...Tom Harrison Purpose This study aims to raise awareness of the importance of the sociological aspects of therapeutic community work, including clarity about the nature of the task, the power of informal interactions between participants and the relevance of leadership. Design/methodology...

... Therapeutic community movement Democratic tendency Pioneers Non‐interference Leadership Mental health services The question of how therapeutic communities are created has interested me for some time. How is it that they have arisen or been successfully cultivated in many different places – not all...

...Richard Rollinson Purpose The aim is to explore important perspectives and structures that can inform leadership in a therapeutic environment based on psychodynamic principles. Design/methodology/approach The experiences of the author as Director of the Mulberry Bush (1991‐2001) are used...

..., with particular reference to leadership. Findings Free from bias, cultural, psychological or ideological, the next therapeutic communities should integrate elements of both old and new therapeutic communities, in a development strategy which assimilates, socializes and finally prepares the individual for full...

... of communes, prisons, mutinies and student protest. Sources of internal disorganisation and external threat are examined and the crucial role of leadership explored. Findings A typology is suggested in which therapeutic communities exhibit a career of death, from functional failure, through self awareness...

... eminently successful. Organisational change presented social and psychological threats which were difficult to overcome. Leadership was an important factor in determining the outcome. Originality/value This paper gives an insight into the social‐psychiatric approaches and organisational theories...