Origins and Principles of Therapeutic Communities

MODULE 1
DEVELOPMENT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (TC)
Origins of Therapeutic Community (TC)
The correction-based therapeutic community (TC) is a widely described treatment modality

for (substance abusing) offender. Its origins can be traced back to two major independent
traditions:
1. American drug-free hierarchical concept-based TC

2. British democratic Maxwell Jones-type TC
The hierarchic approach was modelled on Synanon, founded by Charles Dederich. It

developed as a self-help movement for the treatment of substance abusers; primarily using
behavioural modification techniques. The democratic approach is most commonly
associated with Maxwell Jones. It developed as a professional group work method to treat
people suffering from a range of psychiatric difficulties, primarily using social learning
principles.
The Concept-Based TC and its Application in Prison
A concept-based therapeutic community is ‘a drug-free environment in which people

with addictive problems live together in an organized and structured way to promote change
toward a drug-free life in the outside community.
Attributes of TC (According to Concept-based)
• Strive towards integration into the larger society

• It has to offer its residents a sufficiently long stay in treatment;
• Both staff and residents should be open to challenge and to questions;
• Ex-addicts can be of significant importance as role models; staff must respect ethical
standards,
• should regularly review their reason of existence.
The hierarchical TC was modelled on Synanon, a dynamic group work living initiative
founded by Charles Dederich in 1958. Within six years of its founding, Synanon had both
encouraged the establishment of a small but influential group of successor TCs and been
responsible for a schism which remained unresolved until Dederich’s death. There were
several reasons for the divide which developed between Synanon and the organisations which
adopted and adapted its work. In addition to Dederich’s autocratic and increasingly erratic
leadership, there was the ‘forced’ lifelong commitment to Synanon, the lack of contact with the
outside world and resistance to research and evaluation, the absence of professional help and
the often harsh and extreme learning experiences and disciplinary techniques (O’Brien, 1993).
The value system of the concept-based TC includes early Christian values, the ‘first century
Christian fellowship’ and the Oxford Group of F. Buchman, Alcoholics Anonymous the
Synanon philosophy and the humanistic psychology, of authors such as Maslow and Rogers.
The essential elements of the American hierarchic drug-free therapeutic community

are extensively described by De Leon (2000). Most crucial, is the concept of ‘community as
method’, which stresses the ‘purposive use of the peer community to facilitate social and
psychological change in individuals.
Principles of Concept-based TC (parallel to democratic TC)
(1) Community: living together in a group and showing responsible concern and
belonging is the main agent for therapeutic change and social learning.
(2) Hierarchy: daily activities take place in a structured setting, where people ‘act as
if’ they have no problems and where ‘older’ residents serve as role models.
(3) Confrontation: negative behaviour, which interferes with the community concepts,
values and philosophy is confronted and put to limit. During confrontations in encounter
groups all feelings can freely and openly be expressed.
(4) Self-help: the resident is the protagonist of his own treatment process. Other group
members can only act as facilitators.
Despite hostility from the prison system authorities and an initial failure at the Federal
Prison of Terminal Island in California in the beginning of the 1960s, a Synanon-inspired
initiative was established at Nevada State Prison in 1962. Prisoners in maximum security (total
isolation) were permitted to leave their cells to attend Synanon sessions. By attending
Synanon activities they could move into the general prison population; to special cell blocks
(Synanon tiers of 25 inmates); to Synanon’s Peavine Honor Camp (isolated facilities of 20
men outside of prison) or they could be paroled directly to Synanon facilities. Almost in spite
of itself, Synanon began to develop positive relationships with the criminal justice penal
system.
A value-based project with a hierarchical structure and ‘games’ was subsequently set
up at the Federal Penitentiary at Terminal Island and at the San Francisco County Jail in San
Bruno, California. At the end of the 1960s, an initiative named ‘Asklepieion’ was established
in the Federal Prison at Marion (Illinois, U.S.A.) by the psychiatrist Martin Groder. Groder was
deeply influenced by both Synanon and Eric Berne who had developed the transactional
analysis model. The original Asklepieion TC was short-lived (it closed in 1978), but it remained
an influence for many other concept-based therapeutic communities in prisons, such as
Terminal Island (California), Oxford (Wisconsin), Stillwater (Minnesota) and Ft. Grant
(Arizona). Further prison-based concept therapeutic communities were developed in
Danburry, Connecticut, and New York’s Green Haven Prison. This brief flourishing of the TC
model within prisons lasted until the early 1970s, when it began to lose momentum and several
programmes had to close; although others continued for many years.
The Stay ‘n Out prison TC programme was established (in 1977) at New York in two
prisons and it was primarily based on the Phoenix House model. Outcome studies, (based
upon incarceration rate of inmates who successfully completed the programme appeared to
confirm the success of this initiative and identified the Stay ‘n Out programme as an effective
method of treatment. Around the same period (1976), another therapeutic community
(Cornerstone) for substance abusing offenders (although not situated within a prison) was
developed at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem. Here too, positive results were reported in
evaluation studies. Some other prison-based therapeutic communities were developed
between the 1970s and the mid-1980s, focusing primarily on substance abusers, but also on
sex offenders and mentally ill residents (Lipton, 1998). Interest in prison-based therapeutic
communities was rekindled in the 1990s when their success was recorded in several outcome
studies. The increase in drug-free programmes in prisons is also observable in the European
Union. In a recent overview study by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction, abstinence-oriented treatment programmes (such as the TC) are identified as the
dominant treatment initiative in European corrections.
To a certain degree, all concept-based TC in prisons are based on self-help principles.

Understanding and compassion is combined with discipline and hierarchy. Life is structured
on the basis of clear and consistent rules. Increased authority and esteem can be gained by
a corresponding increase in responsible behaviour. Feelings are expressed during emotional
encounter groups. Learning takes place through peer-group interaction. Experienced staff and
ex-substance abusers function as role models. Values such as self-discipline, non-violence,
acceptance of authority and guidance, honesty and openness are encouraged. Acceptance of
limitations and earning of privileges leads gradually to integration into society.
Application of the Democratic TC in Prison
The democratic TC is described by Clark as a small face-to-face residential community

using social analysis as its main tool. Its origins can be traced back to the Northfield
Experiments, which can be considered as one of the first attempts to rehabilitate people
(neurotic soldiers) by means of the ‘therapeutic use of groups’ and some experimental
treatment units during and just after World War II for neurotic soldiers and ex-prisoners of war,
initiated by Maxwell Jones. Jones is commonly referred to as the ‘father’ of the democratic
therapeutic community.
Work of Jones (based on axioms)
(1) Two-way communication on all levels

(2) Decision-making on all levels
(3) Shared (multiple) leadership
(4) Consensus in decision-making
(5) Social learning by interaction in the ‘here and now
Social learning could be described as Socratic learning, in which the facilitator simply
helps the participants to uncover the knowledge from within the group.
Four Central Principles of Democratic TC
(1) Permissiveness: residents can freely express their thoughts and emotions without
any negative repercussions (in the sense of punishment or censure).
(2) Democracy: all residents and staff members have equal chances and opportunities
to participate in the organisation of the TC
(3) Communalism: face to face communication and free interaction to create a feeling
of sharing and belonging.
(4) Reality testing: residents can be, and should be, continually confronted with their
own image (and the consequent impact of that) as perceived by other clients and staff
members.
The democratic TC in Prison
The direct and indirect influence of Maxwell Jones:
Scudder
During the early 1950s, Scudder (the superintendent of Chino prison in California,
U.S.A.) was one of the first to acknowledge the importance of a humanistic approach towards
prisoners. His book ‘Prisoners are people’, paved the way for implementation of transitional
therapeutic communities.
Richard McGee
During this same period, Richard McGee, the administrator of Youth and Adult
Corrections in California, was initiating a wide scale reform of state prisons. One major reform
involved a thorough evaluation and screening of inmates (residents) in a Reception-Guidance
Centre, from which they were allocated to the most suitable facility. During this process, a
‘base expectancy’ score, implemented as a predictor of recidivism (parole violation), was
calculated for each prisoner along with a social maturity rating.
Jones wrote an interesting attempt to introduce a classification system which promises

to be more appropriate for a prison population than any psychiatric classification yet devised.
In 1959, he accepted an invitation to become a visiting professor in social psychiatry at
Stanford University in California (U.S.A.). He presented five lectures at the annual meeting of
the American Psychiatric Association, which were published in the book ‘Social psychiatry in
the community, in hospitals and in prisons’ (1962). In the fourth lecture, Jones discussed
‘social psychiatry in prisons’. Following this appointment, Jones was appointed to the Oregon
State Hospital in Salem (Oregon), where he facilitated the establishment of therapeutic
community principles.
In the early 1960s, the Department of Corrections in California (in person of Richard
McGee) invited Jones to work as a consultant for the next four years, giving advice on pilot
projects using therapeutic community principles in prison settings. One such project was
piloted at a 100-man unit based in a forestry camp, whilst another was a unit for 50 inmates
at the California Institution for Men; the prison located at Chino. Elias, one of the directors of
the Highfields Project for juvenile delinquents also worked as a consultant on these initiatives.
Harry Wilmer
At this time also, Harry Wilmer had established a therapeutic community in San
Quentin Prison which, in addition to its programme for inmates, offered extensive group
treatment for wives and children. Altogether, eleven prison projects, using democratic
therapeutic community principles, were developed. The targeted population varied from older
prisoners to substance abusers and women. In Southern California, the California
Rehabilitation Center (C.R.C.) was built and operated by the Department of Corrections. The
staff members were trained according to therapeutic community principles and both Maxwell
Jones and Harry Wilmer were employed as consultants.
Miller
During the 1970s, Miller, the director of Massachusetts’ Youth Correctional Agency,
introduced the Guided Group Interaction (G.G.I.) model as an alternative to incarcerating
young people in prison. In this initiative by Miller, Maxwell Jones trained the staff alongside a
former resident of a prison therapeutic community. The success of this project led to the
closure of all the state prisons for juvenile offenders who were subsequently treated in non -
custodial facilities. As a result, programmes for young offenders were developed in California,
using a combination of G.G.I and therapeutic community procedures. Despite their success,
most of these innovative programmes were terminated during the 1970s on grounds of cost
effectiveness. In addition to the Californian projects, similar programmes were established in
New York (the ‘Network Project’), in Arizona and at the Springhill Correctional Facility in
Canada. Maxwell Jones was employed as consultant for all these initiatives.
Elsewhere, these American democratic therapeutic community experiments

(established under the direct or indirect influence of Jones), inspired several democratic TC-
based programmes for offenders within the United Kingdom during the 1960s. HMP Grendon
(established in 1962) is probably the most noted example and, unlike other therapeutic
communities (such as the Barlinnie Special Unit in Scotland), still exists. Yet, even there, a
constant struggle between two opposing goals (treatment vs. imprisonment) has been and
continues to be, a central characteristic. Several prisons were also changed towards more
open systems in other European countries, including the Netherlands.
The Two Therapeutic Communities
The two movements were developed quite independently, although early pioneers
within both movements must undoubtedly have known each other’s work to some degree.
Reports on a meeting that took place between Charles Dederich and Maxwell Jones in the
beginning of the 1960s (when Jones was a visiting professor in social psychiatry at Stanford
University, California) in the grounds of Synanon.
Dederich and Jones Reports:
• Max was especially interested in the use of ‘games’ and their general approach with
addicts. Most of all, he wanted to exchange views with the founder, who now was
becoming well known.
• It is interesting that neither individual had tried to approach the other of their own
volition. And yet both movements had not only coined with the same name, but also
obviously shared several characteristics (such as working with groups).
• Max, who now had become very critical of the programmes. Instead of enquiry, he was
telling the founder about his own approach and - not very subtly - suggesting how he
would change Synanon.
• This encounter of course was disastrous – the two exchanged few further words and
the meeting was over.
• This quotation appears to suggest that Jones felt Synanon was too autocratic and
confrontational, compared to its own method and way of implementing social change.
• In the absence of any formal record of this (or any subsequent) meeting between the
two, the ‘clash’ between these two charismatic personalities can only be imagined.
• Exploration (by the authors) of the Synanon Foundation Records (1956 – 1987), stored
in the archives at UCLA (Department of Special Collections) has not thus far revealed
a reference to the meeting between Dederich and Jones.
• Further, Rod Mullen (Chief Operating Officer, Amity Foundation) & Naya Arbiter
(Principal, Extensions, LLC), contacted Dr. Lewis Yablonsky, could neither confirm the
encounter nor give additional information.
Concept-based TC developed independently from Synanon
In later years, after the concept-based TC developed independently from Synanon and
expressed its obligations to existentialism and the humanistic psychology, Jones actively tried
to connect both traditions and became one of the most prominent advocates for integration.
He was an enthusiastic supporter of developments at Asklepieion, despite its reliance upon
the confrontational techniques of Synanon. He was not, however afraid to voice his
reservations and even when the programmes was adjusted to become more ‘caring’, Jones
Asklepieion model in prison, use the power of the peer group in a way that to many people
seems more persuasive and even threatening than therapeutic.
At a weeklong workshop of practitioners and theorists, Jones listed 21 principles for a

therapeutic community in prison noting that: ‘…it is probable that Asklepieion method may
have advantages for certain ‘hardened’ clients and the model I espouse may suit better the
more sensitive, short-term inmates.’ He called for the establishment of ‘viable models’ of
therapeutic communities for demonstration and training staff.
During the 1970s, Jones was frequently invited to address conferences of the drug free
therapeutic communities where he developed respectful friendships with such concept-based
TC proponents as De Leon and Ottenberg. At these meetings, he found a forum to express
his ideas; on one occasion, acting as a consultant for a TC for substance abusers in Rome,
where he tried to ‘integrate’ the two communities. In this initiative he was joined by other
democratic TC proponents such as Dennie Briggs and Harold Bridger. Jones has, in addition,
written several accounts (published in American addiction journals) in which he comments on
the possible integration.
Links between Democratic and Hierarchic TCs in Prison
Social learning and behavioural modification
The hierarchical TC is generally characterized by a behaviourally oriented approach.

However, the democratic TC approach is to some extent also behaviourally oriented, certainly
within the strict and authoritarian regimen of the prison setting. In ‘Grendon: a study of a
therapeutic prison’, Genders and Players argue that: ‘The therapeutic community regime
incorporates a strong behavioural component, whereby an individual’s actions are examined
with surgical precision and commented upon by the whole community. In the UK, hierarchy is
found in democratic therapeutic communities and vice versa. The hierarchic TC recognizes
social learning as one of its pivotal concepts today and, social learning in the democratic TC
can be a hard and confronting process because it does not always portray a person the way
he would like to be seen.
Permissiveness and modelling
In a democratic prison-based TC, permissiveness provides prisoners with greater

freedom to act out, without consequent disciplinary action. Yet this does not mean that
everything is tolerated. Instead of being punished, the resident is confronted by his peers and
by staff with regard to the effects of his behaviour on them (the community). Talking about
misbehaviour in public (generally within the community meeting), is often perceived by the
residents as15 more difficult than punishment. Genders and Players perceive permissiveness
as a facilitating principle within the process of disclosing honestly personal feelings: The sense
of security which is engendered by the avowed commitment to treatment objectives, and by
the belief that the expression of deviant attitudes and behaviour will not automatically attract
a formal disciplinary response, entices inmates to display, conduct and divulge information
that they would otherwise suppress in a conventional prison’.
In a hierarchic prison-based TC, negative behaviour is confronted freely and openly in

groups. After catharsis and openness, which can be part of a painful process, older residents
identify with the expressed problems, serve as role models and encourage ‘right living’. This
includes certain shared assumptions, beliefs, and precepts that constitute an ideology or view
of healthy personal and social living. This could be described as a deliberate imposition of
roles on residents in a top-down attempt to influence instinctive behaviour.
Democracy and hierarchy
Democracy is often associated with freedom and responsible action. The important
farreaching difference between a staff member (who is actually ‘free’ to go home after duty)
and the residents (who must remain) is undeniable. Although participation in the therapeutic
community is voluntary at all times, giving the resident the freedom and the responsibility to
quit the programme at any time, the broader context of imprisonment (and often coercive
treatment) limits absolute freedom of decision. Briggs (2000) points out that the distance
between staff members and residents is often so delicately narrow that it requires continuous
re-evaluation of mutual roles. In a hierarchically structured prison TC, freedom and
responsibilities are expressed by position in the structure. In this context, older residents
have16 more freedom. But there is also the prison framework and the confrontation with the
‘absolute’ freedom of the staff. To counter this problem, an adequate social and therapeutic
climate of mutual understanding is crucial. Rawlings (1999, p. 179) writes: ‘For the
maintenance of therapeutic integrity in both types of therapeutic community, it is thought best
if they are isolated as much as possible from the anti-social prison culture, and enabled to
create their own alternative community’.
Communalism and community as method
Within a prison-based therapeutic community, ‘Communalism’ and ‘Community as

method’ refer to a climate and atmosphere in which the community as a whole is used as a
therapeutic force. Here, residents function as main agents of their own treatment process.
‘Self -help’ can be considered as the main therapeutic tool. States in the article ‘Convicted
felons as social therapists’ that properly treated and trained residents can help themselves
and others not only within a therapeutic community, but also outside its ‘safe’ borders (in the
larger community). Graduates of hierarchical therapeutic communities remain a family,
continually support each other, promote a drug-free life and try to be role models to more junior
residents.
Thus, an ideological surplus is added to the therapeutic community, as the therapeutic
community can be perceived as a treatment modality a sich as well as an ideology to decrease
social inequity generally. Communalism and community as method can pose specific
problems in correctional facilities. It is not always possible to react appropriately to behavior
according to the TC-methodology, where positive behavior is rewarded by privileges. Security
regulations are seen as paramount and can impede a community-driven action. It points out
that therapeutic communities within prisons can only be successfully implemented when
security issues are accepted as fundamental task of corrections. Also it writes about the
tension between security issues and community decisions. It stresses the importance of
establishing borders, which ca not be crossed without endangering the therapeutic
community.
HISTORY OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (TC)

Therapeutic Community (TC) in the Philippines
Goes back to the 70’s when the former Drug Abuse Research Foundation, Inc. or
DARE adopted the model in the first Asian TC in Trece Martires, Cavite called Bahay Pag-asa
to treat heroin addicts. Within months after the declaration of Martial Law by Marcos in 1971,
DARE opened several more residential treatment centers around Manila and in Baguio City.
Through DARE, the TC spread to Malaysia, Thailand and other Asian countries. Now there
are community-based and prison-based TCs in most of these countries.
Since its inception in the Philippines, the TC has been adopted as a drug treatment
model in many private for-profit programs in the Philippines. In the U.S., large not-for-profit
drug programs continue to use a water-down version of it, particularly the use of a more loose
social structure and selective applications of some of its traditional behavioral-shaping tools.
The outcome of such indiscriminate variations in the TC has been catastrophic resulting in the
breakdown of effective social control in many of these programs.
Government Drug Programs under the Criminal Justice System
TC applied some of the jails under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
(BJMP) and prisons of the Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR), including the outpatient services
for parolees and probationers by the Philippine Parole and Probation Administration (PPA).
Several police agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) treatment center
in Tagaytay and the old Bicutan treatment center, formerly under the Philippine National Police
(PNP), have also applied their version of the TC. The latter two treatment centers, which have
been absorbed by the Department of Health (DOH), together with other government centers
in other cities and provinces, have implemented a variant of the TC adapted to their realities.
A big break for the spread of the TC in the criminal justice and other government drug
programs in the Philippines happened in 1997 when the PPA obtained funding from the U.S.
State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to
receive training on the TC from Daytop International. This multi-agency project included the
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),
PNP, NBI, BUCOR, BJMP, Quezon City Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council, Paranaque Anti-
Drug Abuse Council, the PPA, and a few private TCs. This project lasted for several years and
included study tours and internship by some training participants in the Daytop facilities in the
U.S.
Challenges of Therapeutic Community (TC)
After several years of trying to fit the TC model within disparate government
organizations, many challenges have emerged. Perhaps the most serious one is the absence
of a clear mandate from above on the status of the TC as a treatment model within the agency.
Next is the absence of a “standard practice” that complies with the principles and essential
elements of the TC. The other problem is the need for clinical supervision and a constant
supply of staff with adequate training on the TC and knowledge of addiction treatment. The
rates of attrition among staff who leave the field are quite high, and there is little provision for
an organized training by competent and knowledgeable trainers. Finally, there is a lack of skills
among practitioners to design and reorganize existing facilities to meet the minimum
requirements of a TC program.
The TC in most government and criminal justice programs, with the exception of the
PPA, were initiated mostly by mid-level management staff, mental health, or medical staff
while the top leadership gave lip service to its operations. There was no clear mandate for its
practice and budgetary support to sustain the TC was lacking. As a result, whenever the top
leadership left their post the TC’s precarious existence is threatened, leaving many TC staff
disillusioned or demoralized. Despite difficulties a few of these TC trained personnel
persevered and protected the TC from extinction. For example, the success of BJMP’s TC
initiative and it becoming institutionalized within its organization was the work of a few
dedicated staff who toiled amidst the constantly shifting nature of government service. The
same can be said of some of the DOH treatment centers which continue to implement the TC
as its treatment model, and to some extent the BUCOR TC program.
The issue of fidelity of TC practice must be addressed to ensure that the current TC
model implemented in government centers is consistent with evidence-based practices in
substance abuse treatment and the standard practice of TC, keeping in view the Filipino
culture. Without an on-going training and competent clinical supervision of staff who work in
the TC, the practice or application of the TC methods tends to vary with time, often losing its
essential elements or deviating from its practice principles. This is a significant problem
considering that the attrition rates of staff who work in drug abuse treatment tend to be high.
Many staff trained on the model have either retired or left the field.
Finally, the organizational structure of the TC and how the physical environment is
organized must lend to the operational and clinical functions of the TC. An important
operational function is surveillance and the safety of the client population. The ability to create
an emotionally and physically safe environment is necessary to implement and achieve its
treatment goals, which is the rehabilitation of its client population. The managers and
leadership should realize that to maintain a safe treatment environment an existing facility or
a planned construction must consider how the physical layout lends to better surveillance and
social control. When properly implemented, the TC has the best tools for maintaining effective
social control for a population known for their non-compliant or anti-social behaviours.
Recognize Infante’s Work
MARTIN R. INFANTE established SELF (Self Enhancement for Life Foundation) in

1992 soon after him he completed a drug rehab program in a Therapeutic Community (TC).
Thus began his abiding passion to help others gain a second chance at a productive and
rewarding life.
Coming from 20 years of abusing substances, Martin brings a deep compassion for
the recovering residents that has fuelled his unrelenting passion to improve SELF’s TC
program and facilities. What has also served in good stead is his being a dreamer and a doer.
Never satisfied with “good enough”, he has worked tirelessly and fearlessly, doing what it
takes to develop and deliver the best possible services to clients.
Martin’s unwavering quest for excellence has attracted a team of like-minded and
equally dedicated staff. With his forthrightness and fierce loyalty, he has inspired them to grow
with him and the program, create a healing environment that is strict yet caring, and foster a
culture that is invariably respectful, logical and practical. Thus, it comes as no surprise that
some 25 years down the road, SELF has grown to become a leader in treatment and
rehabilitation for drug abuse and behavioural disorders.
Martin has not confined his dreams to SELF and has also devoted himself to the overall
development and propagation of the TC. In the Philippines, he served as Chairman of the
Inter-Agency Committee for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Substance Dependents of the
Dangerous Drugs Board in 1998 and is a founding member of the Philippine Federation of
Therapeutic Communities. In Asia, he has actively served in the Board of the Asian Federation
of Therapeutic Communities since 2002. He has also worked with the Colombo Plan Drug
Advisory Program as a resource person and has co-authored several handbooks on the
management of drug treatment programs. In the global effort, he has worked with the
Executive Council of the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities (WFTC) since 2003.
He eventually joined the Board in 2012 and is at present playing a key role in its effort to
restructure and refocus.
Teaching is an essential element of Martin’s lifework. His initiative to share SELF’s

best practices with other TCs led to the development of TC management courses. In 2013,
SELF was officially designated as a TC Learning Institute by the WFTC. Martin’s current efforts
to establish SELF as a TC Training Hub in Asia is well underway with the ongoing construction
of a Learning Center that will house the International Institute of Therapeutic Communities.
SELF (Self Enhancement for Life Foundation)
Presented its Therapeutic Community approach in the rehabilitation of drug addicts

and individuals with behavioral disorders during the forum. It was reportedly the only one of
its kind in the Philippines, providing a comprehensive behavior shaping and value formation
program complemented with clinical therapy. This promotes physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual growth.
SELF has an interesting history, which curiously reflects the struggles of its residents.
SELF was founded in 1992, and its first facility in Las Piñas was given a notice of eviction
(apparently, the neighbors didn’t want a drug rehabilitation center in their midst). Then the
facility burned down.
Infante had to scrounge around for money for relocation. A new site was found in
Tagaytay, but much was needed to rehabilitate the place. Finally, a site was found in Talisay,
Batangas and seed money was provided by Infante’s good friend who believed in his
advocacy.
Initially, they had to trek through a muddy road to reach the facility, which was up on a
hill but has a panoramic view of Taal Lake. Through hard work and much dedication, Infante
and his colleagues have rehabilitated the place into a sanctuary for people who need help in
battling substance addiction.
According to SELF records, from 1993 to 2014, 85 percent of those who completed
the SELF program have successfully reintegrated into society; those who graduated and went
back to work were put into trustworthy positions and those who went back to school achieved
academic excellence. As a way of giving back, SELF has been training personnel of the
Department of Health to run rehabilitation programs using the Therapeutic Community
approach. (Philstarglobal)
MODULE 2
INTRODUCTION TO TC PROGRAM IN THE PHILIPPINES
Effectiveness of Therapeutic Community Modality Program
The Philippine prison system adopted two approaches for treatment of offenders. These
are the institutional- based treatment program and the community-based treatment programs.
These programs aimed towards the improvement of offender’s attitude and philosophy of life.
Reformation and rehabilitation of inmates as well as preparation for the reintegration in community
are the ultimate goals of the programs. Prison inmates are some of the most disturbed and
unstable people in society. Most of the inmates have had too little discipline or too much come
from broken homes and have no self-esteem. They are very insecure and are at war with
themselves as well with society. Most inmates did not learn moral values or learn to follow
everyday norms. In order to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison
(Manwong, 2006).
For instance, this program could give them a chance to acquire job skills which will improve
the chances that inmates will become productive citizen upon release. The programs must aim to
change those want to change. Those who are taught to produce useful goods and to be productive
are likely to develop the self-esteem essential to a normal integrated personality. This kind of
program would provide many useful skills and habits and replace the sense of hopelessness that
many inmates have.
European Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol. 3 No. 4, 20
Important for a prisoner is to have a will to change himself and then giving him support to
improve. Many of them do not know how to start a new life such therapeutic Community Programs
are the way, and they can enlighten their future life. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
(BJMP) has adopted Therapeutic Community Modality Program” or TCMP as a new approach to
inmate management that requires new glossary of terms relative to felons and introduction of a
new way of life in confinement As set by the BJMP, the Therapeutic Community is a self-help
social learning treatment model used to client with problems of drug abuse and other behavioural
problems such as alcoholism, stealing and other anti-social tendencies as well as working with
special group of individual like those in jails. As a treatment model, it includes four categories,
namely behavior management, intellectual and spiritual aspects, emotional and psychological
aspects and vocational or survival aspects.
Therapeutic Community defined conceptually
It utilizes the “community” as a vehicle to foster behavioral and attitudinal change. In this
model, the client receives the information and impetus to change from being part of the
community. The expectation that the community places on its individual members reflects not only
the needs of individual, but also the social and support needs of the community. This community
mode provides social expectations, which are parallel to the social demands that the clients will
confront upon discharge to their home community.
Historically, the term "therapeutic community" (TC) has been used for several different
forms of treatment - sanctuaries, residential group homes and even special schools - and for
several different conditions, including mental illness, drug abuse and alcoholism. For example,
the British TC emerged primarily as a process for treating military veterans as they returned from
World War II with serious neurotic conditions from their experiences in combat and as prisoners
of war. The term was coined when Thomas Main pioneered a therapeutic model combining
community therapy with ongoing psychoanalytic psychotherapy in 1946. This was a modification
of therapeutic work developed about the same time by Maxwell Jones and several others.
Therapeutic Community (Defined by the Bureau of Correction)
The Therapeutic Community (TC) Program represents an effective, highly structured

environment with defined boundaries, both moral and ethical. The primary goal is to foster
personal growth. This is accomplished by reshaping an individual’s behavior and attitudes through
the inmates’ community working together to help themselves and each other, restoring self-
confidence, and preparing them for their re-integration into their families and friends as productive
members of the community. In Batangas City Jail, Therapeutic Community Modality is being
implemented and includes all the programs being exercised inside the jail such as education,
sport, religion and livelihood skill training. They give medical services to monitor the inmates’
health condition especially those who have health problems. They also offered alternative learning
system in elementary and high school level. And every fourth Sunday of the month, they have a
regular mass. All those programs are being implemented to change the inmates’ vision in life.
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Implementation of the Therapeutic Community

Modality Program
The criminal justice in the Philippines recognizes the significance of rehabilitation and
reintegration of convicted felons in the community.
Evidently, Correction, being one of the pillars of Philippine Criminal Justice System
(PCJS) adopted various rehabilitation programs such as the following:
(a) Moral and Spiritual Program

(b) Education and Training Program
(c) Work and Livelihood Program
(d) Sports and Recreation Program
(e) Health and Welfare Program
(f) Behaviour Modification Program
Philippine Correctional pillar is composed of various institutions. The Bureau of Jail

Management and Penology (BJMP) is one among the correctional bodies which exercises
supervision and control over all district, city and municipal jails. The Bureau envisions itself as a
dynamic institution highly regarded for its sustained humane safekeeping and development of
inmates (Section 2, BJMP Manual 2015). Of this, it incorporated Therapeutic Community and
Modality Program (TCMP) as a model in the implementation of Inmates Welfare and
Development.
Therapeutic Community (Defined by the Philippine Department of Justice)
Philippine Department of Justice defined TC as an environment that helps people get help
while helping others. It is a treatment environment: the interactions of its members are designed
to be therapeutic within the context of the norms that require for each to play the dual role of
client-therapist.
TC helps promote change specifically on relational or behavior management; affective,

emotional, or psychological; cognitive, intellectual, or spiritual and psychomotor or vocational-
survival skills. The correction-based therapeutic community (TC) is a widely described treatment
modality for (originally on substance abusing) offenders.
Its origins can be traced back to two major independent traditions: the American drug-
free hierarchical concept-based TC and the British democratic Maxwell Jones-type TC (De Leon,
2000; Kennard, 1998). De Leon (2010) and Sacks, Chaple, Sacks, McKendrick, & Cleland (2012)
said that TC focuses on changing negative patterns of thought and behavior and on building self-
efficacy so participants learn to think of themselves as the primary drivers of their own change
process.
TC participants are encouraged to be accountable for their behaviors and to set goals for
their own personal well-being, positive participation in the broader community, and life after
leaving treatment. An important therapeutic goal is to help people identify, express, and manage
their feelings in appropriate and positive ways. In group activities, participants focus on behaving
in ways that are acceptable in the TC community rather than how they behaved in the past. TC is
a tool that the Parole and Probation Administration uses to prepare the client for reintegration to
the community as a reformed, rehabilitated, productive, drug-free and law-abiding person.
Some prisons have incorporated therapeutic communities modified for the special needs
of offenders, and a growing number of community TC programs are providing aftercare for people
released from prison. TCs for offenders differ from other TCs in several ways. As with all
offenders, inmates participating in a TC must work during their incarceration. However, they also
spend 4 to 5 hours each weekday in treatment, with an emphasis placed on living honestly,
developing self-reliance, learning to manage their strong emotions (e.g., anger), and accepting
responsibility for their actions. Hence, in-prison TCs emphasize role models to show "right living"
and use peer influence to reinforce changes in attitudes and behavior.
A study on Therapeutic Community (TC)
The used of TC in correctional facility for treatment of convicted offenders has proven to
be capable of producing positive changes for inmates.
A study of 715 male inmates in California randomly assigned either to a TC or to no

treatment found generally high rates of re-incarceration within 5 years after prison release, but re-
incarceration rates were lower among those who received TC treatment (76 percent) compared
with no in-prison therapy (83 percent). The study found no differences in heavy drug use or
employment rates. Further analysis indicated that men who completed an aftercare TC program
after release from prison showed lower rates of re-incarceration (42 percent) and higher rates of
past-year employment (72 percent) compared with those who completed in-prison treatment but
did not participate in aftercare (86 percent re-incarcerated and 56 percent past-year employment,
respectively).
In a Colorado study, male inmates randomly assigned to a 12-month TC designed for

inmates with co-occurring disorders (some of whom chose to continue community-based TC
treatment upon release) had lower rates of re-incarceration (9 percent) compared with those who
received mental health treatment while in prison (33 percent), as well as greater declines in
alcohol and drug use. Offenders who participated in both in-prison TC and aftercare demonstrated
lower rates of re-incarceration, any criminal activity, and substance-related criminal activity than
those who received mental health treatment. Men who relapsed during the year after prison
release were four times more likely to re-offend compared with those who maintained abstinence
from alcohol and drugs, 49 percent versus 19 percent, respectively.
Delaware’s correctional system has a work-release program in which offenders receive a
paying job in the community about 6 months prior to their release dates but must return to a work-
release facility (or prison) when not at work; compared with ex-offenders who received standard
supervision during work-release, those who participated in a transitional TC for 3 months prior to
3 months in the work-release program showed higher rates of abstinence from drugs and
employment. During the 5-year period after prison release, offenders who participated in the
transitional TC relapsed in an average of 28.8 months compared with 13.2 months among those
who received standard supervision. The Delaware study has now extended the follow-up to 18
years after prison release, finding a persistent and strong reduction in new arrests among TC
participants. Research indicates that TC-based aftercare can improve the outcomes of offenders
who have re-entered the community, even when they have not participated in an in-prison TC.
TCs can provide aftercare for ex-offenders in residential or outpatient modalities, and both have
been shown to be equally beneficial. Lower rates of re-incarceration are linked with longer
duration (more than 90 days) of TC treatment SacksTC could be functional if all constructive
programs for inmate rehabilitation and reintegration are deeply considered. All activities and
interpersonal and social interactions are considered important opportunities to facilitate personal
change. Positive peer communications in a mutual-help environment also may be an important
part of the therapeutic process. A key element of living in a TC and the mutual-help process is
the development of social networks through positive social interactions and bonding that can offer
support during treatment and after an individual leaves the formal treatment environment.
Because TCs emphasize social learning, participants form a hierarchy within the group. Those
who have made progress in changing their attitudes and behaviors serve as role models for "right
living" and help others who are in earlier stages of recovery.
The Philippines is responsive to development especially to inmates or prisoners. In fact,

the BJMP issued a memorandum/policy in 2010, regarding the implementation of the Therapeutic
Community Modality Training Program (TCMP) and established the National TC Center and its
regional counterparts, with a goal that TC projects or activities are well-planned, feasible and
supervised towards the rehabilitation and eventual reintegration of inmates to the society.
MAJOR REHABILITATION PROGRAMS of PPA
A. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE (RJ) is a philosophy and a process whereby stakeholders in a

specific offense resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its
implications for the future. It is a victim-centered response to crime that provides opportunity
for those directly affected by the crime - the victim, the offender, their families and the
community - to be directly involved in responding to the harm caused by the crime. Its ultimate
objective is to restore the broken relationships among stakeholders.
The Restorative Justice process provides a healing opportunity for affected parties to facilitate
the recovery of the concerned parties and allow them to move on with their lives.
B. THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (TC) is a self-help social learning treatment model used in the
rehabilitation of drug offenders and other clients with behavioral problems. TC adheres to
precepts of “right living” - Responsible Love and Concern; Truth and Honesty; the Here and
Now; Personal Responsibility for Destiny; Social Responsibility (brother’s keeper); Moral
Code; Work Ethics and Pride in Quality.
C. VOLUNTEER PROBATION AIDE (VPA) PROGRAM is a strategy by which the Parole and
Probation Administration may be able to generate maximum citizen participation or community
involvement. Citizens of good standing in the community may volunteer to assist the probation
and parole officers in the supervision of a number of probationers, parolees and conditional
pardonees in their respective communities. Since they reside in the same community as the
client, they are able to usher the reformation and rehabilitation of the clients hands-on.
In collaboration with the PPO, the VPA helps pave the way for the offender, victim and
community to each heal from the harm resulting from the crime done. They can initiate a circle
of support for clients and victims to prevent further crimes, thereby be participants in nation-
building.
Therapeutic Community (Defined by Parole and Probation Administration)
The Therapeutic Community (TC) is an environment that helps people get help while
helping others. It is a treatment environment: the interactions of its members are designed to be
therapeutic within the context of the norms that require for each to play the dual role of client-
therapist. At a given moment, one may be in a client role when receiving help or support from
others because of a problem behavior or when experiencing distress. At another time, the same
person assumes a therapist role when assisting or supporting another person in trouble.
It operates in a similar fashion to a functional family with a hierarchical structure of older

and younger members. Each member has a defined role and responsibilities for sustaining the
proper functioning of the TC. There are sets of rules and community norms that members commit
to live by and uphold upon entry. The primary “therapist” and teacher is the community itself,
consisting of peers, staff/probation and parole officers and even Volunteer Probation Aides (VPA),
who, as role models of successful personal change, serve as guides in the recovery process.
The Therapeutic Community (TC) Program represents an effective, highly structured

environment with defined boundaries, both moral and ethical. The primary goal is to foster
personal growth. This is accomplished by re-shaping an individual’s behavior and attitudes
through the inmates, community working together to help themselves and each other, restoring
self-confidence, and preparing them for their re-integration into their families and friends as
productive members of the community.
Patterned after Daytop TC, New York which is the base of the Therapeutic Community
movement in the world, the BuCor TC program was adopted as part of the Bureau's holistic
approach towards inmate rehabilitation. It is implemented primarily but not limited to drug
dependents.
The TC approach has been continuously proven worldwide as an effective treatment and
rehabilitation modality among drug dependents, and have been noted to be effective in many
prisons. By immersing a drug offender in the TC environment, he learns why he had developed
his destructive habits, which led him to substance abuse. The program modifies negative
behavior and or attitudes while restoring self-confidence, and prepares inmates for their re-
integration into their families and friends as productive members of the community. This
behavioral modification program gradually re-shapes or re-structures the inmate within a family-
like environment, wherein every member acts as his brother’s keeper.
As TC family members go on with their daily activities, a strong sense of responsibility and
concern for each other’s welfare are developed. They are constantly being monitored for their
progress and are regularly being evaluated by the TC-trained staff. The TC process allows for
genuine introspection, cultivation of self-worth and positive rationalization that move the
individual towards assuming a greater sense of personal and moral responsibility.
The efforts of the Bureau of Corrections to rehabilitate Drug dependents under its care using
the TC approach is in line with its commitment to create a Drug-Free Prison. Worldwide
developments in the treatment and rehabilitation of drug offenders using.
How Does TC Look Like?
The operation of the community itself is the task of the residents, working under staff supervision.
Work assignments, called “job functions” are arranged in a hierarchy, according to seniority,
individual progress and productivity. These include conducting all house services, such as
cooking, cleaning, kitchen service, minor repair, serving as apprentices and running all
departments, conducting meetings and peer encounter groups.
The TC operates in a similar fashion to a functional family with a hierarchical structure of older
and younger members. Each member has a defined role and responsibilities for sustaining the
proper functioning of the TC. There are sets of rules and community norms that members upon
entry commit to live by and uphold.
Correction and Rehabilitation of Penitent Offenders
Objectives:
To effect the rehabilitation and reintegration of probationers, parolees, pardonees, and first-time
minor drug offenders as productive, law-abiding and socially responsible members of the
community through:
1. well-planned supervision programs for probationers, parolees, pardonees, and first-time minor
drug offenders which are aligned to national program thrusts of the government, such as, the
Sariling-Sikap, Jail Decongestion, etc.
2. establishment of innovative and financially and technically feasible projects for the moral,
spiritual and economic upliftment of probationers, parolees, pardonees, and first-time minor drug
offenders utilizing available community resources.
Scope and Beneficiaries:
All offenders granted probation, parole, pardon and suspended sentence.
The Administration has adopted a harmonized and integrated treatment program for these
clients to effect their rehabilitation. This harmonized and integrated program involves (1) The
Therapeutic Community Modality (2) The Restorative Justice Principles and Concepts and (3) the
Use of Volunteer Probation Aides (VPAs).
The Therapeutic Community Modality is a self-help social learning treatment model used
for clients with problems of drug abuse and other behavioral problems such as alcoholism,
stealing, and other anti-social tendencies. As a treatment model, it includes four (4) categories,
namely, behavior management, intellectual/spiritual aspect, emotional and social aspects, and
vocational/survival aspects.
In this regard, the Therapeutic Community Modality provides a well-defined structure for
a synchronized and focused implementation of the various intervention strategies/activities
undertaken by the Agency such as:
1. Individual and group counseling
This activity intends to assist the clients in trying to sort out their problems, identify
solutions, reconcile conflicts and help resolve them. This could be done either by
individual or group interaction with the officers of the Agency.
2. Moral, Spiritual, Values Formation
Seminars, lectures or trainings offered or arranged by the Agency comprise these

rehabilitation activities. Active NGOs, schools, civic and religious organizations are
tapped to facilitate the activities.
3. Work or Job Placement/Referral
Categorized as an informal program wherein a client is referred for work or job

placement through the officer’s own personal effort, contact or information.
4. Vocational/Livelihood and Skills Training
The program includes the setting up of seminars and skills training classes like food
preservation and processing, candle making, novelty items and handicrafts making, etc.,
to help the clients earn extra income. Likewise, vocational and technical trade classes are
availed of such as refrigeration, automotive mechanic, radio/television and electronics
repairs, tailoring, dressmaking, basic computer training, etc. through coordination with
local barangays, parish centers, schools and civic organizations.
5. Health, Mental and Medical Services
To address some of the basic needs of clients and their families, medical missions are
organized to provide various forms of medical and health services including physical
examination and treatment, free medicines and vitamins, dental examination and
treatment, drug dependency test and laboratory examination.
Psychological testing and evaluation as well as psychiatric treatment are likewise provided
for by the Agency’s Clinical Services Division and if not possible by reason of distance,
referrals are made to other government accredited institutions.
6. Literacy and Education
In coordination with LGU programs, adult education classes are availed of to help clients
learn basic writing, reading and arithmetic. Likewise, literacy teach-ins during any sessions
conducted for clients become part of the module. This is particularly intended for clients
who are “no read, no write” to help them become functionally literate.
Likewise, linkages with educational Foundation, other GOs and NGOs are regularly done
for free school supplies, bags and uniform for client’s children and relatives.
7. Community Service
This program refers to the services in the community rendered by clients for the benefit of
society. It includes tree planting, beautification drives, cleaning and greening of
surroundings, maintenance of public parks and places, garbage collection, blood donation
and similar socio-civic activities.
8. Client Self-Help Organization
This program takes the form of cooperatives and client associations wherein the clients
form cooperatives and associations as an economic group to venture on small-scale
projects. Similarly, client associations serve another purpose by providing some structure
to the lives of clients where they re-learn the basics of working within a group with
hierarchy, authority and responsibility much like in the bigger society.
9. Payment of Civil Liability
The payment of civil liability or indemnification to victims of offenders are pursued despite
the economic status of clients. Payment of obligations to the victims instills in the minds
of the clients their responsibility and the consequences of the harm they inflicted to others.
10. Environment and Ecology
To instil awareness and concern in preserving ecological balance and environmental

health, seminars/lectures are conducted wherein clients participate. These
seminars/lectures tackle anti-smoke belching campaign, organic farming, waste
management, segregation and disposal and proper care of the environment.
11. Sports and Physical Fitness
Activities that provide physical exertion like sports, games and group play are conducted
to enhance the physical well being of clients. Friendly competition of clients from the
various offices of the sectors, together with the officers, provide an enjoyable and healthful
respite.
The success of the Therapeutic Community treatment model is also anchored on the
implementation of restorative justice. To highlight the principles of restorative justice, offenders
are recognized to indemnify victims and render community services to facilitate the healing of the
broken relationship caused by offending the concerned parties. Mediation and conferencing are
also utilized in special cases to mend and/or restore clients’ relationship with their victim and the
community.
Considering that it is in the community that the rehabilitation of clients takes place, the
utilization of therapeutic community treatment model coupled with the principles of restorative
justice would be further energized with the recruitment, training and deployment of Volunteer
Probation Aides (VPAs). The VPA program is a strategy to generate maximum participation of
the citizens in the community-based program of probation and parole. Through the VPAs, the
substance of restorative justice is pursued with deeper meaning since the VPAs are residents of
the same community where the clients they supervise reside. Thus, it is practicable for the
volunteers to solicit support for clients’ needs and assist the field officers in supervising the
probationers, parolees, and pardonees.
The Therapeutic Community treatment modality, Restorative Justice paradigm and

deployment of VPAs integrated into one rehabilitation program have yielded tremendous outcome
in the rehabilitation and reformation of probationers, parolees, pardonees, and first-time minor
drug offenders.
Furthermore, the Agency believes that the client’s family is a major part or support in the
rehabilitation process, thus the Administration adopts the Integrated Allied Social Services
program to address the needs of the children and other minor dependent of the clients. Under the
said program, interventions relative to the growth and development of the minor dependents are
done to help them become productive, law abiding and effective individual.
MODULE 3
THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (MODALITY)
Underlying Therapeutic Community Principles
TC Mission
To promote human and social transformation among our clients and among ourselves.
TC Vision
By the end of this decade, TC shall have become the corporate culture of the Parole
and Probation Administration permeating its plans, programs, and practices, and confirming
its status as a model component of the Philippine Correctional System
TC Beliefs
o Belief in the higher power

o Individual must take responsibility
o Inherent goodness of man
o Man can change and unfold
o Group can foster change
Salient Features of TC
1. The primary “therapist” and teacher is the community itself, consisting of peers and
staff, who, as role models of successful personal change, serve as guides in the
recovery process.
2. TC adheres to precepts of right living: Truth/honesty; Here and now; Personal
responsibility for destiny; Social responsibility (brother’s keeper); Moral Code; Inner
person is “good” but behavior can be “bad”; Change is the only certainty; Work ethics;
Self-reliance; Psychological converges with philosophical (e.g. guilt kills)
3. It believes that TC is a place where: One can change – unfold; the group can foster
change; individuals must take responsibility; structures must accommodate this; Act
as if – go through the motion.
4. There are 5 distinct categories of activity that help promote the change:
• Relational/Behavior Management
• Affective/Emotional/Psychological
• Cognitive/Intellectual
• Spiritual
• Psychomotor/Vocational-Survival Skills
These tools serve more than just the purpose of curbing unproductive behavior. They
are also a means used for enforcing community sanctions on behavior that undermine the
safety and integrity of the community such as violations of the cardinal rules of TC: NO drugs,
NO violence or threat of violence, NO sexual acting out and NO stealing! Everything an officer
does is meant to erase “street behaviour” and to lead the offender to be committed to “right
living”.
When the office gives seminars and tutorials, arranges activities focused on the Higher
Power, conducts games, educational trips and other recreational activities, we touch on the
TC aspect of Intellectual and Spiritual Dimension. Aside from the role of a direct supervisor,
the VPAs may be the invited resource persons, donors/sponsors, facilitators, lecturers, etc.
during these seminars.
The skills training and livelihood activities fall within the purview of TC’s Vocational and
Survival Skills, so with Medical/Dental Clinics and Environmental Conservation activities. In
this aspect, the VPAs can facilitate job placement and can tap community resources for client’s
social and physical needs.
Therapeutic Community is a tool that the Administration uses to prepare the client for
reintegration to the community as a reformed, rehabilitated, productive, and drug-free and law
abiding person.
Treatment Categories
• Relational/Behavior Management
• Affective/Emotional-Psychological
• Cognitive/Intellectual Spiritual
• Psychomotor/Vocational-Survival Skills
Cardinal Rules
• No drugs, no alcohol
• No sex or sexual acting out
• No violence or threat of violence
• No stealing
• No criminal activity
Note:
• INTEGRATION of TC tools, norms and methods with parobation/parole procedures

and requirements.
• Integration of RESTORATIVE JUSTICE principles and processes in the treatment
program.
• Strong FAMILY support Meaningful VPA involvement.
Program Phases
• Preparatory stage
• Phase I-Orientation
• Phase II-Primary treatment
• Phase III-Immersion
• Phase IV-Integration
Note:
This phases is the Success Milestones Empowerment of Clients Clients’ Success and Specific
indicators of clients’ PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT from phase to phase
PREPARATORY STAGE
Specific
Description:
This stage corresponds to the sixty-day investigation period for petitioners for
probation, parole or executive clemency. As part of the investigation, the assigned officer
accomplishes the intake interview using the Worksheet, and secures additional relevant
information through other investigation procedures. The Investigation Officer’s (IO’s) findings,
together with the results of Client’s Needs and Problem Checklist, will provide the initial
general assessment that will, in turn, be used as a basis for preparation of Client’s Personal
Development Plan if probation/parole is recommended. It is at this stage that the IO and
CPPO/OIC should aim to create in the client and his/her family a mind-set of cooperation and
support for the former’s rehabilitation program. This is done by giving clear information about
probation/parole requirements during intake and field interviews, followed by a more
comprehensive program overview in the introductory Briefing. In the process, the IO and
CPPO/OIC raise client’s awareness of his /her obligations under the program, as well as
secure commitment to participate and a pledge of support from the family.
Objectives
By the end of this stage:
• Clients shall have accomplished the first Needs and Problems Checklist and initial
Personal Development Plan, together with the IO.
• Clients shall have committed to comply with the conditions of their probation/ parole,
and to participate in the TC Program.
• Problems that may hinder clients’ participation in the TC program shall have been
identified and addressed (ex.: expenses, work, absences, literacy, etc.).
• Clients, family members and VPAs shall have attended the Introductory Briefing during
the investigation period or within the 1st month of supervision.
• The Local Government Units Chief Executive and/or officials shall have been informed
and invited to the Introductory Briefing.
Criteria for Entry into Phase I:
• My Needs and Problems Checklist (MNPC) accomplished

• MPDP initially accomplished
• Client committed in the PDP to comply with the conditions of probation/parole, and to
participate in the TC Program
• Client and family member(s) attended Introductory Briefing
• Client’s family expressed commitment to support his/her participation in the TC
Program
PHASE I – ORIENTATION
Description:
Build Foundation
Client is assimilated into the TC culture during this phase. He/she acquires understanding of
the program, philosophy and beliefs of TC, his/her role in the hierarchical structure, and rules
to be observed as a TC Family member.
Client is familiarized with the TC unique terminology and introduced to the Behavior Shaping
Tools with opportunities to practice, as well as actually uses the basic ones.
The process of enculturation also generates self-awareness, challenges denials, and begins
client’s journey to self-responsibility and accountability.
The phase culminates with drawing up his/her Behavior/Attitude/Traits/Habits (BATH) Plan
and BATH Contract, and making an assessment of his/her progress through the Checklist for
Promotion to Phase II.
Objectives:
By the end of this phase, clients shall have:
Relational/Behavior Management
• Complied with probation/parole conditions
• Used pull-ups, affirmations, elaboration and other behavior shaping tools
• Refrained from use of prohibited drugs
• Established bonding and trust with the TC Family
• Involved some family members in their rehabilitation activities
Affective/Emotional-Psychological
• Shown good grooming
• iBegun to accept responsibility for their personal change
Cognitive/Intellectual
• Identified personal strengths and weaknesses and resolved to change specific
negative behaviors and attitudes
• Acquired knowledge of the TC concepts, tools and processes
Spiritual
• Applied at least one TC Unwritten Philosophy
• Developed insights on their rehabilitation program through reflections
• Demonstrated understanding and appreciation of the TC Philosophy
• Expressed insights on their faith in God as the primary source of help in order to
change
Psychomotor/Vocational-Survival Skills
• Demonstrated responsibility through performance of assigned tasks
Criteria for promotion:
▪ Complied with conditions of probation/parole
▪ Completed 100% of TC Phase I sessions
▪ Performed an assigned role or participated in the required number of Morning Meetings
▪ Tested negative for prohibited drugs prior to promotion
▪ Became a member of the TC Family
▪ Client’s family member (s) involved in pertinent Phase I sessions and/or reinforcing
activities
▪ Improved and maintained hygiene and good grooming
▪ Declared their commitment to carry out their BATH Plan and BATH Contract
▪ TC Terminologies understood and used
Spiritual
▪ Used an Unwritten Philosophy to express concern for a TC brother or sister
▪ Accomplished at least 50% of required reflections
▪ Quoted and explained some lines of the TC Philosophy
▪ Performed the duties of their position in the TC Hierarchical Structure
▪ Participated in required reinforcing activities
▪ Reviewed and/or modified MPDP formulated in the Preparatory Stage
▪ Prepared a Road Map to Success prior to termination of probation/parole
PHASE II - PRIMARY TREATMENT
Description:
Focus and Develop

The focus of primary treatment is to effect behavioral change and develop client initiative and
self-discipline. Through constant application of TC values and with regular use of TC tools,
clients manifest a socially acceptable behavior and live an addiction-free lifestyle.
Equipped with basic literacy and employable skills and imbibed with TC values and precepts,
clients become more productive members of their community, gender sensitive, environment-
conscious, and economically empowered.
Objectives:
• Continued to comply with probation/ parole conditions
• Demonstrated socially acceptable behavior
• Become familiarized with behavior shaping tools and applied them appropriately
• Become aware of and applied correct practices on environment issues
• Developed awareness of civic duties and responsibilities
• Refrained from use of prohibited drugs
• Identified triggers for relapse
• Understood and applied the concept of RJ and endeavored to reconcile with the victim
and community
• Identified, accepted and respected personal feelings, and dealt with them appropriately
• Expressed realizations and insights into their behavior, attitudes and values
• Become familiarized with TC healing tools and applied them appropriately
• Gained awareness and knowledge of gender issues
• Acquired and/or enhanced literacy skills
Spiritual
• Understood TC Ups and applied them
• Memorized and explained the TC Philosophy
• Affirmed their faith in God as the primary source of help in order to change
Psychomotor/ Vocational and survival Skills
• Sought and assumed responsibilities
• Identified and developed employable skills
Criteria for Promotion:
▪ Substantially complied with probation/parole conditions
▪ Actively attended at least 80% of TC Phase II sessions, including mandatory sessions
▪ Participated in environment-related activities
▪ Rendered at least two community services
▪ Participated in RJ processes as needed
▪ Used at least two appropriate Behavior Shaping Tools (BST) to demonstrate concern
▪ Affective/Emotional-Psychological
▪ Developed good feelings about self and others as manifested in reflections,
counseling, encounters, peer confrontation, behavior, attitude, appearance, and
interaction with others
▪ Attended gender-related TC sessions
▪ Acquired needed basic literacy skills
Spiritual
▪ Memorized and explained the TC Philosophy
▪ Developed employable skills
▪ Learned to perform other roles/tasks satisfactorily in the TC Hierarchical Structure
▪ Substantially achieved MPDP for Phase II, including at least 50% of BATH Contract
PHASE III - IMMERSION
Description:
Internalize and Apply
Phase III is a vital link between Phases II and IV. During this phase, clients apply their
learnings from Phase II and are now internalizing the TC precepts and beliefs. In the process,
clients become mature and responsible, endeavoring to fulfill their duties to their families and
community.
Immersion in this phase is viewed as a total plunge into the TC program precepts and beliefs
to bring about positive change in attitude and behavior. Clients undergo a difficult but
sustained change that would need assistance of legitimate support groups to prevent relapse.
These, together with established self-sufficiency and utilization of skills and intellectual
capacity, will lead them to become economically productive, contented and stable.
Clients’ successful performance during this period makes them ready for the fourth and last
phase which is Integration.
Objectives:
• Continued to substantially comply with probation/parole conditions
• Developed harmonious relationship with the family and community
• Identified legitimate social support groups for relapse prevention
• Continued endeavoring to reconcile with the victim
• Developed a sense of responsibility and maturity
• Learned to deal with issues leading to relapse
• Manifested positive personal change
• Managed critical life challenges
• Sustained basic literacy skills and/or developed other thought processes
Spiritual
• Attained genuine spiritual enhancement
• Internalized the TC precepts and belief system
• Enhanced/utilized employable skills and/or engaged in other productive pursuits to
increase self-sufficiency
• Demonstrated initiative and resourcefulness in performing functions in the Hierarchical
Structure
Criteria for Promotion:
▪ Attended at least 90% of TC Phase III sessions, including mandatory sessions
▪ Addressed and managed family conflicts and developed/maintained harmonious
family relationships
▪ Developed peaceful relationships with members of the community
▪ Been oriented in activities of legitimate social support groups and identified those
which they can join
▪ Continued openness/sincere participation in the RJ process
▪ Demonstrated concern for fellowmen thru community service
▪ Acted as big brothers/sisters to new members
▪ Assumed a lead role in behavior shaping processes (ex. Morning Meeting moderator,
Peer Confrontation leader, Static Group leader ) at least two times
▪ Satisfactorily met family and community responsibilities
▪ Practised newly learned coping skills for relapse issues
▪ Portrayed enhanced personal attitude and behavior
▪ Enhanced basic literacy skills and/or developed ability to analyze and discern
Spiritual
▪ Practised values and moral principles and able to recognize God’s important role in an
individual’s life
▪ Known by heart and practised the TC Philosophy and principles of right living
▪ Secured lawful means of employment and/or engaged in other income-generating
activities
▪ Substantially achieved MPDP for Phase III, including at least 70% of BATH Contract
▪ Prepared a Road Map to Success aprior to termination of probation/parole
PHASE IV - INTEGRATION
Description:
Live and Sustain
It is in the INTEGRATION PHASE that client is expected to consistently behave in a

responsible manner both in the family and in the community without the direct supervision of
a Probation and Parole Officer.
In this phase, client manifests sustained positive changes in behaviors and attitudes that make
him/her a TC strength and a role model to his/her fellow clients.
It is also during this phase that client sustains lawful means of livelihood, applies adequate
literacy skills, and deals with others in positive ways, thus making him/ her a productive
member and an asset of the community.
Objectives:
• Continued to substantially comply with probation/parole conditions
• Maintained harmonious relationship with the family and community
• Become a role model to other clients
• Maintained peaceful relationship with the victim
• Manifested sustained positive changes in behavior and attitude
• Recognized that personal change is a continuing process even without supervision
• Attained and applied adequate functional literacy
Spiritual
• Continued to practise theTC precepts and belief system
• Become economically independent
Criteria for Graduation:
▪ Attended at least 90% of TC Phase IV sessions, including mandatory sessions
▪ Manifested sustained peaceful relationship with the victim and community. (If
reconciliation not previously attained, made amends with the victim and community
through RJ processes.)
▪ Participated in socio-civic activities in the community
▪ Joined appropriate support groups in the community
Relational/Behavior Management (Continuation)

▪ Assumed a lead role in behavior shaping processes at least four times
▪ Participated as strength in one or more RJ processes for other clients
▪ Lived a vice-free and drug-free lifestyle
▪ Complied with at least 80% of the RJ contract (as needed)
▪ Shown sustained positive changes in behavior and attitude
▪ Pursued academic or vocational/technical courses
▪ Satisfactorily manifested the ability to discern right from wrong
▪ Applied appropriate thought processes to cope with daily life challenges (e.g. solving
▪ problems, weighing consequences, identifying options, etc.)
Spiritual
▪ Behaved in a morally upright manner
▪ Spent wisely and saved part of their income
▪ Secured a stable means of livelihood to support themselves
▪ Supported their families substantially (if needed)
▪ Substantially achieved MPDP for Phase IV, including at least 80% of BATH Contract
Criteria for TC Strength:
• Consistently exhibited exemplary compliance with the requirements for promotion/

• graduation
• Acted as facilitators in one or more TC and/or RJ processes
• Showed exemplary behavior and performance in carrying out their duties in the
Hierarchical
• Structure and in their job, if employed
• Acted as role models and big brothers/sisters to other clients
• Accomplished at least 90% of required reflections in applicable phases
• Actively participated in worthwhile community activities/service/support group(s)
• Acted as resource persons/coordinators in some reinforcing activities
• Achieved other significant or outstanding accomplishments
Improved/Sustained Tools for Treatment Planning and Monitoring
Worksheet, Background Investigation, Records Check, Psychological Evaluation, drug test,

Skils Training Needs Survey, My Needs and Problems Checklist, My Personal Development
Plan, Probation/Parole Conditions, Behavior, Attitudes, Traits, and Habits Plan/Contract,
Checklists for Promotion, Graduation, and TC Strength, and My Road Map to Success
MODULE 4
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is a process through which remorseful offenders accept

responsibility for their misconduct, particularly to their victims and to the community. It creates
obligation to make things right through proactive involvement of victims, ownership of the
offender of the crime and the community in search for solutions which promote repair,
reconciliation and reassurance. Thus, the restorative justice a process is actively participated
in by the victim, the offender, and/or any individual or community member affected by the
crime to resolve conflicts resulting from the criminal offense, often with the help of a fair and
impartial third party. Examples of restorative process include mediation, conferencing,
sentencing/support circle and the like. The restorative outcome is the agreement obtained as
a product of a restorative justice process. Examples of restorative outcomes include
restitution, community work service and any other program or response designed to
accomplish reparation of the victim, and the reintegration of the victims and/or offenders.
Restorative Justice Adopted in the Philippines
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, of which the Philippines
is a member-country, through a draft resolution, recommended to the Economic and Social
Council of the United Nations Organization (UNO), the adoption of the “Basic Principles on
the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters”. The said document is a
formulation of UN Standard in the field of mediation and restorative justice. The Philippines,
being a signatory member-country should ensure adoption of this resolution.
Consequently, the goal of the government is to establish a more enlightened and

humane correctional system that will promote the reformation of offenders and thereby reduce
the incidence of recidivism. This is in line with the applicable laws, rules, and policies
mandating this Agency to administer the Parole and Probation System in the country. As such,
the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) is empowered to create innovative policies,
programs, and activities to facilitate the reintegration of its clientele into the mainstream of
society and consequently prevent the commission of crime. Therefore, PPA adopts
Restorative Justice as one of its rehabilitation programs which utilizes restorative processes
and aims to achieve restorative outcomes.
Effects of Restorative Justice as a Rehabilitation Program of PPA
Reintegration of the offenders to the social mainstream and encouraging them to

assume active responsibility for the injuries inflicted to the victims; Proactive involvement of
the community to support and assist in the rehabilitation of victims and offenders; Attention to
the needs of the victims, survivors and other persons affected by the crime as participating
stakeholders in the criminal justice system, rather than mere objects or passive recipients of
services of intervention that may be unwanted, inappropriate or ineffective; Healing the effects
of the crime or wrongdoing suffered by the respective stakeholders; and Prevention of further
commission of crime and delinquency.
Restorative Justice Implemented in PPA
A. During the Investigation Stage

Information such as victims’ version of the offense, effect of victimization to their lives,
families, future, and plans, and victims’ appreciation on how the damage/harm inflicted by the
crime can be repaired and healed are gathered to serve as input in the post-sentence
investigation (PSI) or pre-parole/executive clemency investigation (PPI) reports prepared by
the investigating officer to be submitted to the Court and the Board of Pardons and Parole,
respectively. These data are vital in the conduct of restorative justice processes during the
supervision phase. Soliciting stakeholders’ interest for their introduction to the restorative
process commences during this stage.
B. During the Supervision Stage

Restorative Justice Program is a part of the rehabilitation of the client which is
incorporated in the client’s Supervision Treatment Plan (STP). In applying the various
restorative justice processes for the client’s rehabilitation, the supervising officer observes the
following points:
The parties are brought within the program out of their own volition. Parties have the
right to seek legal advice before and after the restorative justice process; Before agreeing to
participate in the restorative justice process, the parties are fully informed of their rights, the
nature of the process, and the possible consequences of their decision; Neither the victim nor
the offender is induced by unfair means to participate in restorative justice processes or
outcomes; Discussion in restorative justice processes should be highly confidential and should
not be disclosed subsequently, except with the consent of the parties, and should not be used
against the parties involved; Where no agreement can be made between the parties, the case
is withdrawn from the restorative justice process; and In the event agreement is reached by
parties, it is put in writing to give substance/essence to the agreement. The failure to
implement any provision of the agreement made in the course of the restorative justice
process is a basis for the withdrawal of the case from the program.
Roles of the Probation and Parole Officers in the Implementation of Restorative Justice
A Probation and Parole Officer assigned to handle investigation and supervision

caseloads acts as restorative justice planner. As such, he/she undertakes the following
responsibilities:
Identifies and recommends to the Chief Probation and Parole Officer (CPPO) potential case
for Peace making Encounter; Conducts dialogue to explore the possibility of restorative justice
process; Coordinates/collaborates with responsible members and leaders of community for
their participation in the conference; Serves as facilitator-strength in the conference; Assists
in healing process of stakeholders based on the Supervision Treatment Plan; and Prepares
case notes reflective of restorative justice values and utilizing the following points: Impact of
crime and effect of victimization Victim inputs and involvement opportunities Offender
opportunity to take direct responsibility for the harm inflicted on the victim and/or the
community.
A CPPO Engages in Responsibilities
• Approves cases for Peace Encounter Conference and issues office orders; and
Implements and monitors plans and agreements achieved during the conference and
sets direction to realize success of the process.
• The Procedural Safeguards to be observed in applying the Restorative Justice

Processes to Resolve Conflicts arising From the Criminal Offense
• The clients must admit the offense to be eligible for the conference, and if possible,
they should be encouraged to take full responsibility; A personal visit by the Restorative
Justice planner may be necessary to solicit interest and willingness of stakeholders to
participate in the restorative process; The victims’ preference for the time, date and
place of the meeting should be given greatest weight; Restorative Justice planners
should also get in touch with community strengths to serve as facilitator like local
officials, members of the Lupon Tagapamayapa or any responsible and respected
personalities in the locality; A pre-conference meeting with the selected facilitators
prior to the actual conduct of peace encounter conference should be set to carefully
plan for all the details, from the sitting arrangements and refreshments to the box of
tissue papers which incidentally would let participants know that display of emotions is
okay; A pre-conference meeting could likewise be arranged separately with individual
stakeholders to explain the process and other vital details of the conference;
• The Restorative Justice planner should ensure that everyone knows how to get to the
location site of the conference;
• Facilitators should ensure that the conference shall be conducted without interruption
in a comfortable location and shall secure the safety of all stakeholders;
• Stakeholders shall also be consulted relative to the composition of the panel of

facilitators. Any party may move to oppose the inclusion of persons by reason of
relationship, bias, interest or other similar grounds that may adversely affect the
process; and
• Indigenous system of settling differences or disputes shall accordingly be recognized

and utilized to conform with the customs and tradition of that particular cultural
community.
The Restorative Justice Models that can be applied in PPA
Peacemaking Encounter
Peacemaking Encounter is a community-based gathering that brings the victim, the

victimized community, and the offender together. It supports the healing process of the victims
by providing a safe and controlled setting for them to meet and speak with the offender on a
confidential and strictly voluntary basis. It also allows the offender to learn about the impact of
the crime to the victim and his/her family, and to take direct responsibility for his/her behavior.
Likewise, it provides a chance for the victim and the offender to forge a mutually acceptable
plan that addresses the harm caused by the crime. As a community-based decision model,
the Agency Peacemaking Encounter is being implemented through the following processes:
Victim/Offender Mediation – a process that provides an interested victim an opportunity to
meet face-to-face his/her offender in a secured and structured setting or atmosphere, with the
help of a trained mediator, and engage in a discussion of the past offense and its impact to
his/her life. Its goal is to support the healing process of the victim and allow the offender to
learn the impact of his/her offense on the victim’s physical, emotional and financial existence,
and take direct responsibility for his/her behavior by mutually developing a Restorative Justice
plan that addresses the harm caused by the said offense.
Conferencing – a process which involves community of people most affected by the crime –
the victim and the offender and their families, the affected community members and trained
facilitators and community strength – in a restorative discussion of issues and problems arising
from an offense or coincidence which affects community relationship and tranquillity.
Facilitated by a trained facilitator, the above parties are gathered at their own volition to
discuss how they and others have been harmed by the offense or conflict, and how that harm
may be repaired and broken relationship may be restored.
Circle of Support – a community directed process organized by the field office and participated
in by the clients, the Volunteer Probation Aides (VPAs) and selected members of the
community in the discussion of the offense and its impact. Within the circle, people freely
speak from the heart in a shared search for understanding the incident, and together identify
the steps necessary to assist in the reconciliation and healing of all affected parties and
prevent future crime or conflict.
In the Agency, the circle of support is facilitated by trained Probation and Parole Officers,
Volunteer Probation Aides or selected community leaders who offered their services free of
charge to serve as facilitator or keeper.
In implementing this process, the probation and parole officer should be the facilitator who is
sensitive to the needs of the victim. Likewise, the probation and parole officer should exert
effort to protect the safety and interest of the victim.
The Outcomes or Interventions which can be agreed upon During the Restorative
Justice Process
As a result of the restorative justice process, the following outcomes or interventions

may be agreed upon by parties in a Restorative Justice discussion, such as, but not limited
to:
A. Restitution
Restitution is a process upon which the offender accepts accountability for the financial and/or
non-financial losses he/she may have caused to the victim. Restitution is a “core” victim’s right
which is very crucial in assisting the redirection of the victim’s life. Part of the conditions of
probation as imposed by the Court is the payment of civil liability to indemnify the victim of the
offender, and to inculcate to the offender a sense of responsibility and obligation towards the
community. Consequently, the probation and parole officer should see to it that the offender
complies with this condition.
B. Community Work Service

Community Work Service, whether imposed as a condition of offender’s conditional liberty or
integral part of his treatment plan, should be purposely motivated to make the offender realize
that he/she incurred an obligation to make things right. In its application, the offender can be
subjected to perform work service measures, including, but not limited to any of the following:
Mentoring and Intergenerational Service – offenders will develop their nurturing needs thru
caring for other people; example: with senior citizens, with orphanages, or with street children.
Economic Development – to link directly with the business project; examples: cleaning
downtown area, tree planting, maintenance of business zones, housing restoration, garbage
and waste management, cleaning of esteros, recycling, construction, repair of streets, and the
like.
Citizenship and Civic participation-experiential activities which involve solving community

problems; examples: puppet shows that showcase values, street dramas, peer counseling.
Helping the Disadvantaged – this will enhance offender’s self esteem; examples: assist
handicapped, assist in soup kitchen, tutor peers, visit the aged in jail and hospitals.
Crime Prevention Project – examples: Brgy. Ronda, giving testimony to the youth.
The probation and parole officer should ensure the adoption of these community work services
to facilitate the reintegration of the offender in the community.
C. Counseling (whether individual, group or family)

It will enhance client’s interpersonal relationship and it will help him/her become more aware
of his/her shortcomings/weaknesses. This will also help him/her overcome painful experiences
that drove him/her to commit a crime/ offense.
D. Attendance to trainings, seminars and lectures

E. Participation in education, vocation or life skills program
F. Group Therapy Session
An intervention which provides recovering drug dependents or those with serious behavioral
problems an opportunity to discuss their problems.
G. Spiritual development session/faith-based session
H. Submission to psychological/psychiatric assessment
I. Submission to drug test/drug dependency examination
J. Attendance to skills training/livelihood assistance program
K. Marital enhancement program
L. Written or oral apology
M. Submission to family therapy session

This session aims to develop healthy personal relationship within the family and to establish
open positive communication between family members and significant others. Family
members should be oriented in their individual responsibilities and roles.
N. Confinement in Drug Treatment Rehabilitation Center Including Aftercre

MODULE 5
THE ENHANCEMENT AND LEGAL BASES OF TC PROGRAM
Enhancement of Community-Based Alternatives to Incarceration: The Philippine

Experience
In the Philippines, the treatment of offenders and individuals who are in conflict with
the law is undertaken by the government through the Department of Justice (DOJ), the
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD). The DOJ supervises and manages the national
penitentiaries (for prisoners serving the penalty of imprisonment for more than three years)
through the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). There are at present seven national penitentiaries
with a total population of approximately 40,000 inmates. Through the Board of Pardons and
Parole (BPP) and the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA), the DOJ formulates,
implements and monitors programmes and activities for offenders on probation and parole,
and those granted conditional pardon with parole conditions through executive clemency by
the President. As of December 2008, the PPA was supervising 34,796 probationers, 13,762
parolees and 852 pardonees, or a total of 49,410 clients, through its 15 regional offices, 99
provincial field offices and 128 city field offices, or a total of 227 field unit offices.
The DILG, through the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), supervises
and controls city, municipal and district jails. The Philippine National Police (PNP), also under
the supervision of the DILG, manages the municipal jails that cannot yet be supervised by the
BJMP, including lock-up jails or precinct jails that are used as temporary detention centres for
arrested individuals under investigation. The Offices of the Provincial Governor, also under
the DILG, manage the provincial jails which, by law, keep convicted offenders with prison
sentences that range from six months and one day to three years. In all, there are 79 provincial
jails, 25 sub-provincial or extension jails, 135 district jails, 85 city jails and 1,003 municipal jails
Nationwide.
The DSWD operates and monitors rehabilitation centres nationwide for juveniles in
conflict with the law (JICL) whose cases are still pending in court. There are 11 rehabilitation
centres for JICL in the country. For the calendar year 2008, DSWD served a total of 1,532
CICL/youthful offenders comprising 1,416 males and 116 females.
As described, it is the PPA that is given the task of treatment of offenders through
community-based programmes of probation, parole and/or conditional pardon. The BPP is
simply concerned with policies on the grant of parole and on the recommendatory measures
to the President in cases of executive clemency. Upon the grant of parole or conditional
pardon, the offender is referred by the BPP for supervision to the PPA. Offenders on probation
are referred by the courts of justice.
Foundation of the Community Based Alternatives
1. Probation
Adult probation as a post-sentencing disposition was adopted in the Philippines on 24 July
1976 under Presidential Decree No. 968. Section 2 of the Decree enumerates the purpose of
the law, as follows:
a. Promote the correction and rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized
treatment;
b. Provide an opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less
probable if he were to serve a prison sentence; and
c. Prevent the commission of offences.
Of special interest is Section 28 of the law which provides that “to assist the Probation
(and Parole) Officers in the supervision of probationers, the Probation Administrator may
appoint citizens of good repute and probity to act as probation aides.”
2. Parole
The purpose of Act No. 4103, as amended, otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence
Law, is “to uplift and redeem valuable human material to economic usefulness and to prevent
unnecessary and excessive deprivation of liberty.” Under Section 5 of said Act, it is the duty
of the Board of Pardons and Parole to look into the physical, mental and moral record of
prisoners who have served the minimum of their prison sentence and to determine the proper
time of release of said prisoners on parole.
3. Conditional Pardon
Under Section 19, Article VII of the Philippine Constitution, the President may grant executive
clemency with the objective of preventing a miscarriage of justice or correcting a manifest
injustice. Such grant may be exercised by the President motu proprio or upon recommendation
of the Board of Pardons and Parole or of any other agency. Conditional pardon may be
extended to a prisoner who has served at least one-half of the minimum of the original
indeterminate and/or a definite prison term.
Organizational Mandate of the Parole and Probation Administration
1. Vision Statement
A model component of the Philippine correctional system that shall enhance the quality of life
of its clients through multi-disciplinary programmes and resources, an efficient organization,
and a highly professional and committed workforce in order to promote social justice and
development
2. Mission Statement
To rehabilitate probationers, parolees and pardonees and promote their development as
integral persons by utilizing innovative interventions and techniques which respect the dignity
of man and recognize his divine destiny.
3. Goals
The Administration sets to achieve the following goals:
1. Promote the reformation of offenders and reduce the incidence of recidivism; and
2. Provide a cheaper alternative to the institutional confinement of offenders who are likely to
respond to individualized, community-based treatment programmes.
4. Organizational Outcome
Rehabilitation of Offenders in a Community-Based Setting and Reduction of Crime Incidence.
Legal Bases on the Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts
With the implementation of Republic Act 9165, Drug Abuse Treatment and
Rehabilitation Centers (TRCs) were established around the Philippines, under the
management of the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation. As
drug dependence gradually began to be viewed as a medical problem, the TRCs were
transferred under the Department of Health (DOH). The existing treatment and rehabilitation
centers for drug dependents operated and maintained by the NBI and the PNP shall be
operated, maintained and managed by the DOH in coordination with other concerned
agencies. For the purpose of enlarging the network of centers, the Board through the DOH
shall encourage, promote or whenever feasible, assist or support in the establishment,
operations and maintenance of private centers which shall be eligible to receive grants,
donations or subsidy from either government or private sources. It shall also support the
establishment of government-operated regional treatment and rehabilitation centers
depending upon the availability of funds. The national government, through its appropriate
agencies shall give priority funding for the increase of subsidy to existing government drug
rehabilitation centers, and shall establish at least one (1) drug rehabilitation center in each
province, depending on the availability of funds.
Background of the DOH-TRC
In the year 2000 until the first quarter of 2001, the 6th Regional Narcotics Office (RNO)
recorded a total of 1, 307 persons arrested due to drug related offenses. Of these, 751 were
filed in court. For the same period, there were a total of 866 reported cases of drug abuse
region wide. Due to the stigma attached by society to drug dependents, a large number of
cases have probably gone “unreported.” Realizing the alarming growth of drug abuse in
Western Visayas and its consequences, the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC),
established the Western Visayas Drug Rehabilitation Center (WVDRC). This project was
borne out of the need for measures to stop the spread of the drug menace in the region through
proper and economical rehabilitation of drug dependents. Through a memorandum of
agreement signed by the incumbent RPOC Chairman Capiz Governor Vicente C. Bermejo,
representing the RPOC, and Governor Arthur D. Defensor, representing Iloilo Province, on
April 26, 2000, the council leased the existing building and lot at Brgy. Rumbang, Pototan,
Iloilo for Php 1.00 a year for 50 years. The center was then operated by the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency and eventually by the Philippine National Police. In October 10, 2005,
Department of Health issued the Department Order No. 2005 – 0052 mandating the
regulation, overseeing and monitoring the integration, coordination and supervision of all drug
rehabilitation, intervention, aftercare and follow-up programs, projects and activities as well as
the establishment, operation, maintenance and management of privately owned drug
treatment rehabilitation center.
Steps in Developing a Drug-Free Lifestyle
1. Supportive Friends and Family
One of the first steps in developing a drug-free lifestyle is to avoid those people who
were directly involved in your former drinking or drug-using lifestyle—those who helped you
get drugs, use drugs or were your drinking buddies. Many addicts find that in order to develop
a substance-free lifestyle, they must develop new friendships, social patterns, and leisure
activities.
Your rehab counselor will try to help you identify drug-free supportive friends and family
members and encourage you to improve those relationships and participate in recreational
activities with them, to replace the time that you spent drug-seeking and using. If you do not
have drug-free friends or loved ones, your counselor will encourage you to become involved
in new social groups and make new, supportive friends.
2. Developing a Structured Schedule
Another important aspect of developing a drug-free lifestyle is to develop a structured

daily schedule that you can consistently follow. Structure and organization in your life can be
your best friends in recovery, while a chaotic and disorganized lifestyle can be your enemy.
When you were in the early abstinence stage of your rehab program, your counselor
probably worked with you then to establish daily and/or weekly schedule to help you begin to
structure your time and to replace your drug-seeking and using activities with healthy
alternatives. In the maintaining abstinence phase of your recovery, it is important not to
abandon that structured schedule or deviate from it on a regular basis.
3. Developing Larger, Expanded Goals
While maintaining your sobriety remains a high priority in your life, in order to develop
a long-term drug-free lifestyle, it is helpful to identify larger goals for your future. Now that you
have achieved more than 90 days of abstinence, you will probably begin to develop larger,
long-term goals such as going back to school, changing career paths or saving toward
financial goals.
Identifying other goals for your life and developing a plan to achieve those goals can
play an important role in helping you develop and maintain a drug-free lifestyle. Your follow-
up counselor will help you learn how to work toward these goals within the context of your new
recovering lifestyle.
4. Developing Spirituality
If you have participated in a 12-step group as part of your rehab program, you have
probably already been introduced to the concept of spirituality, which has nothing to do with
religious practices or dogma. Spirituality, as it relates to recovery, means developing values
in your life and having altruistic goals—reaching beyond yourself to find fulfillment and
happiness.
Spirituality can be an important factor in any successful recovery program. It involves
connecting to a power that extends beyond the concerns of daily living. Your counselor will
encourage you to become involved in efforts "greater than yourself" such as doing service
work for your support group, becoming more involved in your religious organization, doing
community service or volunteering for charity work.
Your counselor will not try to define any "higher power" for you—that will be left entirely
up to you, but research has shown that developing a drug-free lifestyle can be enhanced by
relating to a power that is transcendent and greater than yourself.
CURRENT SITUATIONS OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY IN THE PHILIPPINES
A. The Treatment Paradigm
PPA’s Harmonized Rehabilitation Programme
The PPA treatment paradigm has three major components:
1) Restorative Justice (RJ) as the philosophical foundation or conceptual framework,

represented by the frame and handle of the umbrella;
2) Therapeutic Community (TC) as treatment modality, represented by the panelled
canopy of the umbrella showing the distinct but overlapping treatment categories, namely:
behaviour shaping/behaviour management; emotional/psychological aspects; intellectual/spiritual
aspects; and vocational/survival skills; and
3) Volunteer Probation Aide as the lead community resource, represented by a figure
holding up the umbrella in co-operation with the Probation and Parole Officer. The umbrella matrix
also highlights the extension of support to both victim and offender and their respective
families/communities in the overall spirit of reconciliation and healing.
1. Restorative Justice Practices as Adopted by the PPA
By way of Memorandum Order No. 12, S.2003, dated 16 July 2003, the PPA promulgated
a policy on adopting RJ practices as a major component of its treatment programme. The Agency
policy defines RJ as a philosophy and a process whereby stakeholders (offender, victim and the
community) in a specific offence resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offence
and its implications for the future. As a philosophy, RJ treats crime as a violation of people and
relationships. It creates obligations to make things right through involvement of the victim, the
offender and the community in searching for solutions which promote repair, reconciliation and
reassurance (Van Ness quoting Zehr, 2002). As a process, RJ resolves conflicts in a manner in
which the response to the crime would be not to add to the harm caused by imposing further harm
on the offender, but to do as much as possible to restore the situation. The community offers aid
to the victim; the offender is held accountable and required to make reparation. Attention would be
given not only to the outcome, but also to evolving a process that respects “the feelings and
humanity of both victim and the offender” (Martin Wright, quoted by Van Ness, 2002).
Thus, its application entails meetings or a series of meetings attended by all stakeholders
– the offender, the victim/s and the members of the community.
RJ seeks to achieve the following:

1) Reparation for the victim;
2) Reconciliation of the offender, the offended and the community;
3) Reassurance to the offender that he or she can be reintegrated into society; and
4) Enhancement of public safety by activating the offender, the victim and the community
in prevention strategies.
The PPA’s choice of RJ as a conceptual framework of its rehabilitation programme is an

affirmation of a practice that began in 1978 upon the operationalization of the substantive
provisions of the Probation Law.
The consultation of the offended party and the community upon the offender’s petition
for probation was a requirement for investigating probation officers on the basis that the inputs
of the offended party, the petitioner’s family and some responsible members of the community
could be very critical in the release and reintegration of the offender in the same community
where he or she committed the offence. Moreover, the theory and practice of RJ is very
indigenous in Philippine culture which, historically, maximizes the use of mediation and
conciliation in solving community conflicts. This is highlighted by the adoption of the
Katarungang Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) in settling disputes at the village level.
The operationalization of RJ in the community is best illustrated through the “Circle of Support”
whichwas used by the VPA Field Training Laboratory (FTL) team in a village of San Pedro,
Laguna. Please refer to Appendix A for the full-length copy of the article entitled “The Circle of
Support: RJ in Community Engagement and Volunteer Resource Development” by Cecilia G.
de la Cruz, Chief Facilitator, National Field Training Laboratory, PPA.
In the main, the RJ practice generally proceeds in the following manner:
(a) Investigation Stage

The investigation conducted by the Probation Officer includes the statement of the
victim/offended party and of the general community towards the crime, the offender and
suggestions for his/her/its reparation. At this stage, the investigating officer tries to ascertain
the victim’s readiness for reconciliation with the offender and the community as well as the
community’s capacity to provide support.
(b) Supervision Stage
The offender’s supervision treatment plan (STP) shall include the need for RJ
intervention as may be needed and appropriate.
The RJ process may proceed in this way:
1) The parties should be brought within the programme of their own free will. Parties
should have the right to seek legal advice before and after the restorative process.
2) Before agreeing to participate in the restorative process, the parties should be fully
informed of their rights, the nature of the process, and the possible consequences of
their decisions.
3) Neither the victim nor the offender should be induced by unfair means to participate
in restorative justice processes or outcomes.
4) Where no agreement can be made between the parties, the case should be
withdrawn from the restorative process.
5) In the event agreement is reached by parties, it should be put in writing to give

substance/essence to the agreement. The failure to implement any provision of the
agreement made in the course of the restorative process is a basis for the withdrawal
of the case from the programme; and
6) Discussions and disclosures made during the process shall be treated with strict
confidence and shall not be disclosed and used against the parties involved.
2. Outcome of the RJ Practices and Processes as Components of the PPA Programme
As shown in Table 1, the RJ practices used by PPA include mediation and conferencing,
especially the “Circle of Support.” The outcomes centered largely on the conduct of
Community Work Service (CWS) for clients, the payment of civil liabilities by the offenders
and, in certain instances, the reconciliation between the clients and their respective victims.
These results suggest that through these RJ practices adopted by PPA field offices,
the clients, the offended party and the community are able to see their respective roles in
reconciling and restoring broken relationships. In this context, all the stakeholders have
heightened their sense of responsibility and accountability in pursuing an attitude that is
inclined towards restoration and healing, rather than punishment and revenge.
B. The Therapeutic Community (TC) as a Treatment Modality
TC is a specialized self-help learning treatment modality founded on such precepts as

“responsible love and concern,” “honesty,” “humility,” “forgiveness,” “pride in quality,” “no free
lunch,” and others. Its overall goal is to move the client from “wrong living” to “right living.” The
adoption of TC as the treatment modality in PPA’s community-based programme began in
1998 after a series of training programmes conducted by Daytop International, Inc. New York,
through funding from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL),
U.S. Department of State. A total of 141 PPA officials and personnel in three batches
completed the training. Efforts were made to suit the treatment modality to the needs of Filipino
clients, without disturbing the essence and structure of the modality. Thus, the graduates of
the Daytop programme led by the respective RDs/ARDs formed committees and conducted
echo seminars in their respective regions. A national Committee was organized and tasked to
come up with training modules, session plans, and other training materials to be used.
For calendar year 2008, the TC action plan centered on five areas, namely: 1) programme
implementation; 2) capacity-building; 3) programme and materials development; 4) social
marketing; 5) resource generation; and 6) monitoring and evaluation.
1. Outcome of TC Implementation
As of September 2008, substantial accomplishments were reported and monitored by the 15

regional offices, as presented in Table 2.
Under the Programme and Materials Development component of the TC Action Plan, the
following were accomplished:
1. Translation of Programme Materials into Filipino and other local languages;

2. Preparation of session plans, visualization exercises, and other teaching aids such
as songs, games, etc;
3. Production of other IEC materials for information drives;
4. Designing an evaluation questionnaire for programme monitoring and evaluation.
With regard to social marketing, the accomplishments included the following:
1. Formal information drive using print and media, integrating the three components of
the PPA programme of TC, RJ and VPA;
2. Symposiums/Forums in schools and villages;
3. Organization of Family Associations;
4. General assembly of clients and immediate family members;
5. Meeting with the Anti-Drug Abuse Councils, Provincial/City/Municipal Development
Councils, Peace and Order Councils/Members of the other pillars of the criminal justice
system;
6. Publication/distribution of newsletters/primers on the programme;
7. Integrating the programme in community-service projects like tree planting,
cleanliness drives, sports festivals, and the like;
8. Extending assistance, specifically on training, to other agencies such as the LGUs,
BJMP, DOH and DSWD upon their request.
Under the Resource Generation component of the Programme, the following

accomplishments were reported:
1. Submission of proposals to LGUs for financial/technical assistance;

2. Co-ordination with community resources, for use of seminar venues for free or at
discounted rates;
3. Fund-raising activities with the help of VPAs and other community partners;
4. Review of the Memorandum of Agreement with DSWD, DILG, NAPOLCOM, PNP,
NPS, PNVSCA, Liga ng mga Barangay , VSO-Bahaginan , Rotary Club, Lions Club
and PAVE; and
5. Top level advocacy with the Department of Budget and Management for an
additional budget for the Programme.
As to monitoring and evaluation, the following activities were undertaken:
1. Improvement of the Agency’s reporting system;

2. On-site observation of the rehabilitation programme in randomly selected field
offices;
3. Revision of the Performance Evaluation System to give due weight to the PPA
Rehabilitation
Programme.
C. The Volunteer Probation Aides (VPAs) as the Lead Community Resource
The enlistment and training of VPAs started in 1977 while the Agency was preparing
for the operationalization of the national probation programme which was to begin on 3
January 1978. Towards 1980, the VPA programme dwindled from around 2,123 VPAs to only
100, due to budgetary limitations in the reimbursement of travelling expenses. Beginning in
2003, through the technical and financial assistance of UNAFEI, PPA revitalized its VPA
system with due consideration of its past experience. Later, with the support of JICA, a three-
year In-Country Training Programme on the Holistic Approach to Volunteer Resource
Development was undertaken from 2006 to 2008. The Project was extended for another two
years as a technical co-operation project until 2010.
D. VPA Programme Objectives
In light of the provisions of Executive Order No. 468 of the President of the Philippines,
promulgated on 11 October 2005, directing the PPA to revitalize its VPA programme and as
enunciated in the Policy Guidelines on the VPA Programme of the Agency, duly approved by
the Secretary of Justice on 26 October 2006, the following objectives are pursued:
1. To amplify the extent of services rendered to clients in an effective yet economical

means through the use of volunteers;
2. To develop a competent corps of VPAs who will assist the PPA officers in the
effective supervision of clients;
3. To inculcate greater citizen awareness and understanding of the criminal justice
system;
4. To enhance community participation in crime prevention, treatment of offenders and
criminal justice administration; and
5. To foster an attitude of meaningful involvement in the social, economic, cultural and
political affairs of the community.
E. Functions and Responsibilities of VPAs
A VPA is expected to perform the following functions:
1. Work in close consultation and co-operation with the Supervising PPO;

2. Keep all information about the client in strict confidentiality;
3. Maintain an honest recording and monthly reporting of activities to the Supervising PPO;
4. Devote substantial and quality time for supervision of clients and perform the following
tasks:
4.1 Offer advice and guidance;
4.2 Act as job placement officer;
4.3 Refer clients to pertinent agencies for spiritual, mental, economic, social or health
needs;
4.4 Implement treatment objectives as provided for in the supervision treatment plan;
and act as a resource individual;
5. Endeavour to help the PPO in extending RJ interventions to the client’s situation; and
6. Attend TC, RJ and other activities as may be required.
F. The Roles of VPAs
The role of the VPA may be classified into two categories:

1. Direct Supervisor
The VPA should undertake the following:
1.1. Supervise a maximum of five clients at any given time;
1.2. Work Closely with a PPO and discuss the treatment plans and status of clients;
and
1.3. Submit a monthly accomplishment report to the PPO.
2. Resource Individual
The VPA may act as a:
2.1 Resource speaker during training activities, information drives, etc.;
2.2 Counsellor;
2.3 Donor, sponsor or resource manager during fund-raising activities;
2.4 Programme co-ordinator of client activities; and a
2.5 Mediator, RJ Implementer, TC Facilitator.
G. Current Status of VPA Programmes
Tables 3-a, 3-b, and 3-c present the current status of the VPA programme in the
Philippines:

Origins and Principles of Therapeutic Communities

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Origins and Principles of Therapeutic Communities

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MODULE 1

DEVELOPMENT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (TC)

Origins of Therapeutic Community (TC)

The correction-based therapeutic community (TC) is a widely described treatment modality

1. American drug-free hierarchical concept-based TC

The hierarchic approach was modelled on Synanon, founded by Charles Dederich. It

The Concept-Based TC and its Application in Prison

A concept-based therapeutic community is ‘a drug-free environment in which people

Attributes of TC (According to Concept-based)

• Strive towards integration into the larger society

The essential elements of the American hierarchic drug-free therapeutic community

To a certain degree, all concept-based TC in prisons are based on self-help principles.

Application of the Democratic TC in Prison

The democratic TC is described by Clark as a small face-to-face residential community

Work of Jones (based on axioms)

(1) Two-way communication on all levels

Four Central Principles of Democratic TC

The democratic TC in Prison

The direct and indirect influence of Maxwell Jones:

Jones wrote an interesting attempt to introduce a classification system which promises

Elsewhere, these American democratic therapeutic community experiments

Dederich and Jones Reports:

Concept-based TC developed independently from Synanon

At a weeklong workshop of practitioners and theorists, Jones listed 21 principles for a

Links between Democratic and Hierarchic TCs in Prison

Social learning and behavioural modification

The hierarchical TC is generally characterized by a behaviourally oriented approach.

Permissiveness and modelling

In a democratic prison-based TC, permissiveness provides prisoners with greater

In a hierarchic prison-based TC, negative behaviour is confronted freely and openly in

Democracy and hierarchy

Communalism and community as method

Within a prison-based therapeutic community, ‘Communalism’ and ‘Community as

HISTORY OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (TC)

Government Drug Programs under the Criminal Justice System

Challenges of Therapeutic Community (TC)

Recognize Infante’s Work

MARTIN R. INFANTE established SELF (Self Enhancement for Life Foundation) in

Teaching is an essential element of Martin’s lifework. His initiative to share SELF’s

SELF (Self Enhancement for Life Foundation)

Presented its Therapeutic Community approach in the rehabilitation of drug addicts

Effectiveness of Therapeutic Community Modality Program

Therapeutic Community defined conceptually

Therapeutic Community (Defined by the Bureau of Correction)

The Therapeutic Community (TC) Program represents an effective, highly structured

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Implementation of the Therapeutic Community

(a) Moral and Spiritual Program

Philippine Correctional pillar is composed of various institutions. The Bureau of Jail

Therapeutic Community (Defined by the Philippine Department of Justice)

TC helps promote change specifically on relational or behavior management; affective,

A study on Therapeutic Community (TC)

A study of 715 male inmates in California randomly assigned either to a TC or to no

In a Colorado study, male inmates randomly assigned to a 12-month TC designed for

The Philippines is responsive to development especially to inmates or prisoners. In fact,

MAJOR REHABILITATION PROGRAMS of PPA

A. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE (RJ) is a philosophy and a process whereby stakeholders in a

Therapeutic Community (Defined by Parole and Probation Administration)

It operates in a similar fashion to a functional family with a hierarchical structure of older

The Therapeutic Community (TC) Program represents an effective, highly structured

How Does TC Look Like?

Correction and Rehabilitation of Penitent Offenders

Scope and Beneficiaries: