutic communities”, mostly based on the different sociopolitical contexts in the two countries, areas of formal rapprochement have been emerging in the past 20 years.
Research limitations/implications
The details of how therapeutic communities developed in Italy, particularly in the wake of Law 180, deserves investigation and comparison to the UK and other countries.
Practical implications
The recent collaborative work in quality, training and research could support the future use of therapeutic communities and enabling environments.
Social implications
The underlying principle of “relational practice”, which underlies the therapeutic community approach, could have wider implication in public services beyond mental health.
Originality/value
Much has been written about the progressive intentions of Italian mental health with Law 180, but not with a specific focus on therapeutic communities – which were an important initial impetus for Basaglia and his equipé.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The work is an account and reflection of ten years’ unfunded collaboration with Italian colleagues in the same field. The authors have received travel and accommodation expenses over this time, but no professional fees. They would like to express their appreciation to their Italian colleagues and friends with whom they have worked: Aldo Lombardo, Gian Carlo Decimo, Simone Bruschetta, Raffaele Barone, Angelita Volpe, Francesca Giannone, Amelia Frasca, Luca Mingarelli, Laura Liverotti – and the many members and staff they have met from the participating therapeutic communities.
Citation
Haigh, R. and Lees, J. (2022), "Italian and British therapeutic communities: common threads from the 1960s to the 2010s", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 43 No. 3/4, pp. 163-166. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-10-2021-0021
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited