Implementing therapeutic community as a rehabilitation intervention for the imprisoned narcotic drug offenders with substance use disorder: special reference to Sri Lanka

Abstract Narcotic offenders with substance use disorder (SUD) have become a severe burden around the world including Sri Lanka. Prisons and other rehabilitation centers are threatened by overcrowding, due to recidivism, rearrest, and re-incarceration of narcotic offenders with SUD and limited capacities available in these centers. The therapeutic community (TC), owing to its comprehensive approach, long history of use, proven efficacy, and more importantly its relatability to Asian culture, has made it more appropriate for narcotic offenders with SUD sentenced to imprisonment, to subdue SUD while serving their prison sentence. TC is a rehabilitation intervention found by Tom Main in 1946 and a proper understanding of its core concept and elements is important when implementing a TC program. However, challenges are inevitable that need to be overcome when implementing a prison TC program. This paper intended to provide an insight to consider TC as a rehabilitation intervention for the imprisoned narcotic drug offenders with SUD. A special reference is provided to Sri Lanka, given its current requirement for an appropriate rehabilitation model for the prison community suffering from SUD.