Uses of Coercion in Addiction Treatment, Article Review Example

The article entitled “Uses of Coercion in Addiction Treatment: Clinical Aspects” provides an explanation of the use of coercion or involuntary treatment therapies for addiction. The article offers a fundamental insight in the way addiction disorders can be treated through coercion. It is clear from the article that this treatment can be challenging since it raises some legal, ethical, philosophical, political, as well and clinical issues. For instance, in the United States coercive treatments on patients with addiction disorders is carried by clinicians under certain circumstances.  Therefore, the authors recommend that there is the need to apply coerced care effectively, where health care experts must acknowledge the techniques, indications, benefits, as well as liabilities that are linked to vital clinical modality. The authors argue that the treatment has not received the attention it needs and lack the necessary support as the society perceives substance abuse as a form of weakness of will or illness (Sullivan et al, 2008). The literature confirms that coercive treatment may a highly efficient treatment method for persons with addiction disorders and the need to embrace and undertake a conclusive research. Clinicians must be compassionate and wise while providing this kind of therapy to the patients.

There are several pros of the article that makes it an outstanding article for scholarly purposes. First, the article sets a stage for further research regarding coercive treatment on addiction disorders. In the article, it is clear that the article that bases its arguments on available literature and not on research. This is important because it will assist researchers to use as their starting point towards exploring this clinical aspect. Second, the article uses some literature that provides sufficient information regarding the treatment method. The article uses scientific explanation to offer a clear a clear understanding on the topic (Sullivan et al, 2008). Furthermore, the article uses some case studies that support the main ideas of the article.  Third, the article is organized into sections that articulate different sub-topics, which makes it easy to understand. However, the article some cons. First, the article has no studies to support the main arguments, which makes the article somehow weak. The study should have used past studies on the topic to support the topic. Second, the article does not offer compelling statistics to underscore the facts by the authors.

In my opinion, I believe that the use of coercion treatment among the addicted persons has not received the needed support because the development of sound policies, as well as treatment practices, has been hindered by several limitations of the research that have been conducted to date. If there was adequate research finding the treatment could have received support in the clinicians. Also, there are numerous legal, political, social, and ethical issues that surround the treatment method that need to be addressed by all the stakeholders. I believe that there is the need to incorporate client views on coercion along with the implications for applying and interpreting the available research results. Therefore, the synthesis of the existing studies on compulsive treatment among the addicted persons remains greatly unclear on what degree that it may have unfavorable effects to the treatment process and victims. Thus, I agree that comprehensive research must be undertaken in this area to eliminate the uncertainties that surround the treatment method. Coercion treatment can be used through legal means to enable the drug addict to undergo counseling. This will motivate the drug addict to accept the counseling practice.

Reference

Sullivan, M. A., Birkmayer, F., Boyarsky, B. K., Frances, R. J., Fromson, J. A., Galanter, M., & … Westermeyer, J. (2008). Uses of Coercion in Addiction Treatment: Clinical Aspects. American Journal On Addictions, 17(1), 36-47.