Control and service implementation in drug abuse treatment programs

The major purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between control and implementation of drug treatment services while controlling for the structure of the organization. It is based on a study of 19 drug abuse programs in eight counties of North Carolina. The analysis of the data indicates that greater control will not necessarily increase the effectiveness of organization performance; rather, for change to occur, control by professional personnel will have to decrease. This would allow the organization to be more responsive to environmental concerns, and therefore more effective.