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Coercive treatment for drug misuse: a dialogical juncture
Author(s) -
Horrocks Christine,
Barker Val,
Kelly Nancy,
Robinson Dave
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of community and applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1099-1298
pISSN - 1052-9284
DOI - 10.1002/casp.797
Subject(s) - dialogical self , perspective (graphical) , psychology , social psychology , sociology , criminology , computer science , artificial intelligence
This article adopts a ‘dialogical’ relational perspective to explore the recently introduced initiative of coercive treatment for drug misuse in the UK. Conversational interviews were undertaken with 11 people who had been sentenced to the Drug Treatment and Testing Order. Receiving treatment for drug misuse is often storied within a motivational account that is expectant of a ‘readiness to change’; such assumptions seem theoretically problematic when change is legally imposed. Therefore, moral and ethical concerns surround the introduction of this initiative, however the interview data illustrates the potential that participation might offer for the creation of ‘counterstories’ where a more moral self can be enacted. Our analysis suggests that this counterstory is co‐constructed thus being an outcome of both self and other. Furthermore such stories appear fragile; constantly under assault from detrimental authoritative discourses that are not only part of wider social understandings around drug misuse but also permeate the policy and practice of coercive treatment. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.