Patterns of organization and management in private and public substance abuse treatment programs

As an organizational field, substance abuse treatment clearly includes a remarkable range of organizations. Yet only in the past two decades has there been research interest in the organizational context in which treatment is delivered. The goal of this article is to promote the concept of organizational field by summarizing findings from an ongoing research program and by examining the organizational structure, service delivery, and patterns of innovation adoption in two large samples of substance abuse treatment programs in the United States. Among highlighted findings, there are notable differences between the public and private sectors in structural and staffing characteristics, as well as in the characteristics of clients receiving substance abuse treatment. With regard to the use of evidence-based practices, our findings suggest that pharmacotherapies are more likely to be adopted in private centers, whereas notably effective voucher approaches are more common in public centers. Future research directions are discussed.