Retention Patterns in a Therapeutic Community for the Treatment of Drug Abuse

Abstract

The life table technique was applied to the analysis of retention in a therapeutic community for the treatment of drug abuse. The results indicate that those factors which exercise most influence on retention are sex, race, age, and probation/parole status. The higher rates of discharge among female, adolescent, and Hispanic residents raise questions concerning differential response to the program. The findings suggest that retention might be increased by modifying the treatment plans for these subgroups. Differences between the retention patterns of single/first admissions and readmissions to treatment were also found to be significant. Implications of these findings are presented.