Coercion in the therapeutic community

Recently the therapeutic community (TC) has become the focus of a new optimism especially in treating holistic social problems such as personality disorder. We readdress the concept of coercion, emphasising its necessary and pervasive role within wider society and conscious life. Foucault's 'discipline' is employed to show that all social structures channel individuals into particular ways of living. Coercion, thus defined, is at the crux of all ethical and functional questions facing the TC and wider society. The TC's role is to heal those who have been damaged by life in wider society and who will continue to struggle without the TC's discipline. This extra discipline should be offset by educating patients about the TC's transformative aims and professional mediation of resulting conflicts. Wider society lacks explicit education about coercive influence and mediation is not always sympathetic. However, it is this deceptive environment that patients should aim to return to. Adapted from the source document.