Fiscal crisis in a therapeutic community

Financial problems beset many service delivery agencies involved in the treatment and prevention of addiction. In this paper we review the history of a therapeutic community which initially thrived and then began to decline as monetary support diminished. We focus on the communication patterns during the treatment center's existence and illustrate changes in these patterns which are indicative of the "health" of the organization. The explanation of the rise and fall of the private, nonprofit organization is couched in contemporary organization theory--i.e., we treat the therapeutic community as a unit in a system of service-delivery organizations. Research procedures are outlined to facilitate replication.