Outcome research in therapeutic communities for drug abusers: a critical review 1963-1975

Twenty-five publications, conference presentations, and unpublished reports on outcome of therapeutic communities for drug abusers are reviewed for the period 1963 to 1975. A wide variety of methodological limitations are noted, including retrospective designs, unclear definition of outcome variables, low follow-up completion rates, lack of descriptive data on either the treatment processes or the patients, inadequate sampling procedures, lack of comparison control groups, and the absence of data to validate self-reports. Some speculations are offered on the reasons for such methodological inadequacies and a model proposed for future studies.