The contextualization of drug treatment - future research perspectives and concepts

In the article the growing interest of studies on treatment systems rather than specific treatment modalities is taken as a starting point for a discussion and outlook on how the research agenda of drug treatment research will develop in the near future. The relative absence of research that provides substantial guidance in the search for treatment effects has opened up for studies on larger, 'natural' entities, which are examined from composite, and theoretically elaborated, standpoints. The article argues that there is much to be done when it comes to research on treatment from a client's perspective and that a development of that particular path is a necessity for a more profound description and understanding of treatment. The need for theoretical input is emphasized and exemplified with ideas from organizational theory and discussions related to the concept of globalization. Finally the article identifies a need for more attention to some definitional issues that must be addressed in order to empirically develop comparative research on drug treatment systems.