“Mandatory or compulsory treatment refers to the legislated forced confinement (non-criminal) or civil commitment of individuals for assessment or treatment of their substance abuse problems” (Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, 2006). It is when a person is ordered to receive treatment even if he or she does not voluntarily accept it. There are those who find this kind of treatment acceptable because they believe that it would greatly help decrease crime rate; it would be beneficial to those involved; or that it would help the individual deal with his or her problems (Bean & Nemitz, 2004, p.110).
However, others find coercive treatment as unnecessary. Personally, it is believed that mandated or coerced treatment does not work because it lacks self-determination and willingness from the individual. It would be hard for the person to participate if he or she does not see the reason as to why he or she has to undergo the treatment. “Mandated treatment increases the numbers of individuals who come to treatment but rarely produces internal motivation for change” (Koocher, Norcross, & Hill, 2005, p. 264).
There is a possibility that it will be successful but its success will only be short-lived because the willingness of the person to undergo treatment does not come naturally. To be fair, however, coerced or mandated treatment should be given only to those who do have the capacity to decide for themselves. There are numerous ethical issues involved in this type of treatment and one thing is not applicable to all other situations.
For the sake of the discussion, it is stated that this type of treatment does not work, especially in the long term where the patient does not come to realization as to why he or she must receive the treatment.
References
Bean, P. & Nemitz, T. (2004). Drug Treatment. New York: Routledge. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. (2006). Fact Sheet Mandatory and Coerced Treatment. Retrieved January 19, 2009, from http://www. ccsa. ca/2006%20CCSA%20Documents/ccsa-003648-2006. pdf Koocher, G. P. , Norcross, J. C. , & Hill, S. S. (2005). Psychologists’ Desk Reference. New York: Oxford University Press.