Title : Reconstructing social support network of substance abusers Exploring prevalent service models and the public private relationships of private therapeutic communities in Taiwan
Abstract:
The population of substance abuse co-occurring social issues is increasing in Taiwan over the last years. In the professions of rehabilitation and recovery, how to reconstruct social support network of substance abusers has been caused for concern. Studies demonstrated gender differences need to be highly considered in terms of addiction treatment. However, few studies focused on gender and the changes of social network functions in treatment context in Taiwan. This study purpose to focus on 6 therapeutic communities to explore: (1) their organizational historical context, characteristics and government-nonprofit relationships on the treatment model, (2) the treatment model of gender differences and the changes over year,
This study applied literature review and in-depth interviews and found that the similarity of treatment models in those communities are: (1) isolation is as determination; (2) treatment stages are all bio-psych-social but not equal in the period of time; (3) building social connections with service providers, local communities, families, etc. are important; (4) previous drug abusers play important position.
The study also found their experiences of working with government include: their source of resources is scattered, many restrictions of working with the semi-official rehabilitation association, the requirements of public subsidized professionals are not realistic, some institutions are restricted by legalization, and they hesitate on some public resources for violating their mission. The findings depicts the dynamic relationships between services of private sector, government and the policy. Implications of future study and practice will be discussed.
