NCJ Number
176730
Editor(s)
H Klingemann,
G Hunt
Date Published
1998
Length
359 pages
Annotation
Forty-seven authors from 20 countries provide information on drug treatment systems in these countries.
Abstract
The 20 countries included are Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, and the United States. The need to produce a global view of drug treatment is obvious given such developments as the globalization of the drug industry, the international drug trade and drug consumption, and the import and export of treatment models. To strengthen the analytical and comparative power of the collection, the 20 country reports have been grouped according to overarching themes: drug prohibition and the abstinence paradigm, the experimental countries, social change and drug treatment in Central Europe and Russia, from moral crusades to cost-efficient pragmatism, the Latin American connection, wine and illicit drugs, and economic revolution and cultural transformation in the Far East. The editors and country authors have adopted a system approach that provides a comprehensive overview of the main features of the treatment system in its societal context. Information for each country addresses an inventory of drug treatment activities; a discussion of the sociopolitical structure; trends in drug-related problems; the division between political, judicial, health, and social authorities; treatment rationales and specific methods; institutional cooperation and financing structures; and the role of self-help groups and unconventional methods and programs. The presentation of three thematic chapters in the last part of the book continues the comparative theme by reviewing each of the country chapters from the perspective of each of the following topics: women and drug treatment, modes of financing treatment, and the relationship between the alcohol and drug treatment systems. The country background information table in the appendix provides data on size of population, type of political economy, surface area, degree of urbanization, gross national product, and unemployment. A glossary explains key terms that may be unfamiliar to readers outside the particular country. Chapter notes and references