The Social Ecology of Drug Treatment

Abstract

The examination of clients and staff members perceptions of treatment environments is an area in which insufficient research has taken place. This study reports the results of an attempt to evaluate perceptions of treatment environments within the Comprehensive Drug Program of Dade County (Miami) Florida. The Moos Community Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES) was given in a self-administered form to a sample of 238 clients and fifty-five staff members in eight treatment programs. Analysis revealed that the perceptions of drug clients toward their treatment environments were generally more positive than those of clients in other types of medical and psychiatric treatment and that perceptions tended to vary directly with the extent and continuity of contact between clients and staff members. Finally, it is suggested that the evaluation of perceptions of treatment environments be made an essential aspect of treatment evaluation.