As greater numbers of drug abusers seek treatment and drug rehabilitation program resources become more and more scarce, selection processes should become based on scientific research rather than on the intuition of a few influential personnel. Many therapeutic community drug treatment programs have a preferential policy for accepting voluntary over court-ordered commitments. Our findings indicate that such a policy discriminates against those individuals who are most likely to succeed in completing their treatment. Our data also indicate that the success of male drug addicts in completing therapeutic community drug treatment programs is associated with sociological variables. The success of women, on the other hand, is more associated with psychologically oriented concerns.

This paper draws together a number of past studies of the family background characteristics of drug addicts. Additionat data recently collected from a sample of 346 addicts in treatment are also reported and contrasted with the existing findings in the literature. The personal trauma in the disruptive backgrounds of drug addicts is a subject seldom broached in literature but one which the new data in this article highlights. Questions are asked about the administration of drug programs, given the background characteristics of those in treatment, and conclusions are drawn based on the therapeutic implications of the family disorganization and personal traumas in the backgrounds of addicts.

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