The Recovery Revolution : The Battle Over Addiction Treatment in the United States

"In the 1960s, as illegal drug use grew from a fringe issue to a pervasive public concern, a new industry arose to treat the addiction epidemic. Over the next five decades, the industry's leaders promised to rehabilitate the casualties of the drug culture even as incarceration rates for drug-related offenses climbed. In this history of addiction treatment, Claire D. Clark traces the political shift from the radical communitarianism of the 1960s to the conservatism of the Reagan era, uncovering the forgotten origins of today's recovery movement. Based on extensive interviews with drug-rehabilitation professionals and archival research, The Recovery Revolution locates the history of treatment activists' influence on the development of American drug policy. Synanon, a controversial drug-treatment program launched in California in 1958, emphasized a community-based approach to rehabilitation. Its associates helped develop the therapeutic community (TC) model, which encouraged peer confrontation as a path to recovery. As TC treatment pioneers made mutual aid profitable, the model attracted powerful supporters and spread rapidly throughout the country. The TC approach was supported as part of the Nixon administration's "law-and-order" policies, favored in the Reagan administration's antidrug campaigns, and remained relevant amid the turbulent drug policies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. While many contemporary critics characterize American drug policy as simply the expression of moralizing conservatism or a mask for racial oppression, Clark recounts the complicated legacy of the "ex-addict" activists who turned drug treatment into both a product and a political symbol that promoted the impossible dream of a drug-free America."--Jacket In the 1960s, as illegal drug use grew from a fringe issue to a pervasive public concern, a new industry arose to treat the addiction epidemic. Over the next five decades, the industry's leaders promised to rehabilitate the casualties of the drug culture even as incarceration rates for drug-related offenses climbed. In this history of addiction treatment, Claire D. Clark traces the political shift from the radical communitarianism of the 1960s to the conservatism of the Reagan era, uncovering the forgotten origins of today's recovery treatment. Based on extensive interviews with drug-rehabilitation professionals and archival research, The Recovery Revolution locates the history of treatment activists' influence on the development of American drug policy. Synanon, a controversial drug-treatment program launched in California in 1958, emphasized a community-based approach to rehabilitation. Its associates helped develop the therapeutic community (TC) model, which encouraged peer confrontation as a path to recovery. As TC treatment pioneers made mutual aid profitable, the model attracted powerful supporters and spread rapidly throughout the country. The TC approach was supported as part of the Nixon administration's antidrug campaigns, and remained relevant amid the turbulent drug policies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. While many contemporary critics characterize American drug policy as simply the expression of moralizing conservatism or a mask for racial oppression, Clark recounts the complicated legacy of the "ex-addict" activists who turned drug treatment into both a product and a political symbol that promoted the impossible dream of a drug-free America. In the 1960s, a new addiction-treatment industry arose in America in response to an epidemic of drug use. Over the next five decades, its leaders made a relentless push to rehabilitate the casualties of America's growing drug culture--even as rates of incarceration for drug-related offenses climbed. Based on extensive interviews with drug-rehabilitation professionals and archival research, The Recovery Revolution writes a history of the development of these programs as well as the cultural and political uses of the drug-treatment industry and its impossible promise of a drug-free America. Synanon, a drug-treatment program launched in California in 1958, emphasized a community-based approach to rehabilitation. It led to the development of the therapeutic community (TC) model, which encouraged peer confrontation as a path to recovery. While Synanon became embroiled in controversy for its increasingly unorthodox methods, the TC practice spread rapidly throughout the country, complementing the changing mores regarding drug use and rehabilitation. In the 1970s, the Nixon administration promoted the TC approach to treat heroin users as part of its "law and order" policies. The Reagan administration then folded TC treatment into its Just Say No campaign, synthesizing political, medical, public health, and business and marketing interests. TC providers subsequently began fighting to stay relevant. Their response to the rise of the carceral state and shifts in public opinion toward drug users, Clark shows, continues to affect drug policy and rehabilitation efforts List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: The Roots of Revolution Part I: Revolution 1. Selling Synanon 2. Synanon Rashomon Part II: Co-optation 3. Selling the Second Generation 4. Left, Right, and Chaos Part III: Industrialization 5. Selling a Drug-Free America 6. Courts and Markets Conclusion: The Revolution's Aftermath Acknowledgments Appendix: Historical Actors List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Phenomena of Power delves into the sociohistorical manifestations of power and breaks through to its general structures. Popitz distinguishes the forms of the enforcement of power as well as of its stabilization and institutionalization, clearly articulating how the mechanisms of power work and how to track them in the social world.